Annual Mowing of the Woodland Trail

I took DR Brush out to complete the annual mowing of the woodland trail system.  This is the DR’s 20^th year performing valuable assistance in the management of Blue Jay Barrens.  The mower is one of the few things that I have purchased in my life that has actually outperformed the advertising hype.

I always mow the woodland trail just prior to the start of leaf fall.  This allows the trail to be covered by a thick layer of leaves that offers protection against erosion during the winter.  It also offers a source of enjoyment to those people who delight in crunching through newly dried autumn leaves.

Sometimes it’s hard to pick out the path of the trail through the trees.  A clue is the border of logs, branches and sticks that accumulate just off the edge of the trail.  I’m constantly flipping these obstructions out of my way as I walk.  They have been so numerous along some sections that trail curbs are beginning to form.

The trail shows up quite well in those sections of the woods where Diarrhena Grass is the primary ground cover.  The grass is most likely to take hold in woodland areas that receive additional sunlight due to falling trees.

I’ll wait until the leaves have fallen and vegetation is dormant before removing fallen trees from across the trail.  This is a large Redbud that went down during one of the wind storms earlier this year.  It should have been rather protected in the low valley between two hills, but the trunk had received damage from a Whitetail buck many years ago.  That deformity weakened the trunk enough to allow it to snap when stressed.

Sections of the trail blocked by large debris are best abandoned.  I have no desire to cut my way through this mess.  Even if I did, cut stubs look too unnatural to me.  I’d rather view them as they fell.

The best alternative route for that section of trail happened to be along the line of the original trail constructed 25 years ago.  The area is a bit crowded by sapling Sugar Maples, but the trail will be easy enough to reopen.

This section of trail was abandoned 16 years ago when blocked by falling trees.  Those trees have since decomposed.  Instead of sawing sections out of the log, all I needed to do was give it a couple of kicks.  The log crumbled easily beneath my mighty boot.

The trail is slightly more winding than it was originally.  The original route was chosen to give a view of the Sugar Maple understory spreading down the back side of the hill.  It’s nice to have the trail back where I first thought it should be.

Field Trail

A walking trail is maintained around the perimeter of the largest open field.  Unless guests are expected to be using the trail, the plants are allowed to grow until late spring before being mowed.  It could be hard to find the trail boundaries at the time of the first mowing if it weren’t for the fact that over two decades of mowing has created a plant composition that is distinct from the surrounding field. A slightly different color and texture of the vegetation on the trail makes it easy to see.  Some worn places created by frequent animal use also help identify the trail midline. 

The trail serves several purposes.  Traffic control is a primary concern.  Someone traveling the trail is not likely to be trampling rare or unusual plants.  They’re not going to be scaring birds from their nests, stumbling over ant mounds, squashing tiny wildlife or leaving long lasting signs of their passing.  They’re also not likely to anger the property manager, who has been known to escort undisciplined individuals to their vehicle and send them on their way.

I enjoy the trail as a place where I can take a relaxing walk without picking up ticks or accumulating chigger bites.  A fifteen minute late season walk doesn’t require another fifteen minutes cleaning sticky seeds from my clothes.  Field wildlife is also much easier to approach when moving quietly down the trail.

The trail gives access to all of the various conditions found in the field.  Frequently traveling a set path allows you to experience the changes that occur in the landscape as well as in individual plants.  No matter how often the trail is walked, there is always something new to see.

Field trails must be wide.  Despite its almost seven foot width, the trail will be almost completely blocked when the tall grasses begin to lean in next September.

Trails are simple things, but they can be a great source of pleasure and provide considerable benefits in frequently traveled managed areas. 

Wrapping up the Mowing

The weather has been perfect for winter mowing activities.  I managed to finish all of those areas that I thought were critical for this year.  Odd cloud formations often signal a change in the weather.  The clouds and the official weather forecasts were telling me that this was probably my last good mowing day for a while.

The field doesn’t look quite as cheerful beneath gray rain clouds.  This section was mowed last year for the purpose of killing the invading Black Walnuts.  Black Walnuts sprout late in the spring and then grow very rapidly.  There’s only a short time in which to safely spray the walnuts before they get too tall.  During the optimum spraying time last year, it rained every day I was at home, so the spraying didn’t get done.  I mowed around some of the tallest sprouts so I didn’t dull JR’s blade.  It’s amazing how much growth the stump sprouts can produce in a single growing season.

The valley at the trail head was once filled with Smooth Sumac and other brush.  I’m still working to get rid of some Multiflora Roses and a few miscellaneous other species. 

I’m coming close to eliminating the invasives from this area.  A few years ago, the red flags marking invasive plants were too numerous to count.  Now they’re hard to spot.

Years ago, I put a priority on management work near the walking trails.  My goal was to make it possible to take a short walk without seeing all of the work I still had ahead of me.  The problem is my habit of adding new goals to the bottom of my management list more rapidly than I remove them from the top.  I sometimes have to remind myself that this was once a scene of Multiflora Rose, Autumn Olive and Bush Honeysuckle.  At least now, except for the bright green fescue, I’m looking at a landscape of native species.

The trail was established when the primary cover was fescue.  Over the years, Indian Grass has made its way down hill from the east.  The six foot wide trail has proven to be an effective barrier to the advance of the Indian Grass.  In open fields, Indian Grass advances rapidly along the lines of the prevailing winds.  At Blue Jay Barrens that means that Indian Grass is quite effective at colonizing areas to the east by way of wind blown seed.  Movement to the west is more sedate and a mowed trail can be a formidable barrier.

The Indian Grass managed to jump the gap in the section where the trail narrows to four feet.  The crossing occurred ten years ago, but movement to the west has only averaged about one foot per year.

This is the area of missing Monardas.  Scattered plants managed to flower higher on the hillside, but the die out was complete in the level valley floor.  I don’t expect any blooms this year, but I hope to see the plants starting to come back. 

I marked a few young roses for elimination.  They only had one or two canes each, so they can’t really be referred to as bushes.  I think they are sprouts from very small roses that got mowed off last year.  I think I can say that the invasive shrubs are now under control. 

Annual Woodland Trail Mowing

The first sign of leaf fall is my signal to mow the walking trails through the woods. This allows the mowed trails to be covered by fallen leaves that will help to protect against erosion through the winter. I’ve been working through the summer to clear fallen trees from the trail and have gotten most out of the way. There are a few like this dead leaner that I’ll deal with during the winter.

Sometimes it’s easier to reroute the trail than it is to clean up the mess. The trail has changed direction several times through the years to avoid downed trees.

I keep a careful watch for desirable plants that may be growing in the trails. Spiranthes ovalis is the smallest and hardest to see of the Spiranthes orchids. It’s also one that keeps popping up in the trails. I probably mowed a couple down, but I know I avoided near 20 blooming plants during this mowing.

One of the problems I sometimes have is figuring out just where the trail is supposed to be. When I’m watching the area directly in front of the mower, it’s sometimes hard to distinguish my trail from deer trails or areas of sparse vegetation. It might seem in situations like this that it wouldn’t matter where the trail went, but moving the trail randomly from year to year would defeat one of the major purposes of having a trail. Maintaining a trail minimizes the damage resulting from human traffic through an area. Things like soil compaction or trampling of plants and animals are confined to the narrow corridor that is the trail. Off trail areas are left to develop without disturbance.

In most areas you can see a hint of the trail. Even where the trail blends with its surroundings, the indications of a trail are there to see. At least they’re readily apparent if you’re watching the trail instead of watching the mower.

In a few locations where the vegetation is very sparse, I’ve used some fallen branches to indicate a turn. The ground surface still shows the marks of earlier activities such as cattle trails or ruts from logging roads. It sometimes takes a visual marker to distract your eye from an obvious path and allow you to see the intended route of the walking trail.

When deer share the route, they always leave an easy to follow trail.

The Sugar Maples are just beginning to add a new layer of leaves to the woodland floor. By November, the trails will be covered by a thick bed of leaves and I’ll be able crunch-crunch-crunch my way through the woods. I used to think my noisy progress along the leaf covered trails would scare away all of the wildlife, but every animal in the woods is making the same noise and my leaf crunching doesn’t seem to bother them at all.

My annual woodland trail mowing is completed. Now I’m free to take my winter walks to enjoy the Blue Jay Barrens Crooked Tree Collection.

Blocked Trail

The walking trails usually get at least one mowing per year. They should have been mowed in early July when the spring flowering plants were in decline. That didn’t happen this year. Rain and wind associated with the many violent spring storms effectively blocked the majority of trails. I’ll do some simple trail maintenance during the summer, but the removal of downed trees is winter work. The primary reason for this is to reduce damage to actively growing plants. A secondary reason is the fact that it’s just too hot to be doing that kind of work during the summer.

The majority of fallen trees were already dead. Frequent rains saturated the dead wood and made the tree tops heavier, while at the same time the saturated roots became soft and weak. The heavy winds did the rest. A few dead trees have always come down every year, but this year the numbers were in the dozens.

Many of the trees crossed and tangled as they came down. Some are precariously balanced against trees still standing. It takes some studying to determine which tree should be the first cut. I’ve seen trees in situations like this snap and forcibly throw wood shards for a considerable distance. I’m not anxious to become a recipient of such a projectile.

In other places, fallen trees have ridden down saplings and shrubs to form dense tangles. This is another dangerous situation where the pinned live branches can rebound with considerable force when released. Clearing these areas in the winter not only increases visibility because of the absence of leaves, but allows you to comfortably wear a thicker layer of clothing for protection against anything that may whip loose and smack you.

I always seem to have something watching me as I work. At least these observers don’t bother me with silly questions or suggestions on what I should really be doing.

Prairie Trail

I like to get around in the fall to check the condition of the trails and get an idea of how much maintenance work they will need during the winter. This portion of the trail was only mowed once this year and that was a few weeks ago. Removal of fallen trees is the most labor intensive of the trail maintenance activities. Since I obviously made it through here with DR Brush, there shouldn’t be any major obstacles. I guess I was really just out for a walk rather than seriously looking for maintenance work.

The drought continues. This area typically has a thick layer of bright green moss. Most of the moss will rehydrate when the rains return.

This particular trail goes through the middle of one of the prairie openings. I only mow the prairie trails after the flowers and grasses have gone to seed, so the trail is not as clearly defined here. There’s usually enough deer traffic to at least keep the trail visible.

There seems to be an uphill walk involved with every opening you visit.

The shady area at the base of big cedars seems to act as a nursery for many types of plants. A selection of oaks has developed here. In order to survive, the oaks will have to grow towards the sunlight. Most oaks in this situation will snake their way up through the central open area in the cedar canopy and periodically send out lateral branches into the light.

Sometimes the tall grasses grow faster than the deer can trample them down and the trail becomes temporarily hidden.

Many of the gullies that were formed in the days of active farming have completely healed. As soil conditions improve, plant growth becomes more vigorous in the old gullies.

The gully edges have almost disappeared. Soil from the bare area slowly shifts down and becomes lodged in the grass cover. The grass takes advantage of this added material by growing a little farther up the slope. As the soil moves from below the sod at the top of the cut, the entire sod mat slowly drops to make contact with the remaining soil. Eventually the grass from bottom and top will meet and there will be a continuous vegetative cover.

In most places the deer don’t have any trouble keeping the trail open. This is a south facing slope with very shallow soil, so the vegetation doesn’t spread out very quickly.

Occasionally a Tuliptree will try to become established on these open slopes. This specimen displays the enlarged base of a tree that has died back several times. I sometimes wonder if the tree roots have found a source of subsurface water that is sufficient to give them a chance to become established on these sites.

These rogue Tuliptrees can sometimes reach a height of 20 or 30 feet before outgrowing their available water supply and dying. Branch dieback is common and leaf loss always occurs earlier than on trees in more favorable growing conditions. The pattern of invasion and growth in these Tuliptrees is an occurrence that may have had a part in naturally maintaining openings in which prairie plants could persist. It’s just another thing that I watch as I try to understand how prairie openings might have been naturally maintained.

At the other side of the opening we reconnect with the network of mowed trails. I never did find much need for trail maintenance. I guess I was just out having a good time.