More grass cutting and planting

It’s certainly time for the summer flowering areas around the wildflower meadow to be cut short so that the seeds have the light and air to germinate. This is being done later than ideal - it would be better to have more time for seedlings to develop before the colder weather starts. Ideally the end of August would have been better than the end of September.

For a good article on the difference between spring meadow and summer meadow cutting regimes see https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/discover/in-your-garden/article/124

The main meadow and woodland glade are being developed as a spring meadow - so they grow through the spring and early summer, are cut for hay in late July and the are continually cut short through the late summer and autumn. This give a good opportunity for early spring flowers.

The hedgerow bottoms shown here are cut on a summer meadow cycle - being cut in late September and then kept short in the first couple of months in the spring. Not cut from May onwards, then cut again late September.

The trusty front bar cutting mower (Allen Scythe) is ideal for cutting this long, coarse grass.

Cuttings are raked up an taken off into a grass heap to rot or used as a ‘roof’ on the branch piles in the wood to create a sheltered environment for over-wintering insects.