Fountain grass removal the easy way

I revisited a wash on the Tonto NF that I visited pre- and post-Mountain fire last summer. The plan was to remove the fountain grass that I'd spotted on previous visits. Brought along a small pick for the job. Turns out I only needed it for two plants along the bank. The mid-wash plants were gone, along with many other mid-wash plants. The area received quite a bit of rainfall last week - 2.99 inches at Horeshoe Lake down the road. Given the loss of vegetation due to the fire, the wash - a fairly steep one - flowed high and fast. At some of the narrow points in the canyon the water ran at least head-high. There were quite a few changes. Areas that had been deeply cut in previous flows were filled, and other areas cut deeper. It was quite a bit easier to navigate the wash than last summer, too. Deep in, there is a riparian area; cottonwood-willow, grape vines, carrizo, etc. A number of willows had been knocked down and the bark stripped by the flow.

One unfortunate result was the loss of the largest of the four Abutilon parishii plants I found earlier. This one. It survived the fire only to be lost in the ensuing flood.

On a positive note, there were seedlings galore sprouting in the burned areas. More flowering than I expected as well. Even found a flowering Mexican poppy.

Posted on November 26, 2019 01:38 AM by stevejones