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Reducing mowing to help wildlife

New_to_gardeningNew_to_gardening Posts: 36
in Wildlife gardening
Hi
I’m tempted to let our law grow a little wilder to encourage wildlife but also to save time 😉 Would love a few tips
- in the past when we have let bits get a bit longer and then mowed them it’s been yellow underneath- if I designate an area as ‘no mow’ then do I have to keep it like that all year? Or how long do I leave it before it goes yellow underneath?
-will it encourage ticks? I have 2 small children and a 3rd on the way so want to avoid this!
- I have an area which is quite full of low weeds and moss and just has a few seed heads of long grass popping up. At what point do these become too long for the mower?
- if I leave grass for say 4 weeks and then cut it, is it a bit cruel - eg I’ve invited wildlife in only to take their haven away again! 
Thanks for help and thoughts!
😀
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Posts

  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    edited May 2020
    Personally @New_to_gardening - I would keep it short because you have littlies. And yes, ticks could be a problem - they carry Lyme Disease.  We have enough on as it is!!!  But there are many other ways to encourage wildlife - if you want no maintenance plants - why not plant the prettiest weeds in pots and containers?
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • AstroAstro Posts: 433
    It is said and from experience that cutting more than a third from grass at once stresses it. Added the grass low down hasn't been as exposed to the light and then it gets full sun, which burns it. 

    Often research suggests long grass isn't a cause of ticks in and of itself https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190403155411.htm . I'd imagine it's more the case that long grass is where carrying animals are present.

    Some people have parts long and some short, this may be strips of short in amongst long or the other way round.
  • cornellycornelly Posts: 970
    We have an area of grass that isn't cut until late June early July that we keep as a wild flower patch, then mowed regularly for the rest of the year to the end, grass comes back very well, has done for quite a few years now.
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    RHS are promoting less-mow May. Research shows that if you leave grass four weeks between cuts you get 90% increase in insect visitors as lower flower/grasses can flower and feed pollinators. You aren’t leaving it long enough to be destroying insect homes but increasing its value food source wise.
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I let mine grow longer in the spring until the dandelions are done flowering then I mow around the patches of clover and cut the grass around them with hand shears. Be warned though if you have young kids or dogs then they will flatten any long grass in no time and it'll form a thatch which is a pain to cut. If you've got anywhere that isn't going to get trampled then it's worthwhile but if not then you're just making more work for yourself.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • JoeXJoeX Posts: 1,783
    Grow a few sections long, mow the rest on the highest setting once a week.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Go for it. Grow it, or some of it long. See what happens. Don't be afraid.
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    I have quite a large meadow area that is planted with daffodils - some were there when we moved in, I have added more and over 30+ years later they have multiplied rather :)
    As I need to leave the foliage to die down, I added meadow cranesbill, knapweed and betony and allow other wildflowers to grow. These flower and hide the foliage and continue to add colour into the autumn, while the grasses also grow taller and flower. I keep a mown pathway through.
    Late autumn I cut it right down and mow it so it looks relatively smooth. It looks a bit discoloured for a while, but that doesn't last long and I leave it through winter. In February the first daffs begin to show their noses and it all starts again.
    That's a good 6 months of interest and colour, plus 5 or so of green backdrop and I only have to work on one day. I call that good value!
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    Oh what a lovely garden! @LeadFarmer
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

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