Have you thought of arranging some large decorative pots in your ivy? Place them in groups on stepping stones. There you could plant shade lovers, or even some large leafed tropicals.

It'll take a while to get rid of the ivy but keep up the good battle.

You need to start w/ BIG plants for shade then step down to smaller plants such as the hostas. Hydrangeas,azaleas are the norm but look for plants will take different ranges of shade. ...viburnums,carolina allspice,camellias,rhodos,fothergilla,etc. I have a couple of books on shade garden but can't find them at the moment. Shrubs I list here do well in my zone 8 shade garden.

You don't say if you have deep shade or high shade. What kind of trees are growing there pine,oaks and maples use lots of water,black walnuts have a substance that inhibit some plants growth and down right kill other. What kind of soil...i.e:clay,sand,loam or other...wet/dry?

PP

I don't have any photos to show you (MUST get a digital camera one of these days and figure out how to post photos), but there is no reason why your shade garden can't be as lush or visually appealing as your full sun plantings.

In my area where lots of very large native conifers abound, it's hard to find a garden that doesn't offer at least one section of shade and many are quite woodsy in feel. Shade gardening is very popular here and although our zone offers a much larger selection of plants than do other, colder areas, there are still scores of very attractive plants that will work to provide the lushness you need.

You've gotten some good suggestions already, but there are a couple of excellent books on the market that can help you get started. "The Complete Shade Gardener" by George Schenk and "The Natural Shade Garden" by Ken Druse offer lots of photos of gorgeous shade gardens plus lists of suitable plants and sources and growing tips.

If I were to give one piece of advice to a novice shade gardener it would be to focus on foliage texture and color before considering flowers. Flowers for shade tend to be very fleeting and sometimes not very showy, but a good selection of foliage colors and textures, specially brightly colored (yellow and cream) and variegated foliaged plants can make a shade garden sing.

It is important to know your soil conditions well before starting out - dry shade is a lot harder to plant for than moister conditions, but it too can provide a great shade garden.

One of my favorite flowers is a shade lover. I had a deep purple Monkshood (sorry I don't know the variety.) It is beautiful in bloom late August - early September. It's nice and tall (4 ft.) for a background planting. Unfortunately I have no pictures and recently moved from my house with my very colorful shade garden.

I don't know what kind of shade it is...... pretty much full...... but I have maples and cherries..... the cherries also leaves their husks on the ground which seem to make the soil gravelly as the husks take a long time to break down....... I'm pretty sure its loam...... I don't know if its wet or dry wet in some areas dry in others.... I know moss grows i nsome areas so I assume its wet there...... and in some areas nothing grows but english ivy...... some soil feels dry......

Your yard sounds like mine a bit in terms of the English ivy. When I want to plant something in the aggressive ground covers like English ivy I decide what size hole I need for planting, and prune out that much of the groundcover. I keep an eye on new plantings and continue pruning away the groundcover as needed if I think the new planting doesn't have enough room.

The book "The American Woodland Garden: Capturing the Spirit of the Deciduous Forest" by Rich Darke made me realize how much nicer a woodland style yard could look than mine did.

This past year I bought a few shrubs for partial shade that I really enjoy looking at even when they're not in bloom. They are summersweet (Clethra alnifolia), red-twig dogwood 'Isanti' (Cornus sericea), and Ninebark "Diablo" (Physocarpus opulifolius "Diablo").

Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: The American Woodland Garden

All the above are great ideas! Depending on your space restraints, you might want to work on the over all design/layout to eliminate the "silly" look. For example, consider a path winding through the woods/under the trees. Remember focal points and destinations (a bench) and such. Once you have a design vision it will get easier to acheive a pleasing look with the plants. The shrubs will provide the "skeleton" of the garden, then the flowers/forbs/subshrubs you add will look natural and be the filler. Phone your state extension office to find out about killing ivy too. I've added a link to a photo of my shade garden on the north of my house taken in June. No tree roots or ivy, but thought it might inspire you. The plants you see blooming are columbine. There are ostrich ferns, hostas and Solomon's seal too. Keep your chin up. Molly

Here is a link that might be useful: My little shade garden in June