I named this blog “Our Hammock House,” not because we have a hammock at our house (although that sounds relaxing and we really should get one), but because our house is in a hammock. So, what does that mean?
Well, in Northwest Florida, a “hammock” is a diverse hardwood forest. The Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida has an excellent display all about the Northwest Florida hammocks, and I got the information for this post from the museum and its website. According to the museum, North Florida hammocks have the greatest number of tree and shrub species per acre of all temperate forests in the continental United States. Pretty cool!
A hammock has different layers, including (1) a canopy, (2) a subcanopy and shrub, (3) the ground/forest floor, and (4) below ground. In a hammock, the largest trees form a canopy more than 50 feet high. The dense canopy shuts out most of the sunlight that other plants need for photosynthesis, so only shade-tolerant plants can survive under the canopy.
A wide variety of plants and animals live in the hammock. Some of the species in the Northwest Florida hammock occur nowhere else in the world. There are different types of hammocks – wet, dry, and in-between – and different types of plants grow in each.
So, our house was built in a Northwest Florida hammock. Our property is filled with very tall, very old trees, including white oaks, pines, magnolias, and sweet gums. And, we have tons of wildlife – deer, raccoons, possums, rabbits, armadillos, hawks, and owls. With the lake comes many different water birds, fish, frogs, and, of course, alligators.
I love waking up every morning and looking out my window to see this beautiful forest. My husband loves bird watching and fishing for bass. Our boys love digging for “fossils” in the creek and keeping track of how many bucks we’ve spotted. We feel very lucky that we get to live here (even during hurricane season).
I want to give another shout-out to the Florida Museum of Natural History for providing the information found in this post. If you’re ever in Gainesville, be sure to visit the museum! It has a newly renovated kids discovery zone, as well as many interesting exhibits about Florida and a butterfly rainforest.
Livvie, I love it! So you and very informative.
Looking forward to seeing more 😊 clever girl!
Love
Mom
Thank you!! Got my love of design from you!
I love this, Olivia. I’m excited to see what’s to come and to keep up with your adventures. I feel lucky to have such a talented friend and hammock neighbor:)
Thank you! Definitely one of the very best things about our house is that it came with amazing neighbors 🙂