@greentree - I basically had the same goals as you three years ago after getting a free yard audit from Audubon but on an even smaller scale (about 2500 sq/ft for my front/side/back yards that consisted of either weeds or pavement at the time), and my initial plan was to go crazy with planting large native trees to create an "instant" canopy. Fortunately, I asked a lot of questions in this forum to supplement my own research, and I ended up capping it at about 12 trees of varying sizes (mostly b&b) with more understory than I originally planned and I can say now that I don't think I have any room for more - thanks in large part for a better appreciation for native shrubs and wildflowers/grasses/groundcover to fill in the rest of the space. Three years out, I couldn't ask for much more as far as attracting wildlife is concerned. The neighbors' large, established trees play a large part, but the bird traffic is amazing. My meadows and rain gardens are swarming with bees and butterflies, and if I take 5 minutes to explore, I can pretty much find a new insect I've never seen before. Frogs, toads, small mammals, and the occasional fox/raccoon knocking over plants in my barrel pond... all regular visitors to my little "oasis" of biodiversity. The trees are one thing, but it's the perennials that allowed me this instant gratification. And the great thing is that it's ever-changing as the trees grow as areas shift from full sun to eventual shade - more opportunities for different plants. Just my $.02, but I'd definitely recommend saving $ and starting small on the trees and putting more into the shrubs/perennials/water features to start things off fast. For reference, see one of my project threads here.

RosesinGrayslake - Reading your post I see that you state the fact that you have M.s. Adagio and Huron Sunrise. Being you are located in Z5a have you had any damage from the temperatures or do you have your grasses in a somewhat protected setting? I was going to get M.s. Adagio but reading that it was a Z6 and the fact that our gardens are more open and subjected to the northwest winds I got cold feet and did not get Adagio. I agree with you on the beauty of C.a. Karl Foerster but around here it is planted more than all the Miscanthus grasses added together. One thing that I have noticed reading all the Orn Grass posts is the limited amount of people that have Panicum grasses planted in their yard or gardens. Yes Panicum grasses have been mentioned but not by very many so it seems. We have a stand of P.v. "Heavy Metal" that is a total eye grabbing, dense forest of blue to blue green turning deep burgundy in the fall causing people that walk along the trail to stop and come into our yard to get a closer look. P.v. "Prairie Sky" with its see through inflorescence is a striking grass but it has the problem of not being real sturdy and does lean and flop on occasion. Getting back to the Miscanthus grasses I was surprised to read that you also have Silberfeil and Silberfeder. I donÂt recall many if any who have talked about Miscanthus grasses stating they have these two grasses. What do you think about them? Our Silberfeil in two years time has grown so large I wonder if someone isnÂt feeding it steroids. The big difference between these two as I see them is Silberfeil has more white w/ green striped leaves while Silberfeder is more green with white stripes. And Silberfeder is a little smaller in size, at least in our plantings. Last statement IÂll make to any one reading this post is " ... cut back your ornamental grasses in the spring after you new growth. Not in the fall or winter". Jake

Ed, thank you! The younger trees are all very small, and not as well "placed" since squirrels are not the best landscape architects or forest planners. I have a handful of each that I think might do really well over time. But, there is always a risk of messing it up. Will keep an eye out for invasives or "bad trees and plants". In my area, the worst offenders are pear, mimosa, princess tree. For native plants, poison ivy, violets, and poke weed seem to love my yard. There are tons of beech in the Appalachian foothills. They are all "on fire" now. However, the beech are only in these "recovering forests." Once developed (aka land being clear cut and bulldozed (I never see the beech. I rarely see beech in nurseries, but found 2 this year (at 2" caliper) so I bought them. I also dug up 2 beech from a development site and they took hold in my yard as well! Hickories are interesting trees. When they are a foot tall, their taproot may already be upwards of three feet long! Some of the nurseries are developing longer planting containers to pot hickories, but not sure if "Average Joe" is going to want to rent an auger to dig such a deep hole.

@Christopher CNC - I'm always up for any tool that will reduce the labor involved and I will look into that (I already have a commercial string trimmer/brush cutter, but all it takes is one bump against a rock to render the brush cutter blade ineffective). For those that might be interested, I've attached 3D image of what I think we'll be doing (approximately). This was built using Home Designer Professional 2020, with some additional work done in Blender to create trees that would cast shadows (HD2020 trees don't cast shadows). This view shows what the sunlight would look like on May 1st at 8:00 in the morning. The shadows from trees only cast shadows on the branches, so it's a little deceiving - but pretty much I can tell that there will be shade almost up to the top of the hill. By using 3D simulation, I can make a much more accurate assessment about what trees would need to be cut - and the simulation indicates that I can preserve the stand of trees along side the driveway and still get the sun I want on the south garden. @kitasei - there's a lot of opportunity here to increase the insect population, and our plans include substantial areas devoted to increasing the butterfly and bee populations. Converting some areas to mowable meadows can definitely help there. @floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK - as to your point about having trees of different ages, opening up things a little creates opportunity to plant some understory trees that could not quite be so tall when mature, providing a succession strategy that meets our needs for sun on the south, and still preserves the forested area.