I am totally into swampy areas. There is little water where I live; an occasional creek to enjoy, but rain is not a common occurrence. So, I want watery stuff, mucky mud and mist to paint.
DOF still presents a problem.
Arches 140# CP; hake brush for the most part.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 
What’s the problem with the DOF, looks good from here.
To me, the issue is a sense of distance. The further away, the lighter and more grey unless lighting dictates otherwise. I tried to get that – and the distant trees were to have mist between the ground and their crowns. Didn’t work. Warmer color is in foreground. Seems rather formulaic, I guess, in painting, but maybe because I don’t have depth perception, when I try to express it, I get aggravated. So, that is why!!
Think you may be overthinking it 🙂 I can see the mist under the crowns and the faded final background trees give a sense of distance, no problems there.
Great composition and very firm colors! Thank you!
Fraggy, thanks for the comments. The tees were not misty enough in my opinion, and the values were bright all the way from the forefront to the distance. As this is something I am rather focusing on, for probably 10 minutes given my monkey mind, it is a glaring issue!