Lawnmower/Meadow Question

mdriscoll750

Hello,

We have a field of mostly grass that was let go for a few years. Last week it was topped and I would like to mow it short for awhile to get rid of some of the weeds that were moving in. Eventually we plan on seeding in some wildflowers and maintaining it as a wildflower meadow that's mowed a few times per season. My question is whether I can use the mower I have on the field as it is now. I have a Stiga Estate 3398HW Tractor Mower, the grass is mostly about 4-5 inches with sporadic higher bits. There's some thatch on the ground, and dried cuttings from the topping strewn about. I tried uploading a photo of the field but it won't let me post a picture with a new account. Do you think the Stiga is alright for the job? Thanks very much.

https pasteboard DOT   co/KbixqvH.jpg

_Brian

Depends how level it is, how big it is and how robust your mower is.

if it’s reasonably level then yea, you could start mowing at full height and see how it goes.

The Continental Op

Looking at the OP's image cutting on the highest cut will be fine.

Ideally I'd get the rear discharge chute for that mower so you aren't bagging the grass off.

However raking up or bagging off will help keep the fertility down and so be better for wild flowers.

tromtipp

If you remove the cuttings regularly you should achieve a wildflower meadow without seeding anything in. What are the weeds to feel the need to get rid of?

_Brian

One comment on the wildflower meadow process. We do this at work.

regular mowing reduces fertility, weakens grass and allows whatever is on the seed bank in the soil to emerge. This can be nice wildflowers or it can just be docks and other non flowering stuff that doesn’t look that great.

over anything but a small area allowing a few months growth over summer and then cut/gather in late summer becomes a major chore. Be careful of this. Initially, I wouldn’t let it go much more than 4 weeks.

wilddlower meadows are hard to achieve in a private garden setting. In actual meadows they are mowed and removed with tractors making it seem simple.

we often do what’s called a “flowering hiccup” where in mown areas we will leave an area to grow on for 4-5 weeks and then mow while allowing another area to do likewise. It means you never let the whole area get too far ahead of mowing. You get to learn which patches best support flowers.

The Continental Op

OP has a big enough area to get a bailer in if they can find someone with a small old style square bailer.

looksee

Could someone put that link in please, I can't make it work (even changing DOT etc)

Edit - I think pics can be copy/pasted in now, you don't need a host. Haven't tried it myself yet.

The Continental Op

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117623307#Comment_117623307

Because you're worth it 😀

https://pasteboard.co/KbixqvH.jpg

Looks like a rural house with a long strip of garden out the back. Too big to be an easy garden and not big enough to get a local farmer in to bail it.

mdriscoll750

Thanks for the replies. To answer some questions, it's a rural house surrounded by about an acre. There's a proper lawn around the house and a couple garden areas. This field is down the hill below the main lawn, the weeds that are moving in are blackberry & gorse- the blackberry canes snake around under the grass by the hedgerow borders and little baby gorse sprigs have sprung up here and there. It's pretty flat and rock free, though a bit bumpy with thatch in places. With some work it would be a fine lawn, but we already have a lawn and want to do something different & lower maintenance with this area.

looksee

It looks a bit 100% grass for turning into a meadow. I don't know whether your mower would cut it, we have a small electric mower for odd corners and it eats long grass - the battery doesn't last long in those circumstances, but it does the job. You probably need something like Yellow Rattle (annual from seed that weakens grass by being parasitic.) I have not tried it but that is the usual recommendation. Wildflowers.ie have it.

On the whole though, I am a bit doubtful about creating a flower meadow, they seem to work better when you just encourage what you have, but in your case the grass has been encouraged and the weeds/wildflowers will take a while to come back. Certainly take out invading brambles and gorse. It will take a few years of effort, natural meadow is not an instant low maintenance garden. I think I would be inclined to plant a whole lot of bare root native trees in it in autumn. Trees on the Land https://www.treesontheland.com/planting-guide recommend leaving grass and weeds etc to grow round the trees as it offers protection

Harris8855

For wildflowers to grow there must bee seed in the soil - its actually not possible to produce a plant without a seed. If you're lucky enough to have some dormant seed in the ground, some plants might grow if they have enough access to light - so keep the grass short until autumn and then over the winter hopefully they will germinate.

However, because of the grass you have here and it being so dense, What I would recommend you do is remove grass from strips or islands no, lightly till it, level it off, let it sit until September, eradicate any weeds or grass that come up between now and then. Then sow your seeds onto the bare soil in 'strips' or 'islands' and next Summer you will start to see flowers. If managed correctly - the flowers will become more widespread throughout the meadow over time as the flowers will go to seed every year and germinate after the meadow is cut back in Autumn.

This has been a massive success for me, and I couldn't recommend this approach enough.

I have years of experience with creating successful wildflower meadows that so many pollinators are now benefiting from, so more than happy to answer any questions you might have