This past winter, the Oak Harbor Garry Oak Society has been busy planting on campuses around Whidbey Island! Planting locations have included North Whidbey Middle School near the Swirling Leaves Sculpture, the Oak Harbor Christian School, and the Coupeville School District property near the Farm to School fields. Additionally, we provided Garry oak acorns to [...]
On November 15th, 2025, twenty-one volunteers from Oak Harbor Garry Oak Society and the community at large converged on Deception Pass State Park to plant twenty-five Garry Oak seedlings in protective cages. This labor-intensive activity was the first step in the park’s plan to revegetate portions of the large field east of Pass Lake. OHGOS is [...]
After over three years of work researching, writing, and advocating, Smith Park, the emerald jewel of historic downtown Oak Harbor, has now been officially listed on the Washington Heritage Register! At the September 1st, 2023 meeting of the Washington State Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), Kyle Renninger of the Oak Harbor Garry Oak Society [...]
Baby Garry oaks now grace the meadows of North Whidbey's newest conservation area, Whidbey Camano Land Trust's Strawberry Point Preserve! Volunteers braved rain, sun, and summer-hardened soils to get 12 baby oaks in the ground all grown from our own local acorns. Thank you members, volunteers, donors, and partners. It takes the entire ecosystem of [...]
The weather was sure nice for a late November day planting Garry Oak seedlings at Maxwelton Farm on southern Whidbey Island. 13 Garry oak seedlings were planted, and two more will be tucked into a nearby location in the coming days. Enthusiastic volunteers, about 17, showed up to help, plus two huge dogs that were [...]
Oak Harbor Garry Oak Society and the Whidbey Camano Land Trust got together to plant Garry oaks at Del Fairfax preserve on Oct. 16th. Seventeen adult volunteers and three youngsters enthusiastically helped to get ten oak seedlings and five direct-sow acorns in the ground and to install protective cages around each of them. All the [...]
Oak Harbor Garry Oak Society (OHGOS) meetings are postponed until further notice. However, we wanted to take a minute to share about OHGOS volunteers who made a difference in a big way locally at three separate events. In mid-February there was a work party in Smith Park. Volunteers weeded and mulched landscape islands around oaks in the Park. [...]
On October 14th, 2019, Oak Harbor City Parks Board voted unanimously to begin the policy of deferred lawn mowing in Smith Park, a proposal put forth by Oak Harbor Garry Oak Society, in order to allow ecologically important native wildflowers to fully bloom and set seed. The practice of deferred mowing will allow the resurgence of [...]
Keeping the "Oak" in Oak Harbor Intrepid volunteers, 10 adults and two youngsters, got the planting job done in Lueck and Ridgeway Parks today in Oak Harbor! Our cheerful helpers planted and placed cage protection around new Garry oak tree seedlings despite the rain. In subsequent days, volunteers continued planting in Kimball Park and [...]
Harvest time is upon us. Gratefully, we see the acorn harvest this year compared to last year has been especially plentiful! Our group has been busy collecting acorns and planting them in tall pots for future planting projects. Beyond acorns, we have also collected Garry oak twigs, pieces of bark, lichens and mosses, leaves, and selected [...]
