31.08.25 When to Cut the Meadow?

I cut down the Front and Back meadows last week. This is the same time, late August, I usually do. The herbiage was only two feet high this year and not thick; doubtless due to the very warm, very dry spring and summer. We have hardly had rain in July and August, and even before that. Consequently grasses and wildflowers are very brown and crispy now. Instead of taking the cuttings away I have scattered them back over the meadows. I will leave them there for 2 weeks or so before finally raking and removing.

Why delay the cut so long when most flowers have been over for ages? Certainly traditional hay meadows were cut at different times depending on the desired outcome. An early cut, say at the end of June with removal of cuttings, should be good to progressively reduce soil fertility and promote future wildflower diversity. I feel though that once herbiage has gone from green to brown (which happened early this year) then maybe it is mostly now just carbon, which plants get from the air. Nutrients that constitute soil fertility have probably already been re-absorbed into the rootstocks?

Personally I will always delay the cut for 6 weeks or more after the Dactylorhiza and other orchids have finished flowering to make sure they have time to ripen and disperse their seed. That means waiting until at least mid-August, to be sure anyway. Another factor is that after cutting down a tall, brown meadow I notice it is still quite green at ground level. So it has perhaps been protected a bit from dehydration by not cutting during drought - another reason to delay.

As for mulching with the cuttings for 2 weeks this is good for allowing residual wildflower seeds to fall into the ground for next year. Also I have a hunch that when the mulch gets damp from dew or rain it could stimulate fungal activity near the soil surface. This in turn might help orchid seeds to grow?

In other news: we had a large, colourful moth flapping around in our dining room, a Jersey Tiger moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria). When it flies there is a flash of bright orangey-red colour from the underwings. Apparently they are seen in coastal southern England increasingly in recent years.

Anthony.heys@sky.com