Management that restores function and protects soil legacy is highly prized. I seldom put forth a recipe for restoration work because too much depends on the specific site, your goals and your resources. But the beauty of this sequence is that it can work within those parameters while providing guidance on how to plan your management process.
We are restoring 16 acres of remnant oak savanna—some portions were overgrazed while others were severely neglected. Both had a thick understory of invasive woody shrubs. When our journey began, an “expert” from a local prairie organization told me our oak savanna wasn’t worth restoring and nothing would grow under those oaks. Having already had bad advice from this group, we ignored him. Once we cleared the invasive understory brush and managed the wild parsnip and thistle, the sedges flourished! It’s proof that with effort, even challenging sites can thrive. While many might doubt the potential of degraded lands, this example shows the value every ecosystem holds.
Before we began removing the invasive woody shrubs and trees using the cut-and-treat method, the oak savanna suffered. One year later and the bur oaks were freed and it was becoming healthy and functioning.
Think of your oak savanna restoration process as ecological physical therapy, not surgery. Like a good PT program, you start by reducing the biggest sources of strain, then gradually increase “range of motion” with light and space as it learns to recover and support itself. Harsh initial clearing with heavy equipment can damage the soil legacies and immediately blanketing it with fire can cause unnecessary harm or it won’t burn at all, in which case money and resources were wasted. Similar to our physical bodies rehabilitating, consistency beats intensity; we want frequent, low-impact steps that build strength and flexibility without setbacks.
PHASE 1 — Stabilize the system (Year 0–1)
Your goal is to stop the ongoing degradation without triggering a disturbance shock. You do this by keeping the underground architecture intact and limit soil compaction.
Do:
- Cut-and-treat removal of woody invasives
- Leave roots in place (soil structure protection)
- Avoid dragging slash across soil
- Leave some shade heterogeneity in savannas
- Pause heavy grazing (or shift to very light rotation)
Avoid:
- Dozing shrubs
- Grubbing stumps
- Using heavy machinery
- Whole-site high-intensity fire – this story explains the damage this can do
The before photo of this section of the oak savanna shows the neglect. One year later and the section is on its way to recovery. Working in sections with each phase keeps diversity intact and creates the heterogeneity that supports our birds, insects, and wildlife.
PHASE 2 — Let the land respond (Year 1–2)
You’re diagnosing what life is still there, not imposing a plan yet. This is the most important step, don’t skip it as many do.
Do:
- Cut and treat resprouting non-native woodies
- Control herbaceous invasive plants (either severing roots or with the “spritz” herbicide method (because there is a very small, directed outlay of herbicide and little collateral damage).
Avoid:
- Broadcast or foliar herbiciding
- Soil disturbance by hand pulling
Watch for:
- Native forb and sedge emergence
- Seedbank response
- Changes in grass density
- Light gradients
- Soil surface recovery (litter, soil aggregation)
These are two different areas of our oak savanna, both a year after the initial removal of the invasive woodies. It’s a great joy to see the native plants emerging after years of suppression.
PHASE 3 - Reintroduce disturbance (Year 3–4)
Carefully and gently begin shaping competition while avoiding uniform disturbance pressure. This is the beauty of working in phases and sections. It acts as its own self-regulation against our human tendencies to speed up the process and apply management wholesale.
You should not expect fire to reduce the woody encroachment if ecosystem has resprouting invasive shrubs and trees.
Fire and mowing strategy:
- Patchy burns, not whole-site
- 4+ year return intervals initially, but check the litter accumulation, not the calendar – remember every time you burn, you’ll be stimulating the resprouting woodies. You’ll need to plan follow up management.
- Diversify your management, include mowing (if the terrain allows)
- Leave refugia
Fire and mowing:
- Mowing reduces litter or chops it up , making it easier to microbes to decompose
- The sunlight stimulates suppressed natives
- It also highlights the resprouting woodies that need to be herbicided
- Both makes follow up afterward much easier
The map to the left is how we divided 7 acres of the 16 acres of savanna for management. It’s the same sectioning we used for the initial clearing. If we burn 1 of the 4 sections, we’ll mow another one (if it’s possible) and leave the others as refugia. This is how we create a heterogenic landscape. And give ourselves manageable units for the necessary follow up.
PHASE 4 — Strategic augmentation (Year 4+)
Depending on your ecosystem and its degradation, you might seed in present species in Phase 2, but limit it to the bare areas. By this phase, you would have a very good idea of what species you might want in more areas and what areas might need a bit more assistance.
Consider adding:
- Conservative forbs absent from the seedbank
- Species that fill functional gaps (early spring, deep-rooted, late-season bloomers)
- Sedges
- Native cool season grasses
- Do NOT add any tall C4 grasses (i.e. Indian grass, big bluestem, switchgrass)
Why this works at this phase:
- Soil microbes intact
- Competition reduced
- Light restored
- Nutrient regime still low
By year 4, you should have a beautiful oak savanna. The aboveground diversity and hetereogeneity is visible. The various sedges that sprung forth has been amazing. Not only were the oaks liberated, so was the native vegetation. They are happy, happy, happy!
The mass of Black-eyed Susans in the foreground are from a different restoration phase. Once this portion of the oak savanna was complete, we turned our attention to the “other side” of the ravine.
PHASE 5 — Continue Heterogenic Management
Once system stabilizes:
- You could introduce light, rotational grazing
- Or create your own grazing effects with a brushcutter or mower
It didn’t become degraded overnight. Rushinig The value of this sequence is it works with the ecosystem rather than overwriting it. And it’s easily to tailor to your goals, times, and resources.
Restoration isn’t quick. Patience is required. Rushing the process can cause more damage, like it did in the the oak savanna story. Sadly, that wasn’t the only example of this happening, it was merely the one that was written up. It’s a cautionary tale for our impatience.