Rudy, I like your ideas so far.

But I have a few questions ( pardon my ignorance) ...what is your soil like? Would there be any salt in the soil that may be a factor in your plant choices -if the marsh had been bigger in the past for example?

Keep in mind plants that are native and grow in conditions like you have. Besides the easier care, the wildlife in your area already looks to them for food. You might even want to use a few marsh plants near the back edge of the yard to blend the boundaries and echo your marsh. It sounds like an exciting project and one the edge of a marsh you'll have lots of cool wildlife!!!

Serviceberries are happy in the shade of other trees - but the root zones can be a problem - if your serviceberries are too close to the maples the maples will use all the food and water and not give the serviceberries any room to grow.

As for separate swaths or intertwined - I think intertwined tends to looks natural. I like to put two of a plant closer together and offset the third a ways away - so they end up kind of mixed. But swaths/drifts happen in nature too - just not as ruler straight side by side beds.

Keep kicking around ideas, I'm envious of your location! Do you have any wildlife areas nearby that you can ask a ranger (or even a local biology prof) about what are the best wildlife attracting planst for your site?

Good Luck!
Lucy

The soil by the marsh is definitely on the low side of the ph scale and has some salt to it, but not as much as if the water actually touched it. Only in an extremely heavy rain at high tide will the water come up into my yard and then only to the point of saturation, not flood. I don't think it is technically salty soil. Guess I'll find out once I plant. Part of my project involves errosion prevention. The yard slopes down to where the marsh is, and quickly drops about 4' to where the water begins. There already is about a 10' deep swath of that tall marsh grass, so that part was already provided by mother nature. I just want to bring more habitat up into my yard where I don't want to spend time mowing. The area's about 30' across and 15' deep. Ideally I would like plants that have extensive root systems to keep the soil where it is.

There is a ton of bird wildlife around back there. Great Egrets, Blue Herons, ducks, geese, gulls, and a zillion other little guys that I have yet to identify. Heck, if the babies weren't so loud at feeding time, I'd erect an osprey platform back there too!

I'm very excited about providing more food and shelter sources for what's already back there. I spent 3 back breaking seasons clearing out all of the invasive vines and prickers. Now I'm finally to the fun stuff. I'm sure digging is going the be a PITA, but I'm sure it will be worth it.

Rudy, I didn't read eveything, but I see you live in New England. I would recommend shrub dogwoods (gray, silky, etc.) for your wet spot. They should fill in nicely and will be nice erosion control. You can't kill them either. I also think elderberries don't mind it a little damp, although you may want to check on that. As for alternating the plants, everything I have read suggests planting them in drifts as it looks natural. I really like the look myself. The serviceberries will live in shade, maybe a little more leggy than usual (?) but I believe berrying shrubs tend to like sun. I don't think they are likely to berry as much in the shade, so that would defeat your purpose. I'm not an expert, but that is the little bit I know.

It may be too late, but you might want to look at what NH nursery has to offer. They have great prices and really nice large, healthy stock for the price.