Bird - I believe, no, I'm quite sure, nandina is self-fruitful. I had a single compact variety for several years, which fruited well with no mate. Nandina is rarely if ever grown in this part of the country, and I know there isn't one near me. I now have a pair of the species, also fruiting nicely, and since they're from the same parent plant I know they're not different genders. They are from Lazy S's Farm, and L.S.F. tells me the parent plant is by the door to the house. They hack it back to keep it in its allotted space, and, apparently, to take cuttings. These two are young - maybe 2 years - so I don't have any personal experience with their ultimate size. The texture and foliage are fabulous; glossy, deep green. I'd think this would make ferns a good foil, since although both are divided foliage, the effect is quite different; but you have some other excellent ideas above. My compact is paired with an asparagus plant (ornamentally grown, not cut in spring) which towers over the nandina with extra-fine ferny (and matte) foliage. At its feet are hellebores and creeping thyme. It works for me. I love the suggestion of liriope - may have to find a place for that in the mix - the white-striped one would be lovely.

It is humid, windy and very rainy here in Southern CT but my hummer is still here - feeding every half hour! Also have a chicadee who thinks she is a hummer and tries the feeder every now and then..fun to watch. Other friends still have theirs also. Amazing how intelligent these little ones are..with some uncanny ability to know just when to leave. I have tried to get a hummer for years before they started to come about 3 years ago. This is the first year I have had any luck having one stay. Thanks for all the tips from everyone - next year I plan to have a lot more plants - and will try to winter some of my gardenmeister fushia and maroon salvia - they seem to really like these plants. I am enjoying every second watching my hummer and hope it flys safely and comes back next year. I just wonder when they will leave... Carol

Virginia Creeper does stick to objects in the same manner as Ivy. It will grow straight up the side of your house, very quickly. AND although easy to remove, it leaves the little marks where it's suckers or feet attached to the house. I know they are native and birds LOVE their berries and where you are located, they may NOT be invasive. BUT here in SUNNY FLORIDA where they can grow year around, they grow for enormous distances horizontally and vertically. The birds devour the berries like candy and consequently they come up volunteer anywhere and everywhere, Apparently every seed that passes through the tummy of a bird is fertile and will grow wherever it falls. They are colorful and provide lots of food for the birds and I would rather have it growing in my yard than poison oak (whose berries are well liked by birds also, by the way) but surely there is some other vine that you would like better.

Lots of good information has been posted already, much of which I totally agree with. Winter is definitely the best time to do the heavy clearing because, as noted, no bugs, and the layers of clothing that are needed don't cause a problem. After trying many different garments I've decided that the Filson tin cloth stuff works best. The multi-flora rose is really tough on everthing else. I wear a pair of the double tin cloth chaps, and the logging jacket. I usually burn the stuff as I'm cutting. I've found that the rose and honeysuckle don't stack well, leaving large piles that just become breeding grounds for new plants that sprout from the seeds. Burning also makes it possible to work in some really nasty weather as you have a source of heat. I use a lot of hand tools, with a good pair of loppers and a hand saw (Fanno makes a wonderful saw for this) being the most useful. Hedge shears come in handy to cut a way into the base of the plant. If you are burning, once the plant has been cut at the base you can often just drag it to the fire. Spring, summer and fall I spend on maintenance of the areas cleared during the winter. In the spring I can usually cut back the new growth with a grass whip on a heavy duty brush cutter. As the growth gets older and tougher I change to the plastic blades and eventually the brush blade. Or a scythe (see scythesupply.com). That tool has been very useful, and very relaxing. I have been using sort of an all-purpose blade, but am thinking of getting a blade just for brush. For larger areas I use a DR mower. There are many things about the mower that I don't like, but it does what the DR folks says it will do, and more. As for the native plants, I do try to save them, but I've found that most will come back if given a chance. So my initial approach is to cut everything but the trees, then when I'm doing maintenance I can be more selective about what I'm going to trim back. A large supply of survey flags will come in handy. Whenever I see something that I want to look at again (like when it is leafing out in spring), or that I really want to save, I stick in a flag. I do this because after clearing the brush I usually scatter some grass seed. The ground is usually almost bare under the rose, honeysuckle and autumn olive. It's amazing how fast the grass will come up and hide all those interesting plants that I might want to save. Each spring I buy 50-100 lbs of seed from Ernst Seeds in western PA. They have an assortment of reclamation mixes that are not too expensive