East Center Valley – 2021

[To see photos and stories of this prairie in other years, go to the links on the main East Center Valley page.]

2/27/2021

3/3/2021 A large part of the low, wet, south end of the prairie has been taken over by Cordgrass. I planted it, and for years didn’t see much of it, but a few years ago it started taking over. I haven’t figured out how to stop it. Last winter Mike mowed into it from the edge of the driveway – trying to make a wide flat area along the driveway to discourage drifting snow. In the spring the mowed areas filled with water from the drifting snow, but the Cordgrass remained as thick as ever.

3/28/2021 Showing the wide mowed strip along the driveway

4/28/2021

5/9/2021 This is ‘Wood Betony Road’ – a winding path that we mowed through thick Tall Goldenrod plants and then planted with Wood Betony seeds in 2016. Now it makes a very distinctive wandery trail through the prairie – without much Tall Goldenrod, and carpeted with Wood Betony and a much more diverse group of prairie plants.

5/21/2021

5/26/2021 Looking down on the prairie from Indian Grass Point. The yellow is blooming Wood Betony – large patchy areas in the upper part of the prairie.

6/9/2021 This is the lower wet part of the prairie, at the south end. For a long time it was mostly Reed Canary Grass. There’s still a big patch of RCG – on the left in the photo – but after several mowings the rest has changed to mostly sedges, Swamp Betony, and other wet prairie plants.

6/12/2021

6/20/2021

6/27/2021 The wettest part of the lower end – with cattails, sedges and many wet prairie flowers.

7/20/2021

7/20/2021 Looking straight up the hill to the upper prairie showing thick patches of Common Milkweed, Monarda, and

Black-eyed Susan.

7/20/2021

7/23/2021 Mike mowed a big patch of Reed Canary Grass here. I meant to come back later to spray it, but never did it. So we’ll see what just mowing will do. Mowing works well in wetter areas where there are sedges, but this may be too dry for it to help.