I have left quite a large area of my garden uncut to encourage wild
flowers. This has,I think, been quite successful. Now I know these
should be cut, then the spoil allowed to dry off before removing.
However when should the cutting be done please?
--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire

"Moonraker" wrote in message
...
I have left quite a large area of my garden uncut to encourage wild
flowers. This has,I think, been quite successful. Now I know these should
be cut, then the spoil allowed to dry off before removing. However when
should the cutting be done please?
--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire

Wild flower meadows are traditionally cut at the end of August to produce
what is known as 'lammas hay'. The cutting of road verges by councils in
May, eventually kills all of the taller growing wild flowers. This has led
to a dramatic decline in the numbers of the Orange Tip butterfly, the
caterpillars of which feed on the seed pods of 'Jack by the Hedge' (Mustard
and Garlic).

Phil

On Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:01:55 +0100, Moonraker
wrote:

I have left quite a large area of my garden uncut to encourage wild
flowers. This has,I think, been quite successful. Now I know these
should be cut, then the spoil allowed to dry off before removing.
However when should the cutting be done please?

When flowering has ended. Either collect the seed so that you can sow
it where you want specific plants or mixes of plants, or cut the
stalks and leave them for a while to let the seed drop naturally.

rbel

It depends on whether your meadow is "meadow" or "pasture".

There's two alternatives - you can cut from about now, then continue to give it infrequent longish cuts till the end of the year. This will allow early flowering plants to flower and set seed, and in particular helps things like primroses and cowslips which don't really like spending most of the year under long grass. This is effectively "pasture" - allowing grass to grow early in the year, then letting your "animals" graze it.

Or go for the "hay meadow" approach - let the grass flower, and cut once all the flowers are seeding - for me this is sometime in September. This will allow the flowers that don't flower till June or July to flourish.

I'm doing both, on a rather shaded damp site, and gradually finding out which flowers prefer which. My "pasture" is at the moment full of buttercups and the orange hawkweed, but is relatively tame. My "meadow" is almost thigh deep, with melancholy thistle, salad burnet, field geranium, 3 different vetches, meadow vetchling, birds foot trefoil, hardheads, and yellow rattle. So at the moment it's the more attractive, but in spring the "pasture" is full of primroses, cowslips, daffodils, snakeshead fritillary.

"Moonraker" wrote in message
...
I have left quite a large area of my garden uncut to encourage wild
flowers. This has,I think, been quite successful. Now I know these should
be cut, then the spoil allowed to dry off before removing. However when
should the cutting be done please?
--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire

After the seeds have fallen or you will lose all your annuals. So it depends
on what flower syou have, weather and where you live (climate)