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Busse Woods 1/10/2026 Failure of a Restoration Group
Contents Map Introduction Workday Location 1. Area cleared of common buckthorn ten years ago Sumac Expansion 2. Expanding patch of staghorn sumac 3. Closer view 4. An even closer view 5. Sumac stems scorched by fire Soil 6. Soil profile Hickories Top Killed 7. Hickories that regrew after fire Sedge 8. Carex albursina Map Introduction…
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Winter Fire 12/21/2025
Contents Downspout Garden Tree Underplanting Woody Species Control Weather Conditions Future After a previous post, “Fire’s Impact on Moss in a Prairie Planting,” I wanted to see if I could burn in a manner that would reduce impacts. I had previously burned at below freezing temperatures. The brown-dead tips of Carex sprengelii burned off, leaving…
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Bluff Spring Fen Winter Scenes 12/14/2025
The high for the day was only 10 degrees Fahrenheit with a windchill below zero. Most volunteer workdays in the region were canceled. I was hoping to see “sea smoke” rise from the water. The springs have a constant temperature of 50 degrees F. This difference in temperature should have been more than enough. Still,…
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Poplar Creek, Schaumburg Road Grasslands, 11/22/2025
Contents Map Images From Site Views 1. Prairie Grass Just After Sunset 2. Sunset Through Oak Trees 3. Late Fall Color of Birch (Yellow) and Raspberries (Red) with Lotus Seed Pods (Achenes) in Foreground Burn Scar 4. Looking north of the southernmost burn scar on 2/15/2023. 5. Looking north of the southernmost burn scar on…
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Fire’s Impact on Moss in a Prairie Planting
Moss in a prairie planting after burning. The same moss a few days later. Burning the prairie planting appears to have killed this moss. It took a few days before the moss changed color, and I could see it had been killed. This is moss that survived the burning. The fire did not burn the…
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Hosah Glossy Buckthorn Control 10/11/2025
Contents Maps Discussion Future Goals Images from Workday Piles of Cut Stems Herbicide Applications Views of Treatment Areas From Different Directions Views of Smaller Work Area Fauna Precipitation Maps Closer view of work area in above map. Discussion This post was written to record the work completed at the 10/11 workday at Hosah Park. Glossy…
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Poplar Creek Gray Dogwood Mowing 10/7/2024 and 8/12/2025
I visited Shoe Factory Road Prairie Nature Preserve last year. I took photographs of areas where gray dogwood, Cornus racemosa, had been mowed. I wanted to see how much impact the mowing had on these gray dogwoods the next year. These views are from along the trail that goes from the Carl R. Hansen Woods…
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Deer Grove East Workday 7/12/2025
During this workday, seedhead were removed from invasive reed canary grass, Phalaris arundinacea. I saw bird’s-foot trefoil, Lotus corniculata, in the prairie reconstruction. I asked, and the steward was happy to let me remove it. I used my dandelion weeder to cut small plugs of soil around the taproot of the bird’s-foot trefoil so it…
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Prairie Plants Reclaiming Area Where Common Buckthorns Had Been Controlled
The images below are a sequence from an area where common buckthorns had been controlled. The common buckthorns dominated this area. This area was along the edge of extant prairie vegetation. The area where common buckthorns had been controlled was high-quality prairie vegetation before it had succumbed to the expanding front of common buckthorns. The…
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Palatine Prairie Crown Vetch Control 7/6/2025
Contents Map Images Discussion Map The red line and arrows show the path I took when taking the images below. Images The images below are of locations where Crown Vetch is being controlled at Palatine Prairie. Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) impacted by herbicide over spray. Crown vetch (Securigera varia) hiding in the grass. A bare…
Stewardship Chronicles
Documenting Land Management in Northern Illinois
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