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.
Just given my small suburban "lawn" its first cut of the year - more a case of mowing paths through it - but leaving a patch about 2 square metres to do its own thing. The birds seem to prefer the short area.
Hi Buster
For short grass, the majority of people seem to cut it too frequently to about 0.5 inches or less as a finished height. I'm suggesting to raise the mower blades and leave the finished cut at around 1 to 1.5 or even 2 inches.
For long grass with no meadow flowers if you ease off the mowing about now, then leave it to grow for the remainder of the season and cut again in early spring. With the first couple of cuts, its best not to cut below 4 inches or you risk mashing all the eggs and larvae that have over wintered in the thatch.
If you have a flower meadow or the grass bolts (falls over) because its grown too vigorously if we have a wet summer, then you'll need to cut it in late summer. Its best to cut it no lower than about 4 inches then allow it to grow up again for the remainder of the year. There will still be time for many invertebrates to lay eggs etc.
It often helps this time if you scarify it really vigorously, especially if it is a flower meadow. This will create patches of tilth that will allow seeds dropped from the flowers to germinate and establish. You can also use this as a means to try and add your own wildflower seeds if there's none already there. What it does is mimics the effect of aftermath grazing, which is when livestock are put into haymeadows to feed in the fresh re-growth of grass. Its their trampling and scratching about that opens the sward to allow flowers to germinate.
Don't forget each time you do cut your long grass to rake it off and compost it. Otherwise it will keep adding nutrients back into the soil.
There's tons of advice on-line to create and manage lawns. You could make start here first: www.rspb.org.uk/.../advanced.asp But you will find a plethora of it everywhere on line. For simplicity, much of the advice has to be generic and fairly broad brush. Be prepared to mess about a bit with your mowing to achieve the best effects - no two places are exactly the same and the flowers and grass will behave differently in each case. You may find cutting different bits at different times and heights will have rather different effects.
Hope this helps?
Good luck
John
Great pictures! I'm going to try to leave some longer grass this year in the hope of attracting some more wildlife. Who would have thought, grass could become so colourful. You say don't cut the grass too short - how long should it be left - the 1-1.5 inches?