Saturday, July 29, 2017

Story of a backyard open oak woodland: part 2

This is Part 2 of the saga of how we turned our small backyard from scrawny lawn to lush open oak woodland. Access Part 1 with this link.

Kathie and I live in the Village of Shorewood Hills and the word “wood” in the name is apropos. According to the early history of the village, there were open areas and then there were patches of woods that went back to presettlement times. The native trees are all oaks, mostly white (Quercus alba), although there are also some mature bur oaks (Q. macrocarpa). It’s a great area to live in, and although we have large branches hanging over the roof, so far we haven’t had any roof damage.

I think most gardeners would agree that you can’t get a good lawn if its too shady. After 36 years of mowing a scrawny lawn, and with lots of experience doing restoration work at Pleasant Valley Conservancy, we decided to turn our backyard into an open oak woodland.

Kathie started the conversion in the fall of 2011, so this is now the sixth growing season. The species list below shows 48 species, including 5 State-listed species. Pretty good, considering that the area is about 40 X 66 feet.

The original lawn was killed in the summer of 2011 with glyphosate and by late fall the ground was bare. It was planted with oak woodlands seed mix, and then hand-weeded the following summer. Each year a few new species have been added, and hand weeding continues.

Early summer 2012

Late summer 2017


The table gives the current flora. The only species on the list that might be questioned is the lily, whose identity is uncertain. This came from a former next-door neighbor, who did not like the color!

Latin name
Common name
State-listed
1
Actaea alba
White baneberry
2
Actaea rubra
Red baneberry
3
Adiantum pedatum
Maidenhair fern
4
Agastache nepetoides
Yellow giant hyssop
****
5
Agastache scrophulariaefolia
Purple giant hyssop
6
Anemone virginiana
Woodland thimbleweed
7
Apios americana
Hot peanut
8
Aquilegia canadensis
Wild columbine
9
Arisaema triphyllum
Jack-in-the-pulpit
10
Asarum canadense
Wild ginger
11
Asclepias purpurascens
Purple milkweed
****
12
Aster lateriflorus
Calico aster
13
Aster novae-angliae
New England aster
14
Aster sagittifolius
Arrow-leaved aster
15
Bromus latiglumis
Ear-leaved brome
16
Campanula americana
Tall bellflower
17
Cimicifuga racemosa
Black cohosh
18
Cryptotaenia canadensis
Honewort
19
Elymus riparius
Woodland wild rye
20
Erigeron strigosus
Daisy fleabane
21
Eupatorium purpureum
Purple joe-pye weed
22
Eupatorium sessilifolium
Upland boneset
****
23
Geranium maculatum
Wild geranium
24
Hackelia virginiana
Stickseed
25
Hasteola suaveolens
Sweet Indian plantain
****
26
Hydrophyllum virginianum
Water leaf
27
Impatiens sp.
Jewel weed
28
Lilium spp
Trumpet lily
29
Mertensia virginica
Bluebells
30
Monarda fistulosa
Wild bergamot
31
Napaea dioica
Glade mallow
****
32
Osmorhiza longistylis
Smooth sweet cicely
33
Phlox divericata
Woodland phlox
34
Podophyllum peltatum
May-apple
35
Polygonatum biflorum
Smooth Solomon's seal
36
Prenanthes alba
Lion's foot
37
Ratibida pinnata
Yellow coneflower
38
Rudbeckia hirta
Black-eyed Susan
39
Smilacina racemosa
False Solomon's seal
40
Solidago flexicaulis
Zig-zag goldenrod
41
Solidago speciosa
Showy goldenrod
42
Solidago ulmifolia
Elm-leaved goldenrod
43
Tradescantia ohiensis
Common spiderwort
44
Trillium grandiflorum
Large-flowered trillium
45
Uvularia grandiflora
Bellwort
46
Veronicastrum virginicum
Culver's root
47
Viola soraria
Door-yard violet
48
Zizia aurea
Golden Alexanders


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