When we purchased our farm almost 15 years ago, we were drawn to the land not only for its farming potential but also for the chance to enjoy the wooded for recreation. One section of the woods featured a magesticl old-growth oak savanna, but it was completely overtaken by buckthorn.
Restoring this oak savanna and removing the invasive buckthorn was always part of our conservation goals. However, it was one of many items on our long to-do list as we worked to get our retired, yet new-to-us, farm back up and running with livestock.
This blog post shares our journey of restoring the old-growth oak savanna and removing buckthorn. It’s still a work in progress, so I’ll continue updating this post with new videos and information along the way. This project is also in collaboration with the USDA NRCS.
Table of contents
- About our old-growth oak savanna
- The planning phase for restoration
- Phase I: Buckthorn removal with a fecon mower
- Phase II: Managing Buckthorn Regrowth
- Phase III: Stump removal, regrowth management, and pollinator Planting
- Phase IV: Tree planting, continued buckthorn regrowth management
- Looking ahead: Managed grazing for ongoing buckthorn control
About our old-growth oak savanna
In Wisconsin, the shift away from pasture rotations on many dairy farms in the 1960s, often keeping livestock closer to the milking barn. Many of these oak savannas, like ours, went from an open prairie with scattered oak tress were grazed a few times a season, to no major animal activity. Long before farms, it was the migration of bison that helped manage these ecosystems.
Without grazing, invasive species like buckthorn moved in, the tree canopy thickened, and any new oak seedlings were smothered. This also prevented understory plants such as grasses, forbs, and pollinator-friendly plants from growing, leaving much of the ground bare. The loss of habitat impacted local wildlife by reducing both food sources and shelter.
In our oak savanna, the buckthorn had grown into full-sized trees, making removal and management especially challenging.
Before we started working with NRCS, we had already been using our herd of goats for brush management. We’d rotate them through the area for 4–7 days at a time using temporary electric fencing (like electronet). While the goats helped, they weren’t enough to stop the buckthorn’s regrowth, let alone remove it entirely.
Since we were already collaborating with NRCS on other conservation projects around the farm, we began discussing our resource concerns for this section of our land.
The planning phase for restoration
To start we worked with NRCS (conservationist and forester) and a consultant forester (local technical service provider) to create a Forestry Plan for our farm. This plan covered not just the oak savanna but also our other wooded areas. It included an assessment of the woods, resource challenges, and how we use the property, whether for recreation, maple sap harvesting, or managed grazing.
Once the plan was approved, it guided us in prioritizing our conservation and restoration efforts. With our county NRCS conservationist, we developed a forestry project for the oak savanna, which included buckthorn removal and management, planting for pollinators, and adding more oak trees.
Phase I: Buckthorn removal with a fecon mower
Year 1: Given the size of this project, we started with mechanical removal. Using a Fecon mower mounted on a skid steer, we cut the buckthorn down to stumps.
That winter was particularly snowy, so we had to wait until early spring to start mowing. Even then, we were dealing with about two feet of snow on the ground. Since our time with the equipment was limited, we did what we could. This left us with two-foot-high buckthorn stumps throughout the area, but it was still a big improvement over the dense trees.
Video of phase I: Buckthorn removal with fecon mulching
Phase II: Managing Buckthorn Regrowth
Year 1: After we mulched the buckthorn during the winter, it didn’t take long for the buckthorn to start to regrow. Once the snow melted, all the stumps left behind started sprouting new growth.
By spring, the area looked like a young buckthorn forest full of new shoots.
To manage the regrowth, we used our goats and sheep. We set up electric net fencing and a portable energizer to rotate them through small paddocks within the woods. A water tank system and our livestock guardian dogs were also part of the setup.
By concentrating their grazing, the goats and sheep helped knock back the new buckthorn shoots. We used this area as part of our regular grazing rotation, which also gave our pastures and hayfields more rest during the season.
The following spring, once the ground thawed and was still soft, we brought in our bulldozer. We pushed out the remaining buckthorn stumps and created piles with the brush.
Some of the piles were burned that spring. Others will be burned in future winters when there’s enough snow on the ground to do it safely.
We also used the bulldozer to level out the areas where the stumps had been. This helps prevent large holes from becoming a problem for our equipment, livestock, or wildlife moving through the area.
This work sets us up for the next stage: planting native pollinator species to bring more biodiversity back to this oak savanna.
Video of Phase II: Managing regrowth and stump removal
See how we used goats, sheep, and a bulldozer to manage buckthorn regrowth and prepare the site for restoration.
Phase III: Stump removal, regrowth management, and pollinator Planting
Year 2: In the spring, when the soil was still soft, we used our bulldozer to push the stumps out of the ground and pile them up. Over time, we’ll burn these piles during the winter.
Next, we prepared the site for pollinator planting. Since removing the stumps left holes in the ground, we smoothed out the soil to make the area safer for us and our livestock (no twisted ankles or falls) and to ensure good soil contact for our no-till drill when planting the pollinator mix.
Once planted, we let the mix grow and did a midsummer mowing to encourage it and help suppress buckthorn regrowth. We plan to manage this area with grazing in the future, but for now, we’re giving the pollinator planting time to establish before introducing livestock.
Video coming soon.
Phase IV: Tree planting, continued buckthorn regrowth management
Year 3: This year, we planted 400 oak trees, including bur, white, and red oaks, across the project area. While we’re committed to preserving the old-growth oaks, we also want to establish the next generation of trees.
Later this summer, we’ll mow the area again, instead of using our goats and sheep. This will give the pollinator mix more time to establish and help protect the young trees (which are caged for protection) from damage. It will also help us stay on top of any buckthorn regrowth.
Video coming soon.
Looking ahead: Managed grazing for ongoing buckthorn control
In the future, we plan to use our goats and sheep for ongoing management of any buckthorn regrowth through rotational grazing. I will continue to share more updates on this project as it progresses.
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