After considering what both you and Carl have posted, I think that I will now remove the tarp and add a couple more inches of soil increasing the slop away from the house even more than it is now. In the past the concrete side walk seems to have been a barrier helping trap water between it and the house. But, that was before I filled the old shrub holes and added additional slope. I will see how that works out and it would be great if nothing additional is needed. My water supply line is at the beginning of the picture approx. 2' below grade and in the past water has seeped in there. I may have to give that area additional attention after removing the tarp.

I think sedge too. Pull one and look at the main stem. Is is triangular? Growing leaves in roughly three different directions? (grasses grow leaves opposite one another, sedges grow them roughly 120 degrees from each other, hence the triangular stems.) Are the leaves shiny and waxy? If so it is almost without a doubt nutsedge. Put more simply, if the stem is triangular it is a sedge, and not a grass, and the only thing you need to figure out is what sedge, exactly, it is. But still if the stem is triangular and it is growing in your lawn it is probably some variety of nutsedge. Which is a problem, because these weeds grow underground storage systems (nuts - hence the name) to help them rejuvenate after you pull them. So to get rid of them you have to either pull them like every other day for a year, or apply a product like Sedgehammer. MSMA also has an effect on them, but it is relatively mild and not nearly as effective as the more expensive and harder to find sedgehammer.

I'm looking for some input on what kind of wild grass to plant in the woodland behind our home. I want something that can serve as a ground-cover and food source for the local wildlife. I'd like to find a plant that will grow up to at least 24" in height and can easily be spread over the forest floor without a great deal of preparation work involved with the soil... if such a thing exists!! The amount of area I want to cover is only about 1 acre and the land is wooded but not heavily. The plant will need to be somewhat shade tolerant but will receive a fair amount of sunlight at various times of the day.

what zone?