[To see photos and stories of this prairie in other years, go to the links on the main 3 Finger Valley page.]

This year we finally decided to tackle some of the bush honeysuckles and buckthorns that were coming up in the long straight part of the valley.  We cut and treated all the invasive shrubs in the middle of the prairie area, and most of the ones along the edges of the woods.  It was a much quicker project than we thought it would be – it only took 3 or 4 days.  There are still invasives farther up in the woods, and we didn’t quite get to all the edge honeysuckles close to where the valley bends toward the house.

As usual, I sprayed Garlic Mustard in the woods around the west and middle fingers.

1/9/2024

 

2/1/2024  Woods at the top of the west finger

 

4/5/2024

 

4/11/2024  Mike mowed the west finger so it was easier for me to walk around and treat Garlic Mustard.  There are dozens of invasive shrubs here – we’re hoping to get to them next year.

 

4/21/2024  Another view of the west finger

 

8/1/2024  This is the prairie we planted just north of the garage, below Indian Grass Point.  It was planted in the winter of 2017/2018, so this was its 7th summer.  It’s been a very successful, diverse planting.

 

10/3/2024  This shows the place where the 3 fingers come together.

 

10/13/2024  This is the wide ravine where water used to run in the spring.  Now that there are prairies in all the fields, almost no water runs on the surface, but there’s still an underground stream that appears and reappears.   The ground layer of vegetation in the ravine includes Ostrich Fern, Jacob’s Ladder and Virginia Waterleaf.

 

10/20/2024  Here’s the long, straight, north-south section of the valley showing some of the invasive shrubs that have grown up in the middle.

 

10/25/2024  We cut and treated the shrubs, and Mike collected them and put them in piles along the lower edge near the ravine.

 

10/30/2024  Finished – most of the invasives are gone.

 

10/30/2024  No invasives

 

12/2/2024  This view – from Walnut Woods – shows part of the area we worked on – with the paths the tractor made while picking up cut brush.

 

12/2/2024

 

12/8/2024  Looking into the middle finger on the left, and Goldenrod Valley on the right.

 

12/8/2024  The middle finger