hey you are a doctor.. right?? .. words mean things ... mulch is a ground cover.. that helps maintain moisture in the soil under ... compost is a soil amendment... that does the same.. but also degrades to amends the soil ... leaf mulch [probably more correctly leaf MOLD] is fresh compost that will amend the soil.. that acts as a mulch.. for a while ... your biggest issue with what you are trying to do ... no matter what you call what you have.. is water management for babes ... and depending how all your stuff settled.. and started decomposing ... no one can really tell you if sowing will work ... if your top dressing is too deep ... and dry on top.. the seeds will fail before they can get a root into mother earth ... since one normally has about double the number of seed you actually need.. providing you are a success.. then frankly.. try both methods.. and learn ... i guess i would be more tempted.. to pull back your leaves.. and make a 6 inch bare earth furrow in the compost ..... as long as need be.. and sow the seed directly on the soil.. and then.. after they germinate.. move the mulch nearer for water retention ... and then when they get big enough.. on a rainy day.. move them around .... and BTW.. you should be doing this in late april.. in MI .. though i presume.. you are just studying up your options in advance ... ken

As I am only in my second season of growing in this situation, I am a complete novice....but a few tentative observations. Firstly, not only is the entire area rooty (it is a poplar plantation) and dry, I have no irrigation either (apart from a ridiculous saucepan on a long stick), so, I am growing from seed, directly in situ, or transferring tiny plants straight into the ground rather than potting them on (which is what I would normally do). As they only get puddled in once, it is quite true to say, the smaller, the better, when it comes down to establishing a rootmass. Then, there are the roots themselves. The bigger, the better....so, looking at what is growing already, I am seeing plants with great tap-roots or vigorous rhizome-y type affairs which can search out the (plentiful) water down at water table level. Cow parsley, hogweeds, nettles are all rampant....which gives me huge encouragement as my woods are nothing like evergreen plantations or beechwoods. Grasses grow freely, so I have added clovers and sainfoins, along with many wildflower seeds. Bulbs, of course, are an obvious suggestion - 3000 narcissi were planted last year - after 50 years of fallow neglect, the fertility in the soil is surprisingly high (as the chickweed and nettle attests) and I am helping out further with comfrey. and various legumes (the lathyrus of various types are doing well) From seed, foxgloves, meconopsis, aquilegias, hesperis, hardy geraniums, salvias, callirhoe, linaria, martagons, bluebells, campanulas, cenolophium, peucedanum, chaerophyllum, millium, valerian, campions,lysimachias and epilobiums are thriving....and I have added many other varieties (as I feel it is going to involve harsh selection and extensive culling). Of course, I am still feverish with delight at owning A WOOD....although I alternate between despair, glee, delusional tendencies and insane optimism....sometimes in the same day..

Hi Lori... Thanks for that info on Virginia Creeper. It sounds like it grows slower in the shade, but I really try hard not to choose plant material that is going to become a future problem for me or my neighbors, whether it is native or not. I think I am going to still find someone else who can use it. If I had a different property with more room and a wooded area that I could let it loose in, I would love to try it. It sounds very pretty. Thanks for the arrowwood tip. I know the NEWFS does usually have that one. maifleur....yes, you are lucky to have such a nice neighbor. I also have been given permission from two of my neighbors to trim their trees that overhang my yard. I am pretty sure I don't need their permission to trim what overhangs my yard though. It is nice to check and let them know what you are trying to do though. I hate to prune a tree in a way that distorts it's shape and I try not to do that. We do have a huge limb that was hanging over and it was so long and heavy, that it would dip to about 2-3 feet off the ground in a storm. We deicided to cut it back before it came down unplanned and took out half my shrubs with it. We tried trimming it back as little as possible but now we are unhappy with the stump that it left that has very little regrowth on it, so we are planning on cutting it back further to another joint where a good size branch is heading in another direction. Some of the other overhanging branches can also be trimmed, but the problem is, that the neighbors planted their trees, right up against the lot line. One is about 6 feet away from our fence and the other is less than a foot away, so half of the canopy of the tree is over our yard. I am sure trimming back the trees will help but some of my dry shade is going to stay dry shade no matter what I do. [g] I do have some good news though. In the beginning of the summer a neighbor two yards over cut down a tree. I thought it might open up more light for us. I just got around to checking it out. I was out in the yard all afternoon yesterday and I saw direct sun hitting the back of my border along a good 4 fence sections, from 2pm to 4:30pm! I was so encouraged by that. That is going to help my shrubs a lot!

I know this is old but if your still looking for the right thing to plant You might try hydrangas, tiny Japanese maple, a garden sculpture made of chicken wire with succulants, gardinas, cammillias and there is a beautiful Japanese holly that has sort of purpley leaves and berries (sorry not sure of the name) that might also work, there were some great ideas on this tread so hopefully something will work, I also have an entire back yard very shady some intense shade and some filtered, just b sure you have the soil amended and water and fertilize correctly, because I have figured out that that can go along ways in getting a plant that might not work in certain spots to cooperate with you and be happy