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Oak Savanna Garden Design: Going Beyond 'Prairie Style' Pollinator Gardens
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Oak Savanna Garden Design: Going Beyond ‘Prairie Style’ Pollinator Gardens



Oak Savanna Garden Design: Going Beyond ‘Prairie Style’ Pollinator Gardens To Maximize Ecological Services in your Yard

Oak Savanna systems are the perfect model for creating gardens that offer what entomologist Douglas Tallamy calls “hyper-productive keystone species,” which are essential to support the complex food webs in our own yards. Most urban and suburban yards have the conditions for Oak Savanna-style gardens, so why are prairies and forests the default model for native gardens? Mike Weis, native garden designer and advocate, will explore this question and discuss how to create an Oak Savanna.

8 Comments

  1. @LMLewis

    Watching from Texas. We have Post Oak savannah's here that look amazingly like your Burr Oak savannah although the component species differ. I live in an area called the Cross Timbers, included in the gray area shown on your map.

  3. @ciimoon5661

    regarding the deer question, down here in tx we have plentiful deer. the double fence can create problems, you have to be careful about the spacing. It often happens when neighbors have fences adjacent and running parralel to one another, deer will try hopping fence and get stuck in between the two fencing. This has happened a couple times a year for me, sometimes I can encourage a deer to back out to the end of the fence line, but not without lots of injuries. I've had a couple casualties where they couldnt get out and died there. be careful about the spacing if you try this. (if deer get spooked by a person or dog, they will run into a fence and try hopping it no matter how tall and how many parallel fences, in survival mode, they will try and often get tangled-this is always a risk). I would also add regarding the burning, that if done right, can create that biochar and mycorhizal fungi layer that is beneficial to the ecosystem.

  7. @susangarcia2417

    Wow. I lived in a home in IL on the edge of "Marsh" woods and i struggled with the deep shade. Then it sloped down about 30' into full sun and lawn. This one video explained it all. Im currently surrounded by neighbors Maple, locust and oaks and i have been creating the understory into full sun prairie. I'm using viburnums, hydrangea (smooth), pagoda dogwood, service berry, and spring ephemerals and carex. I will revisit this over & over for inspiration.

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