The destination of the end of the driveway is the front door and the garage or the road and the mailbox. More to the point is what do you want to use this new cleared ground for? More vegetables was one. What else?

Maybe the point is the view coming and going. Maybe the point is attracting pollinators for the vegetables. Maybe you need more parking or a supply loading area. What other purpose might this space serve? It has to have a function to be a destination.

For this year you can just keep it mowed down as a good start.

Christopher - I'm planning on some native shrubs (hazelnut and serviceberry; maybe ninebark). Maybe flowering dogwood at the tree line, for beautiful spring blooms. Possible uses include pollinator habitat and an herb garden. Outdoor yoga space could be nice - maybe a raised deck platform? Views - I'd like it to draw the eye to the house when coming in the driveway, but also look good when looking out from inside.

Function is harder, because its original function was just "be shorter so the veg garden can get enough sun." It's really screaming for a shed office (I work from home), but I don't think that's in the budget...and do I really need another space to clean and maintain?

And good point about just keeping it mowed. Though we've lived here for years, this is functionally new land. I don't even know how the light is going to hit it yet.

Thanks, Christopher! I will definitely ponder that. It would suit the house (and my landscaping style) well, I think. The idea of scattering the shrubs is new - I'd been trying to group them somehow, and kept ending up lining them up along under the trees...booooring.

Flow, movement. Let your shrubs dance through the meadow in small groups and drifts. The view will change as you are coming and going.

Love all the ideas! I would add to this clumps of Spring blooming bulbs, it would look glorious!

Reality check - If all you did was cut down the small trees and shrubs that were there, you will want to keep it frequently mowed for a couple seasons at least. Otherwise, everything that you cut back will just resprout from the roots. In the meantime, watch the sun and shade in the areas where you want veggies and perhaps set up poles of different sizes in different locations along the driveway area so you can determine the height of the plants that will work there without casting too much shade during the growing season. Depending on where you are, there may be a lot of variability in sun angles as the season progresses, so you will want to check at least once a week for one whole growing season.

You say you want natives, but that you cut down what was there initially. Do you know what was there, as in did you get it IDed? For instance you mention hazelnuts, which to my eyes are just shrubby looking. They grow along my woodland edges and I didn’t remove them because they are site appropriate and provide food to wildlife, but they surely are not ornamental (a suckering mound of tangled greenery) and I have never harvested a nut because any that form are harvested by critters first. On my property there are various categories of ornamentals:

- natives that provide flowers or fall color or a nice winter presence and so have ornamental value

- natives that provide value for wildlife, but aren’t necessarily visually interesting

- non-natives that are ornamental and provide some wildlife value such as flowers that attract pollinators

- nonnative invasives.

So you want to consider your goals for the space (do you really want to do yoga next to the driveway? Do you want flowers or wildlife or ...?), consider maintenance (once the initial woody stuff is mowed often enough so that it dies back due to not having enough leaves to survive), and then start looking at spacing and what plants should be used. Look at websites, books from the bookstore or public library or magazines to get ideas for what appeals to you and would be within your skill set.

This may not be the advice you were looking for and I don’t want to discourage you, but planning and planting a large space like this isn’t a one and done activity. It can be overwhelming, so take it in steps. Perhaps this summer plan to get the veggie garden placed and started, and work on maintenance of the edges of the drive. Next season continue the veggies and maintenance, but also start planning for early fall plantings of your mixed shrubs and meadow. You will need to have access to a brush mower of some kind to mow your meadow once or twice a year (I have a tractor with a brush hog but there are smaller machines) because you live in an area where if a field is left unmowed it becomes forest in a surprisingly short time.

Let us know how it goes. I love it when folks come back with progress reports.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply! The area had lots of black cherry, boxwood, and one elm tree, all of which were pulled out by the roots. The brush is being chipped in a couple weeks and will be spread back into the area. There are some 1/4" thick knee-high things (gooseberries, saplings) and I expect there will be a lot of buckthorn and honeysuckle sprouting now that the seedbed is disturbed. So yes - that will continue to need work and attention.

Part of the reason I want to put in shrubs is to shade out the invasives that I know are lurking in the wings. Scrubby is ok, especially along the tree line. We live in the woods; I don't want a lawn. This cleared area is larger than I'd expected because when I got the garden-shading trees down, there was a natural break about 20' deep that nearly doubled the cleared area.

I find serviceberries and ninebark to be quite beautiful in all seasons, so they will likely be more front-and-center. Ideally, the edges of the open area would "blend" into the forest, making a transition from the more tended and ornamental area closer to the driveway. I actually feel OK about the edges; I just am not yet sure what to do with the space in the middle. I guess I just need to win the lottery and put in the garden office and pond I'm dreaming of. :)

Mowing isn't my favorite, but it's been a helpful reminder that the world won't end if I just keep it mowed for a couple years while I figure out what to do here. I know I need to observe the space for a while (like, a year) before I have a solid understanding of the sun (and soil, and topography). And, like you said, if I just leave it alone, it'll revert rather quickly, which wouldn't be the worst fate for the bits furthest from the driveway.

Yes it is a process to achieve the concept. You may be pleasantly surprised with the herbaceous plants that show up on their own with a regular mowing regimen.