Huh, my back yard is a gradient of 1-4
this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2025
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What does the undergrowth of an oak hickory Forest look like? People can plant the trees, but how do you get the undergrowth?
Order a bunch of plants that are native to your region, plant the medium and shade loving varieties under the trees, see what sticks
I tried that but the groundhogs and rabbits ate the native plants down to their stems
Get a dog, mine love chasing off groundhogs and the like.
Dogs also typically love to trample the whole yard until it's nothing but clay and dandelions.
Try again but with groundhog and rabbit stew.
I have 20 or so acres of woods behind me. Oak, 2 types of hickory, American beech, and black cherry.
It’s just dirt. These trees have thick ass canopies
Forreal. Packed dirt later looks like... "Dirt." Then heavily compactes leaves and sticks. Then leaves. But it's mostly leaves all the way down. Nothing like trodding atop centuries of pressed organic leaves.
A forest floor shouldn't be heavily compacted, that would also lead to the leaves breaking down instead of just laying there.
Given time enough sand and leaves and other organic matter deposits in the soil, decomposed by long numbers of life cycles together with dirt and moisture becomes soil, but you cannot plant everywhere trees. Imagine plant an oak in the Sahara, no chance it’ll make it after 3 hours at noon. That’s what succession suggests!
At some point, it you're assuming a single infographic is intended to be followed to the letter in every area across the planet, then that misunderstanding is your fault
Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind, thanks again for your time and effort of this comment, it should have been hard to elaborate this concept.
IIRC there are ways to greatly speed this up by selectively planting certain fast growing trees to attract certain birds that will poop all over your lawn thus planting certain seeds. Basically you skip the first two steps with free bird poop. I think it was an old rail siding in London somewhere... or something like that. They planted a single willow tree that attracted the birds and BOOM ~~head shot~~ habitat.
That's really interesting! Do you have any links or more info on this process?
I'll try to find tho links when I have time. Remembering it more, it was I think "anarchist gardening" or something like that. It was a I think the side of a man made ravine that was in stage 1 or 2, so they sped things up a little to make it more habitable.
These aren't the links I was looking for, but they speak of the same thing. Really the one I remember is just one act from one person in what is now a large movement colloquially known as "Guerilla Gardening".
https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-urban-show/urban-gardening/guerrilla-gardening
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/sylvia-wilde-a-forest-garden-primer
The forest garden description is very similar to what I have seen described as a “permaculture forest” elsewhere.
Indeed, I think it's the same thing with the exception that one would be planting a permaculture forest in some sort disused urban area. I suppose "guerilla gardening" is more focused on smaller plants.
Basically you skip the first two steps with free bird poop.
Can i apply this to other areas as well, like building a house or something else?
Of course, but the steps you skip might not be the ones you want to skip. I.e. free bird poop would only come into effect after the house was built progressing between the step of removing a human centred habitat and the gradual growth of a normal habitat.
Okay so where can I grow something that won't be full of ticks?
You foster a family of possums at the same time.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news. Possums don’t eat ticks.
You don't.
Instead, you always have a roving band of chickens following you to eat them.
For a lawn or yard you don't have to go all the way to a forest to have a stablish ecosystem. Perennials can do a lot.
And actually in some places prarieland is probably more important for conservation.
In my case it was plant a couple of native fruit trees for me, dig a small perrenial pond and add some rocks so amphibians can feel safe, and sprinkle in seeds for native grasses, especially edible ones and let nature do it’s work. It was probably my favourite. Loved it.
Shame I don’t live there anymore.
Its easier to get natives but still takes some effort. But its front loaded and makes beautiful spaces
I love this artstyle of "Google images + Photoshop" vibe!
Plant some trees to skip a few steps!
There's no way you're going to get Hickory growing naturally in your garden, unless your garden is in some very specific parts of the world.
So how do I skip the weeds and grasslands stages and go directly to mature oak-hickory forest, then?
Millions of dollars, and taking them from elsewhere.
Artificially plant and water the trees. Gather a lot or pile of branches for dead wood, one of the defining parts of an old growth forest.
This is just an example of course. Succession can look differently and lead to very different results, depending on where exactly it is happening.
I'd also argue, that leaving your garden alone to let succession run its course is not neccessarily the ideal to strive for. Even simply speeding up the process to get to the final stage isn't.
Gardens are a very different sort of ecosystem from an extended woodlands area and there are many ways to use them for human recreation and as a habitat for many species, that even exceed the biodiversity of the potentially naturally occuring ecosystem.
A trimmed suburban lawn is just one of the worst options.
I wish I could allow my yard to revert to the low brush it naturally was, problem is that a certain invasive weed from central fucking Asia would disagree. I blame the fucking Russians.
Is it kudzu? Shit's everywhere.
tumbleweed?
As the other dude noted it's tumbleweed.
I guess I learned our most cherished Western stereotype is actually central asian. And that we have a major problem of invasive species across all biomes.
Where I live you can't cut down a tree, and if it gets destroyed you need to pay thousands for a botanist to come out. I would never take the risk of planting a tree.
Where tf do you live?
Nvm Canada. That would make sense in some places.
Yikes. One of those good in theory, but completely backfired ideas
Hehe. The image makes it look like pine matures to oak and hickory.
this is now canon in the pokemon universe
Tallpine evolved into Oakollossal.
Oakollossal wants to learn Acorn Drop.
Forget a move to learn Acorn Drop?
But the spiders!
I love spiders.
Some spiders are really bad.
....hmmmm...
LOTS of spiders are really bad, and some are acceptable. As long as there is balance and not millions of brown recluses AND they all stay the f away from inside my home.
And they eat the mosquitoes and ticks and whatever else is bad. But also leave the ladybugs and rolley-poleys and honey bees.
And no murder hornets or whatever.. in fact, no hornets at all.
I'll stop at shrubs. Seems like a fair balance