If I had that area, I'd put in various ferns and trillium. If you like foliage, I'd also add some hosta. With the pine and ceder dropping their needles over time I imagine the soil is on the acidic side so you can get it tested to confirm, and look for acid-loving plants like those mentioned. I also wanted flowers so went with azalea in part of my yard. Had to find azalea that do better with more shade than sun, so went with Bloom-a-thons and red ruffles. For fall interest I also planted some toad lilies which bloom in fall and like shade and acidic soil.

Have fun!

First I would clear out what you don't want, look at the area and come up with some kind of a plan of how you want this to look. A path?, stone borders? more natural? and then look at the millions of books and pictures with woodland gardens. Go see them. The plants you could have are many and varied. As said above, hostas, ferns, trillium, phlox divaricata, wood poppies, arisaemas, anemones, lady's slippers, asarums, arums, mertensia, polygonatums, geranium phaeum, hellebores, and soooooo many more. Good luck.

Take a look at Beth Chatto's books. To me, her book is the best woodland book I've read. 'Beth Chatto's Woodland Garden' is the title. She also has one called, 'The Shade Garden'.

Thanks a lot for the responses. I had planted a viburnum and a Snowdrop anemone in this area. The picture I posted above is the viburnum which suddenly died after blooming. I pruned it now hoping to somehow revive it. The anemone is not doing too well either. The pic of the anemone is attached. I am planning to remove the anemone from this area. Will that be the right thing to do?

This post was edited by kTina on Thu, May 22, 14 at 13:40

First, conifers like pines and cedars dropping needles does not make soil acidic. That is due primarily to the underlying mineral component of the soil and the amount of rainfall the area receives. Heavy rainfall areas tend towards acidic soil. Since the vast majority of plants prefer acid soil anyway, you are probably good to go.

With lots of the trees in the area, your primary concern is going to be root competition and lack of soil moisture and a sparsity of nutrients as a result. Big trees have big, aggressive root systems that hog all the goodies. Plants you select to go in this area should be drought tolerant and not have a lot of other demands regarding nutrient issues. Even then you will need to baby them for a couple of seasons with water and fertilizer until they become established.

I'll second the Beth Chatto rcommendation. And I'd add The Complete Shade Garden, by George Schenk. Both should have numerous suggestion of plants recommended for dry shade.

Thanks a lot for the info. I will check out the suggested books too.