Creating a woodland transition

The backyard of this property has a small lawn that gets heavy use so we kept that as is but the homeowners were interested in transforming the upper tiered space underneath a hedge of Eastern Hemlock trees as a garden bed. The lot backed up to a wooded ravine so I consider this small space between the yard and the ravine as a transition zone that blends the domestic with the wild. At the time the beds were overgrown with invasive English Ivy and Creeping Myrtle Vinca vines which were spreading outside of the yard and down into the ravine choking out the native vegetation and strangling the Black Oaks. I removed the vines and replaced them with native woodland species like Christmas Ferns, Bloodroot, Hepatica, Blue-stemmed Goldenrod, Purple Cress, Plantain Sedge, as well as Leatherwood, Wild Currant and Spicebush shrubs. Not only will this new bed of native species be a beautiful backyard garden landscape and a much-needed food source for early Spring pollinators but it will also increase the health of the wild ravine beyond the border of the property.