A *great many* shade and woodland plants are quite fine with very rocky soil. Shouldn't need to worry about piles of small stones, as long as there is also a fair amount of soil mixed in with the stones. Just plant the plants and ignore the stones. For the larger rocks, just pick the area for the woodland rock garden [grin]. You have great woodland garden potential here, rocks and all!

>I am looking for plants that will spread out hopefully choking out the briars and other undesirables

There, you're out of luck. Chunk them out, pull them.

One option is to plant smaller plants. A one gallon azalea can fit in a much smaller space than a 3 gallon one! And the azaleas should love the drainage those rocks provide.

I like ferns for rocky areas in my woodland garden. Most of them seem to do well in shallow soil.

Think about hiking in the Smokies. The "soil" is practically ALL rocks! A thin layer of leafmold and such. Plants find crevices and send roots into them. The "balds" along the Appalachian trail are covered in sunny-area flowering plants; under the trees are trillium, etc. You have a GREAT place for natural landscaping! As to the difficulty of planting in the rocky soil, obviously the smaller the plant the smaller the hole and the easier it will be. Azaleas and other rhododendron would love it, and starting with bigger-than-gallon-pot size would be good. I bet you can manage to make holes for some 5-gallon dirtballs though. One GOOD thing about digging in rocky soil is that when you pry out a good-sized rock, you get a lot of hole in one step! :) If I were going to tackle that, I would definitely invest in one of those steel bars used for digging - dunno what they are called, but mine weighs some 20 lbs, is an octagonal rod with a flat blade on one end and a point on the other. I use it for breaking up hardpan when digging post holes and such, and just generally as a great prybar. You can stab it in, lift and drop a few times, catch the edge of a rock, and pry it out. You'll be surprised how easy it is. No backhoe required!

Thanks for all the great advice. I think part of my issue is I am trying to put the cart before the horse...I want INSTANT beauty...this will be an ongoing process. I have been working on moving some ferns around so they will spread out, hostas seem to like this soil, too. I have even placed pots of flowers in the woods. I planted several vinca vines to spread out for more of that instant look. Thanks again...

Argh, not vinca!!!

Instant gratification indeed...and instant mortification next year! Tear that vinca out! It will take command of your woods in a hurry. One thing I've learned is that there is no "instant" in a woodland garden--if we can even call it that--it takes time, patience, and conscientious research into plants and Mother Nature. Welcome to the slow and steady crowd in here!

Spruce, yellow birch, rhododendron, moss, ferns are things I have seen thriving right on top of boulders.

I am 10 years into living on two acres of burr oak. Dense, thorny, scrubby, weedy woods surrounded our lawn. I dug into the mess about 20 feet. First we raised the canopy to above 6 feet so we could work. Next I dug out each and every buck thorn,vine, weed I could find. As we dug we came across Jack in the pulpit, solomans seal, two types, trilliums and other wild flowers. With a pick axe we went after the stumps. We cut out anything that wasn't thicker than my husbands arm or was an invasive weed. I planted any and every shade plant that is hardy to zone 3, many varities of fern, astilbe, hosta,toad lily,columbine,huchera on and on the list goes. When I read your post I think she wants what I have. It took 10 years but it is beautiful, full, lush and DONE! It is a continual fight to keep the saplings out, invasives down to a dull roar and the noxious weeds at bay. It always will be. It is the nature of the woods to evolve and when you have critters and the wind helping humans will always be fighting back. I know when I am too old to weed it will take only few years for the Oaks to reclaim my garden. Until then I live in heaven!

Arcy, How I would love to see photos of your woodland.
Any possibility of that? Do you use wood chips around new plants? I dont know where zone 3 is in Wisconsin, the NW?
Pondy

Arcy, oaks reclaiming years from now is not the worst possible thing - at least they are native. The invasives is another story. You did your part. Hopefully, when the time comes, the next generation of land owners will do their part. Congratulations to you on a great project.

I am really hoping arcy comes back with responses and pictures (either would be great!), because it sounds like just what I want to do with certain areas of my wooded land. Some will stay more natural - too much land! - but there is an area I've started some work on that I'm hoping will develop like that, and I'd love to see the 10 years of work.

I am always here, just feel foolish because I have yet to master the posting picture thing. My goal for this summer is to post my pictures. I am over whelmed at how prolific my gardens are. I have hosta that are over three feet across and they can't be five years old. I am in central MN just west on Mpls. I garden under 100 yr. old burr oaks so no I do not mulch, nature does that for me. The leaf drop each fall is sufficient. I also have a few ground covers slowly giving me a "living mulch". I am such an amature and have experimented with what works for me when I read what the master gardeners advise. My successes are not always "recommended" practice. I actually rake out some of my beds, because I don't like the look of the leaves and I know they harbor slugs. I am trying to resist raking and am discovering about now I can't see the leaves anymore anyway. My gardens are full to the point no dirt shows through much anymore. I have many, many stepping stones I made and set around to protect my plants as I stomp around to weed,and to add color , whimsey and interest to my "green" shady gardens. They can no longer be seen to the casual visitor to my yard. I am full up. I have never used any chemical weed control like preen in my beds because I was encouraging nature to help me fill them in. I have columbine,solomans seal,jacks,etc. that I did not want to inhibit. If anyone wants me to e-mail some pics I do know how to do that. I spend my days thinning and weeding. Yesterday I pulled out five, five gallon buckets of what I was told is wild geranium. It is done blooming and I don't want it to compete all summer for moisture with my more desirable plants. It is invasive and a weed in most opinions, but any color is welcome for as long as it lasts. (except dandylions). All my pulling doesn't irraticate it so I keep pulling knowing next year it will return. I find invasives hiding as I go and add them to my buckets. I think I answered all the questions. I will try and be quicker to respond. I am here every day. I am a tish intimidated because I am not a pureist in this woodland gardening. Shade gardening is where I am probably more matched, and I am on that site daily too.

arcy - how did you make your own stepping stones?

I got forms of all sorts, cut down ice-cream buckets, shaped trays from the party goods stores, jello molds from garage sales, Wilton Cake shapes, heart shaped pans etc. what ever looked like something I would like. I have all holidays represented, stars, hearts, flowers, suns. I bought sak-crete at less than a dollar for a bag from a big box store mixed the cement in a bucket put it in the the molds, vibrated them so the bubbles come up waited 24 hours then popped them out. I got about five stepping stones from each sack. Let them sit at least another week and I painted them with laytex paint I got free from our local recycling center. I also have some with words/poems. For these I used magnetic alphabet letters,stamps and I even came across an old photographers sign letters. Hop over to "Garden Junk" and search "stepping stones" you will get all the directions you need and then some. There are some real artists out there. My kids also embedded those glass stones you see in flower arrangements into the top of some wet cement. I have a garden path made of my children's art and I LOVE it!!