cutting a 'wild' lawn
 

Hello,

I wonder if someone can offer advice. I live in the French alps and decided to leave an area of grass to go wild this year. It was a relevation, with origanum, various campanulas, verbascum and some other things coming through the year. Anyway, the question is, should I cut it with the mower now that everything is dying or should I leave it. The grass and plants have 'flopped' down a bit with the rain now and I am not sure what to do?

Thanks

Darren

djhughes wrote:
Hello,

I wonder if someone can offer advice. I live in the French alps and
decided to leave an area of grass to go wild this year. It was a
relevation, with origanum, various campanulas, verbascum and some
other things coming through the year. Anyway, the question is,
should I cut it with the mower now that everything is dying or
should
I leave it. The grass and plants have 'flopped' down a bit with the
rain now and I am not sure what to do?

This is a good time to cut it if tidiness is required: the flowers
should have seeded by now. Whatever you do, though, the grasses are
likely to take over as the years go by. I've never been able to
decide if it encourages the grass more if you mow it, or leave it to
seed. With a similar patch in Wales, I used to start cutting
regularly about the beginning of August, as the flowers were then
past their best and had seeded: I had to cut, as the patch was part
of the garden rather than separated by some physical or psychological
barrier.

--
Mike.

djhughes wrote:
Hello,

I wonder if someone can offer advice. I live in the French alps and
decided to leave an area of grass to go wild this year. It was a
relevation, with origanum, various campanulas, verbascum and some
other things coming through the year. Anyway, the question is,
should I cut it with the mower now that everything is dying or should
I leave it. The grass and plants have 'flopped' down a bit with the
rain now and I am not sure what to do?


Cut and remove the clippings.

Never feed the area.

Broadly: Wild flowers will thrive in poor soil but grasses will swamp them
in good soil.

In the uk the best soil for growing a wild flower meadow is just that left
on many new build gardens ie virgin site with he top foot of soil scraped
away leaving impoverished sub soil!

pk

The best way of treating any wildflower lawn or meadow is to cut once a year, after the majority of the flowers have finished flowering, in the UK any time from july to september depending on the species you have growing.

Cut using a mower, strimmer, scythe, or any other sharp implement to hand!

Leave the cuttings in place for 1-2 days to dry out, and for any seed to drop from the seed heads of the flowers.

Then collect up the clippings. ( easier to do now as a lot of the moisture will have gone - so less weight to rake up!)

This removes any excess fertility, instead of returning it to the ground. As mentioned, the lower the fertility of your soil, the more flowers you wil have, as the grass will be less rampant and lush.

Then wait for an even better show next year ...

hope this helps,

Linette
http://www.applegategardens.co.uk

Thank you all for your replies, I think it is time to cut the area and rake up the mess.

Thanks

Darren