Hidden Oaks Point – 2022

[To see photos and stories of this prairie in other years, go to the links on the main Hidden Oaks Point page.]

We’re slowly expanding the open area of the prairie point, and I’m continuing to maintain the south-facing slope that the folks from Kule Region Forestry cleared in 2017.

In early April I cut brush – mainly small buckthorns – on the east-facing slope below the point. Mike mowed the lower point in May. In October I cut and treated brush in a strip – 8-10 feet wide – along the edge of the west-facing point all the way north into the edge of Hidden Oaks Savanna. Mike cut a few of the medium sized trees that were along the edge or growing out into the prairie, and one big female buckthorn on the point.

3/13/2022 Our first time this year sitting on the bench.

4/3/2022 Slope that was cleared in 2017. Mike mows up as far as he can, and I work on the higher slope by hand, cutting and treating brush.

4/3/2022 A brushy area just below the prairie point after cutting and treating the brush.

4/21/2022

4/26/2022 Another example of an area where a lot of brush has grown up – in this case mostly raspberries and honeysuckle – before I’ve worked on it.

4/27/2022 Looking down from the prairie at the brushy areas that I’ve been clearing.

4/27/2022 Pasqueflowers blooming! I planted seeds here a few years ago and after many years of wishing and searching I finally found one plant blooming here, and one blooming on the Knife Edge Point.