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.

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!