For the Love of Oaks

Look at that red oak acorn! Looking like a chubby head with a cap that's a bit too small!

Did you know that an oak tree has to be 20 years old before it produces acorns? At 20-years, an oak is technically mature, but still just a kid -- kind of like people, I guess.

That is why the state of McHenry County's oak woods is so alarming. The rate things are going, we are going to lose a lot of the large old oaks in the next 20 years, but there are not many young oaks growing in the local woods to take their places when the ancient giants succumb to age or disease.

There are a number of reasons why oaks are not reproducing, but most of the problem has to do with what is happening on the ground under the trees, after the acorns fall. One of two conditions is often to blame: either a lawn is maintained under the oaks - meaning that any young seedlings that start to grow will be killed by the mowers; or, invasive brush chokes them out and blocks the sun that they need to grow!

For many years, I had one of those mowed lawns around our large bur and white oaks on our lot in Harvard. Then, about 5 years ago, we started restoring areas of the yard to native plants, gradually replacing large parts of the lawn with savanna & woodland species - grasses, wildflowers and shrubs like hazelnuts. We even installed a rain garden, and then last fall, mulched a couple of areas extensively to help eliminate even more lawn around the oaks.

And we see young oaks growing, thanks to the many squirrels that bury their acorns all over the yard!

TLC works with a lot of landowners who are tackling buckthorn and honeysuckle thickets around their oaks. One piece of advice we hear over and over again is "start small." Pick one oak, and decide to clear the brush around it - being sure to paint the cut stumps with an appropriate herbicide like glyphosate. When clearing the brush, keep an eye out for any young oaks trying to grow, and avoid harming them -- they are the future!

You don't have to do everything at once, but by resolving to at least start to make things more hospitable for oaks, we can all make a difference!