Early September saw the meadows in the terraces above Gyllyng Street receive their autumn cut and collect. These were the first of Falmouth's Urban Buzz meadows to be cut this year and the Cormac maintenance team did a superb job. The clearing away of the cuttings are a critical part of establishing a wildflower as it will reduce the fertility of the soil allowing the wildflowers to compete with the grasses. To see this so well done is very encouraging and signals that next year will be a good one for the meadows.
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Lawn Steps meadows
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The question of when to cut an urban meadow is an interesting one, which is to say there is more than one answer. The problem in deciding when to cut urban meadows stems from them not being tied to the agricultural calendar and the need to produce hay for winter fodder. Instead their purposes are more varied and sometime can even be conflicting. For example the attractiveness of a meadow can be seen to diminish as the wildflowers set seed and the meadows become less colourful and more untidy. This consideration would suggest a late summer or early autumn cut.Another purpose for urban meadows is their benefits to wildlife especially pollinator insects. Mid to late October is a favoured time to cut urban buzz to maximise their benefits to wildlife.
An autumn cut also benefits those wildflower species that flower and set seed late. Continually cutting early each year will impair their ability to establish themselves and thrive in a meadow.
If
the annual wildflower Yellow Rattle is being grown in a meadow it is
important that it is allowed to set and disperse its seed before the
meadow is cut. Unlike Poppy seeds that can lie dormant in the soil for
years and still be able to germinate, Yellow Rattle has a very short
period of viability. Usually the seed produced in a summer will not
germinate after the following spring.
Another factor is the amount of grass present in a particular meadow. In the early years of establishing a meadow cutting more than once can reduce the vigour of the grasses and enable the wildflowers to better compete. This replicates the practice in tradition hay meadows of allowing cattle to browse after the regrowth of the grasses following the hay cut.
From these examples and there are more, you can see I was not exaggerating when I said there was more than one answer. I would say that finding the right one is dependent on some trial and error and seeing how a particular meadow responds. Both gardeners and farmers know that it the experience they gain over time that gives them the knowledge to manage their land wisely.
I will explore this question in more detail in the 2021 edition of the Meadow guide. I will leave you with some more photos of the Gyllyng Street meadow's cut.
