Life in the long grass

Right in the middle of the growing season with the sometimes warm and often wet weather we’ve been experiencing keeping on top of the mowing is certainly a challenge. But spare a thought that each time we pop out to run the mower over the grass, it then becomes a challenge for lots of invertebrates to stay alive. I’ve added a few pictures of some likely candidates.

Grass is much undervalued as a wildlife resource. We know it’s important to us - where would we be without the picnic or the innumerable games we play on the lawn. All kinds of wildlife like to play there too and if we can keep different lengths of grass it will help more of it.

You’ve probably seen the squabbling flocks of recently fledged starlings probing in the shorter grass, looking for the larvae of craneflies and other invertebrates living just below the surface. Just by keeping your short grass that little bit longer, between 25 and 40mm (that’s 1 to 1.5 inches in old money!), is beneficial. It helps retain humidity and keeps the soil a little moister which is great for all those invertebrates and great news for birds looking to feed their chicks.

Longer grass is like a whole new world full of all kinds of wildlife. Just over the weekend it was really pleasing to see tiny young grasshoppers in my grass. Along with these, I disturbed several small micro moths, a few Cinnabar moths and some Large red damselflies using it as shelter, having come to my pond to breed.

 

My grass is quite young as it was only sown it last autumn and yet already is attracting wildlife even though it’s not fully established.

Some of you may have grown your grass as a hay meadow and will need to cut it in a couple of months time, after the seeds have dropped. If you don’t cut it too short and after removing the cuttings, leave it to grow for the rest of the season all kinds of invertebrates will be able to lay their eggs and larvae will be able to pupate and overwinter. Its not just birds, but hedgehogs and amphibians will also benefit from all this invertebrate food. The long grass also makes it safer for them to move about in the garden as well.