Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: understory trees, 1 by Pseudo

Pseudo wrote:
I'm putting together a plan for an understory planting of small trees in a roughly 2 acre woodland site, which is located between the road and house. I took advantage of the warm weather this past weekend, which melted the snow cover, and snapped a few pics of the site. I think this area would best be described as open shade. We've lost many of the native Northern Pin Oaks over the years, which has opened up the woods considerably. Flowering trees would be great, but I'm more interested in planting a mix of small trees and large shrubs that will be happy in this woodland setting. It will get dry, but there are a few native Linden's mixed in, which I'll take as a positive sign.

A few trees under consideration include Carpinus carolinana, Ostrya virginiana, Hamamelis virginiana, Acer pensylvanicum, and Cercis canadensis. Pagoda Dogwood would look great in this setting, but the two I've tried thus far have been decimated by deer. All measures to protect them have failed -- they will not leave them alone! BTW, the small vase-shaped tree you see in front of pic #1 near path is A. tegmentosum 'Joe Witt', which is doing fairly well after a couple of years.

I can water to these trees for the first 2-3 years, but they need to be on their own after that. I'd like the majority to be native plants, but I'm open to planting a few non-natives. Any suggestions?

Pseudo