It’s been fun this year to see what happened to the savanna areas we cleared last fall. I also worked more on clearing the steep prairie sides of the prairie point, and, in late fall, we did more savanna work – enlarging the remnant savanna even more.
[To see photos and stories of this prairie in other years, go to the links on the main Indian Grass Point page.]
Here are some photos from this year.
1/14/2014 east slope of the point that I cleared last year.
2/13/14 view south from the point
3/13/2014 looking up at the tip of the point
3/13/2014 another slope of the prairie point, with fallen birches
3/20/2014
4/2/2014 I cleared out a few more tangles of vines and raspberries from the point.
4/5/2014 Savanna remnant in the snow
4/7/2014
4/15/2014 One of the remnant openings that’s been growing up in raspberries, prickly ash, and honeysuckles. I especially wanted to cut and treat the honeysuckle stumps so they wouldn’t grow back.
4/20/2014 View of the point from Western Valley
5/11/2014 Savanna turning green
5/23/2014 This is part of the west-facing slope of the point that I cleared last fall. Pussytoes, Hoary Puccoon and other prairie flowers are blooming here already.
5/23/2014 Blue-eyed Grass
5/23/2014 Bastard Toadflax
5/23/2014 Sand Cress
5/23/2014 More of the cleared prairie – with more work to do beyond.
6/3/2014 This is just above the house, along the path up the hill. This slope should all be prairie and savanna – it faces south and there are prairie plants under the trees. I’m slowly clearing it both from the bottom and from the top, but it’s very slow. This is the bottom of the slope.
6/3/2014 East-facing side of the point – the first spring after clearing
6/3/2014 Savanna flowers
6/4/2014 West-facing slope of the point – Wild Columbine
6/4/2014 Balsam Ragwort
6/4/2014 Savanna
7/2/2014 The point with Harebell and Prairie Coreopsis
7/10/2014 Prairie Coreopsis
8/15/2014 Another project I did was to pull Queen Anne’s Lace. It’s a weed that I’ll probably never get rid of, but it’s a distraction from the natives that are starting to come back – it makes them much harder to see. This was taken before I started.
8/16/2014 And this is after weeding it.
8/16/2014 Savanna
8/16/2014 Savanna looking out toward the point
8/16/2014 Ragwort Opening
8/16/2014 Last year’s savanna clearing project
8/25/2014 Last year’s savanna clearing
8/25/2014 Path looking in to the savanna
8/26/2014 View from the point
8/27/2014 Clearing by the path at the bottom of the hill
8/27/2014 West facing slope – this shows the big raspberry patch which has covered the brush pile I made when I was clearing the hill.
8/27/2014 Sand Cherry – a small native shrub that I’ve never found on our land before
8/27/2014 East-facing slope of the point
8/27/2014 West-facing slope
8/27/2014 Savanna project
9/6/2014 We used the weed-whacker to cut some of the sumac and raspberries that were encroaching on the prairie. This was taken before we started.
9/6/2014 And this is the same place after cutting
9/6/2014 Another of the areas where we cut sumac – before
9/6/2014 and after
9/21/2014 West slope of the point
10/5/2014 We decided to start clearing the east side of the path. This is before we started.
10/5/2014 Before we started – looking from the other direction – toward the point
10/5/2014 In progress – lots of cut brush, and a few of the piles
10/10/2014 After cutting a big part of the savanna on the right – with lots of brush piles
10/16/2014 After removing brush piles
10/20/2014 Last year’s savanna project
10/31/2014 Last year’s savanna project, with this year’s project behind and to the left
11/12/2014 The end of clearing projects for this year.