Stop the European Oak Borer! Go with Native Oaks Instead!

Oaks make excellent hardwood, shade trees. They grow tall and full and once grew in large oak forests and oak savannas in North America. They are excellent for wildlife; they provide homes for cavity nest birds, acorns are eaten by birds and mammals, and they house a variety of insects which in turn provide food for other animals like Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, and Creepers. If you are looking to plant an Oak, you will find that you have a host of options; here's some information on the Oaks you may encounter.

The Heritage Oak or the English Oak is an invasive species from Europe. It's commercially available and has introduced the European Oak Borer to Oak forests in Canada and Michigan. The European Oak Borer is a potential threat to native Oak species and provides sufficient justification for planting native Oaks instead.

Historically many of the ecosystems found in the Midwest were transitionary from the forests of the Eastern United States to the prairies and grasslands of the Great Plains. Many species of Oak are relatively fire tolerant; this meant that they could survive grassland fires when other species of tree could not. The specific species of Oak which made up the Oak Savanna varied by state, but the following species are likely to be commercially at your local nursery and could be found in the Oak Savanna:

• Black Oak
• Bur Oak
• Norther Red Oak
• Pin Oak
• Swamp White Oak
• White Oak

Drier, more open sites may have been more prone to fire. The Bur Oak, Black Oak, and White Oak grew in stands along side prairie grasses and wildflowers as well as shrubs like the American Hazelnut. Cavity nesters which depended on these stands include the Eastern Bluebird and Red Headed Woodpecker. The Red Headed Woodpecker is a species in decline due in part to its dependence on these sites and particularly its use of dead Oaks when nesting.

Fuller stands of Oak also included the Northern Red Oak but would have appeared with fewer prairie grasses and wildflowers. The frequent wildfires prevented the development of much woody or shrubby understory, but thicker stands of Oaks would have had shade tolerant plants growing below them such as Culver's Root, Bottle Brush Grass, or Bush Clover. Denser stands of Oak can support bird species normally associated with woodlands including: Tufted Titmouse, Scarlet Tanager, and Yellow Throated Vireo.

This American Robin surveyed the ground below from our Northern Red Oak

We've opted to plant a Northern Red Oak and a Swamp White Oak in the northern half of our front yard. We also included two Nanny Berry Viburnums, after reading this list of shrubs. This summer to continue the Oak-Savanna-fication of our yard, we plan to put in some Little Blue Stem and some TBD wildflowers. This effort will help contribute to creating a no-mow area in the front and help us landscape using plants from the same biome to recreate habitat.

This is the Red Oak we planted two years ago in our front yard.

If you are interested in getting starting with native plants, Oaks are great place to start because there are so many to choose from, and they are capable of doing a lot of good on their own supporting countless species which I did not detail here. If you are so inclined, here are some other good reads about Oak habitats:

• Wisconsin DNR Savanna Communities
• Oak Savannas Dot Org
• Michigan DNR - Oak Savanna

Winged Wednesday - Five Things to Consider About Bird Houses

Bird houses can make excellent decorations in your lawn, and they can also help support native cavity nesting birds such as: Black Capped Chickadees, Eastern Bluebirds, House Wrens, Tree Swallows, and even Woodpeckers. Here are some things to consider when deciding if a bird house is right for you.

Select a bird to attract. Have some idea about what kind of bird you wish to attract. Bird houses come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can / should be mounted at different heights depending on the bird you wish to attract. A small house hung at four to five feet might be cozy for a Chickadee or a House Wren but would never do for an American Kestrel or a Wood Duck.

House Wrens use our nest box in the garden after the Chickadees each summer.

Beware of invasive species. House Sparrows and Starlings may attempt to use the bird house or drive out native birds. This again may affect your selection. If your yard is frequented by these birds, a smaller Wren house might be your best option as the small diameter of the hole will prevent larger birds from nesting. You may also be able to prevent nesting by delaying when you open your houses for business. I've found that if our bird houses are ready to go in March, the House Sparrows are happy to check them out, but if I wait until a week or two in April, the Chickadees and Wrens make good use of the houses with little to no trouble from the Sparrows. Note that House Sparrows and Starlings may attack native birds to take over an attractive nest site, you may need to reconsider putting up a bird house at all.

Inspect the nest site. Be aware of who is using your bird house, when they laid their eggs, how successful they were, and when they are done. It is interesting to watch baby birds grow up, but it is also practical. After the first brood has left, you can clean out the bird house so another nest can be built without the risk of diseases or parasites being carried over from the first nest.

This was the Chickadee nest from last year.

Be prepared to do some cleaning. Birds are fairly messy. The nests are fascinating works of art made of dead plant material, string, animal fur, etc. And the birds will use the nest as a bathroom. Even if you decide not to clean out the box between broods, you need to clean out the nest box at the end of the season.

Consider the construction material. Cedar is generally best, it's natural, hardy, and water tolerant. Other materials like PVC may also be okay. Wood painted or chemically treated may be bad for the health of the birds.

The Bluebird Restoration Association of Wisconsin has a pretty detailed packet you can read here.

Leave that Austrian Pine Behind, Try These Pines Instead

Conifers make really great additions to our lawns. Many remain green through the winter; they provide shelter for birds, and they can be used as wind blocks. They can grow into big, majestic looking trees which cry out "wilderness" as though they belong with the great Redwoods of the West Coast.

Pine trees in particular strike us. More often than not when evergreen trees are misidentified, they are misidentified as pines. "Look at those pine trees." "I found those pine cones." In many cases, the tree identified could be a Fir or Spruce. People assume Pine and evergreen are synonymous. This says something about Pines, they are the representative for all evergreen trees.

The Austrian Pine is a relatively popular choice for yard and urban plantings. The tree tends be very full and is popular because it's tolerant of winter salting. This tree is capable of naturalizing and becoming invasive. It was cleared from the Sleeping Bear Dunes on Lake Michigan in 2011 and can be found in wild tree stands in the Eastern United States.

Like many other plants, there are native alternatives to consider when selecting a pine.

The Eastern White Pine is an excellent choice. Not only is it native, but it's fairly common and commercially available. It's also the tallest conifer native to the Eastern U.S. The White Pine grows quickly but is not as salt tolerant as the Austrian Pine. White Pines are not necessarily good choices when planting along side roads and sidewalks because they may succumb to salt injury. However, they can be a beautiful addition to your yard and may help attract song birds such as Pine Grosbeaks.

This Eastern White Pine grows in our front yard.

The Jack Pine can be found natively in parts of the Midwest including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. Young Jack Pines may attract nesting Kirtland's Warblers, so like the Eastern White Pine they can be good for attracting birds. They are also one of the first trees to grow after forest fires as the cones will open from immense heat of the fire. Jack Pine is more salt tolerant than White Pine and will do better along roadsides.

Red Pine (also called Norway Pine) is native to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. It is the official state tree of Minnesota. The tree tends to be very healthy and resistant to pests. This Pine does not grow as tall as other Pines and should max out around 50 feet. The Red Pine can be an attractive addition to your landscaping because of its unique reddish bark. The Red Pine like the White Pine may succumb to salt injury and should not be planted in areas which receive heavy winter salting.

If you are planning on putting in any Pines this spring try to see if you can find a White Pine, Jack Pine, or a Red Pine; they are excellent choices when going native.

A Year of Biodiversity in a Wisconsin Yard - 2013 Review

We've been keeping a spreadsheet of the animals residing in our yard throughout the year. Each time we see a new species, the species is added to the spreadsheet, and the count is updated. Ideally if planting native flora is beneficial, the yard should become a haven for fauna, so as part of our grand experiment we are tracking the results.

Below is a table showing a summary of our identified visitors since we started the tracking spreadsheet.

Year	Reptile / Amph.	Mammals	Bees / Butterflies	Birds
2012	1	5	13	31
2013	1	7	14	40

Highlights from 2013

We had a marsupial visitor early in the morning during the early Spring. This was the first time we saw a Virginia Opossum in our yard.


This Red Tailed Hawk used our neighbor's tree to do some hunting in our yard.


We had an Eastern Bluebird come check out the garden's bird house, only to discover the Chickadees had gotten their first.


Of the 5 eggs, 3 successfully hatched, fledged, and left the box.


We had Baltimore Orioles for the first time. They hung out for a couple of weeks in May.


There was also the turkey from this post.


The flowers also did a reasonable job attracting butterflies including this Black Swallowtail.

2013 was a pretty good year for us with lots of interesting happenings in the yard. We're looking forward to an equally eventful 2014.