Indian Grass Point – 2023

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

Year Summary:

In March and April I cut and treated some of the remaining brushy areas on the sides of the point. I’ve cut most of this before, but the brush resprouts for a few years, so I come back to re-cut and treat. I also cut and treated Common Mullein plants that sprout up wherever I’ve cleared brush.

Last year I did a sumac experiment on top of the point – cutting and treating every other stem with Milestone mixed with bark oil. The DNR folks had noticed that sometimes nearby sumacs died even though they hadn’t been treated, so we wanted to see if we could treat fewer stems and still kill most of them. It didn’t work very well. Most of the stems died, but there are still some that survived. I think it’s better to cut and treat every stem.

Violet Wood Sorrel that I had planted last year as bare root plants came up and bloomed.

In August I pulled Queen Anne’s Lace. There’s less than there used to be in here, but the remnant still looks better when it’s been pulled.

There was a lot of haze this summer from fires in the western U.S. and in Canada. Many days had haze so thick that it looked like mist.

I scattered seeds of some prairie flowers that should grow well here: Polygala senega, Cliff Goldenrod, Downy Paintbrush, Dwarf Blazing Star, Large Penstemon, Rough Blazing Star, Dotted Blazing Star.

1/7/2023

2/8/2023

3/20/2023

3/28/2023

4/8/2023 Some of the brush – mostly sumac – on the east facing slope that I cut and treated.

4/9/2023 Cleared east facing slope

5/10/2023 Looking down the top of the point with Bird’s Foot Violet, Hoary Puccoon, and Fire Cherry

5/11/2023

5/21/2023 Violet Wood Sorrel blooming – from bare root plants that I planted last fall.

5/21/2023

6/1/2023 looking up the hill at the point – brambles blooming

6/25/2023 White Camas and Spreading Dogbane. This is a spot that used to be all brush and trees between the path and the west facing prairie opening.

7/5/2023

7/9/2023 The sumac experiment. Last year this was dominated by sumac. I cut and treated every other stem with Milestone. Not all the stems are gone, but it did kill more than half of what was there. So partially successful.

7/16/2023

7/22/2023 This area has been cleared for quite a few years and is recovering well.

Here’s a comparison of the way it looked before and after clearing. It’s fun to look back and remember the changes we’ve made.

July 2023

August 2008

7/23/2023 West facing slope – recovering from clearing I did here in the last few years. I cut and treated most of the Common Mullein after this photo was taken.

7/23/2023 The east facing slope – looking much better this year. I’ve working on this off and on – cutting and treating brush that kept coming back. This is the best it’s ever been.