Snippets: meadow maintenance

Cutting meadow grass

WILDFLOWER-MEADOW gardening is becoming an increasingly popular alternative to lawns and herbaceous borders. A good meadow will have up to six months of interest per year, and the sole maintenance required is to cut the grass once or twice. But it is important to do this thoroughly, and the timing is crucial depending on what species of meadow plants you wish to encourage.

Camassias and orchids, such as Orchis morio, do not ripen their seed until mid-August, and you should not cut before then if you are to allow these species to propagate. That leaves you time to cut the grass before the autumn crocuses arrive towards the end of September. You won't see their flowers unless the grass is short. Colchicums have been flowering for two weeks already, so if you intend to establish these in your meadow, make your first cut in the third week of August.

The essential thing when cutting is to remove as much organic matter as possible. This will mean razing the grass and raking up stiffly. The more you impoverish the soil the better, as it will generally result in a better mix of plant species.

A Strimmer will be the only cutting tool you need over a small area, but for large areas, especially where the grass is thick, you may prefer to use a power-scythe, which has a hefty horizontal pair of reciprocating blades to chomp through bulky grass. The stemmy bits it leaves behind can be picked up with a ride-on mower. The whole performance should be repeated in late October to clear the way for early spring bulbs.

Sun worshipper

Silphium terebinthiaceum is a sunflower-like perennial herb from the eastern American prairies. It presents its clear yellow flowers at a height of 9ft-10ft on flowering stems which are almost devoid of leaves. These arise from a stout clump of basal foliage in August.

Its flowers follow the sun around the sky, facing east in the morning, as the flowers of the common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) are reputed to do. I have seen the helianthus facing away from the sun as often as not. It would look good in front of a rowan tree (Sorbus aucuparia) in full berry. These trees will not perform for everyone as they prefer a slightly acid soil. The guelder rose (Viburnum opulus), another native, red-berried shrub, would be a good alternative.