Notagain, there's no valid reason for misting leaves, other than to keep the foliage dust free. So don't feel that if this is something you're not doing, that you 'need' to. ;-) There is also no 'best' fertilizer. Just find a small container of an all purpose product, liquid or granular, that you mix with water. Many people use less than the directions recommend, but NEVER mix it stronger. Everyone has had very good answers about 'when' to water you plant. Basically, when it has dried out somewhat. The timing will vary, according to the time of year, indoor temperature, humidity, and other factors. The 'how much' part of that answer is that all plants should be thoroughly drenched when watering day comes around. Perhaps you can take yours to the sink to really pour the water to it. Allow all of the excess to drain away before putting it back. (Plants don't like to sit in a pool of water for very long.)

Congrats, the one in the second pic has an inflo (flower stalk) that should begin blooming soon. The plants look fine to me. It looks like you have zinnias or something coming up in the planters. Just make sure that they don't need more water then the plumies can take.

I kind of like the hedge look you have going with these, but I agree you need more of a contrast against all the greens. Perhaps variegated hostas in front of these? Shrub-wise: Carol Mackie Daphne - nice contrast to the darker greens, has spring flowering. Lighter green leaves edged in a cream color. Pics don't do it justice. Semi-evergreen (spray with 'wilt-stop' in November to keep moisture in leaves). Pigmy barberries are nice and compact with great color, but I agree about the thorns. Been there, done that, tempted again once I saw my friend's pigmy variety (I had the 'rosy Glow' that I wouldn't do again). So pretty. Smaller variety rhododendron (or azalea depending on light), though only spring blooms, right? Virginia Sweetspire 'Henry's Garnet' will be a nice fall contrast against the greens. V.S. foliage turns reddish in the fall, with white spires in the spring. Weigela, Wine & Roses - nice foliage contrast and pretty flowers in summer/spring, though mine took a couple of years to bloom, then wow! Deadhead for repeat blooms. Purpleleaf Sand Cherry (the shrub not the tree variety, though you can trim the shrub variety into a tree form if you prefer). Trim annually to keep from getting spindly. Euonymous Gold Splash (or a variety of euonymous hardy to your zone) for contrast. Other ideas: Amsonia Hubrechti (herbaceous perennial turns yellow in fall), planted with Bergenia ('Bressingham Ruby' - foliage turns reddish in fall and has red flowers in spring, though foliage is green otherwise). I have Euphorbia (cushion spurge) 'Polychroma' planted alongside these for a nice yellow contrast. 'Polychroma' turns red in fall. Nice fall color combination. Astilbe does well in shade, I have Red Fanal Astilbe, Heucheras (plum pudding and citronelle heucherella??), Hostas, Brunnera Jack Frost, Japanese Painted fern near my spireas (neon flash). Jack Frost is directly in front of my spirea. Annabelle Hydrangea? Don't fertilize once established as the plant can't hold blooms otherwise. Brunnera Jack Frost, perennial, a SPECTACULAR contrast to evergreens and thrives in full shade. A nice "pop" in the shade. I have variegated hostas in front of my house with my evergreen yews, and in another area I have lamium 'white nancy' (full shade) with boxwood. I also have other lamium in half sun, 'silver beacon', ok as long as it gets ample moisture. Pulmonaria (lungwort) is also nice for shade/part shade ('Benediction' is supposed to be nice). Variegated foliage. Ajuga 'chocolate chip' is a nice compact groundcover with blue flowers in summer (I deadhead for reblooms through summer). Artemisia 'Silver Brocade' is nice for contrast as someone mentioned earlier, though pretty informal for a front planting bed (as are some others I've mentioned).

Congrats, bsilberz, on your new purchase! Your property looks like a really nice setting! We have been DIY'ers on our wooded lot and, our yard and projects have provided us many, many hours of weekend projects, planning and, now, finally, 7 years later, some weekends of just pure enjoyment (no work and just hammock time!). We are not done by any means, but that is part of the overall process! Here are my thoughts that I wish I had been told when I started to tackle our woods: 1-Unless you have a specific project in mind (eg, creating a little sitting area in a special spot or something), I would highly recommend living with your year for an entire year. Take notes, take pictures (lots and lots of pictures!) at all times of the year, times of the day, and take note of what you like and don't like about certain areas. 2-Visit as many gardens similar to your terrain as possible to get ideas. The best way for this specific purpose is through the Garden Conservancy Open Days. For $5, you can go into gardens of people in your "neck of the woods". I look at the descriptions of the gardens in my area for key words like woodland, deer resistant, water feature, rocky, etc. These are all things of interest to us. Again, take notes and ask questions. Many times the owner is on site to answer Qs. You are not supposed to take photos, but I sketch a visual reminder for myself on my notepad. And I have found this site, Gardenweb, to be an invaluable source of advice and information! :-) 3-Speaking of notes, I keep a notebook and files of pictures from magazines. Some of these pages are so tattered at this point! Anyhow, It's funny how I think I have a great idea, but then after thinking on it a little more I will think of a modified way to do something or come across a better idea for an area altogether. I guess it's similar to the "measure twice, cut once" theory of sewing or woodworking. 4-Consider what you can truly do yourself, or what you need to hire out. This will help in budgeting. We needed to address some drainage from the start, and since large machinery was involved, I am so happy I hadn't planted a pretty garden area that got run over. Consider what needs to be done in what order, again not only from an access perspective, but also budget. 5-Speaking of order, I mentioned drainage. Our first project wasn't really landscaping, but rather, having a french drain installed along the back of the house, between the woodlands and the yard. This led to the next project of adding a swale to catch the water run-off from the hill. This led to a water feature being made from our original DIY dry creek bed. It evolves, you see! This allowed us to get the "bones" in place to work around in key areas. Admittedly, it was completely overwhelming trying to plan things out before we had our water feature installed. It really anchored our whole plan. 6-And, more "bones": We created paths from smaller trees that we thinned out. These also provided a lot of structure and allowed us to address smaller areas where we could see true progress when planting out. Some good advice we got from a fellow gardener was to situate the paths to point toward key focal points...a really pretty rhodendendron, a bench, etc. 7-Definitely consider where you will create your compost or brush pile early on! It needs to be accessible but hidden :-). We are lucky that we can take our brush to our town dump, especially since we had so much, more than we could compost on site. One summer when we were thinning the smaller trees, that was our sole task....cut trees, use loppers to clean of small branches from big trunk, take brush to dump. Literally, all summer! 8-Regarding your weed question,I echo what adidas said: what someone may consider a weed, may in fact, turn out to be a native. This goes back to the "live with it awhile" advice from earlier. It will allow you to study and monitor. I have become a novice weed expert and would never have guessed I would become so obsessed on that front! You will see a lot of the posters on this site will be conservative in their use of weed killers, and rightly so. The wildlife in the woods don't need poison :-). Get a good weed whacker, clear areas of weeds and plant natives that work in your plan and future weeds should stay at bay! We love ferns because they are free since we can transplant from other parts of our yard, and they multiply nicely on their own. Which brings me to the last bit of advice.... 9-Timing is everything! You asked about when to plant, and no matter what you do, work WITH Mother Nature instead of against her. :-). Usually, you hear "Fall is for planting" as plants set roots then; however, in the case of ferns, you need to transplant them when they come up as little fiddleheads in the spring. Dividing perennials will also vary, some do better when divided before they out new growth in the spring. I always keep notes of what I need to do in the current season, and the next year during the same season. 10-OK, one last bit of advice, promise...If you have deer, don't even consider trying to plant anything they like, and think you will be able to spray to deter them. That, my friend, is a losing battle from the start! :-) Good luck! Please keep us posted on your progress! This is an exciting adventure you are going to start....oh, and make sure you have plenty of pain reliever pills on hand! :-)