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Mowing in a drought?

Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
in Wildlife gardening
I'm looking at the front lawns in my road, wondering why the hell everyone's clipped what little bit of struggling green there was left on the frazzled brown patches, every weekend. We haven't had rain for weeks, it's bizarre. It's a bit 'Stepford' here but I'm still scratching my head..
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Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    I'm thinking of mowing, but only to pick up all the dead leaves. It looks like autumn.
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    The only thing I would end up mowing is the weeds which seem to have been unaffected by the drought.  I'm planning to attach those with a strimmer before they set seed.
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    Our grass/straw hasn't grown at all this year, so no need to mow it anyway.

    All the gardens where the grass has been cut are mostly dust now because they cut it so short that the heat burnt it away. 
  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    Yes I did the back 'lawn' with my little blunt push mower last week, knowing it wouldn't touch the grass, but it took a few weed leaves off. 
    I feel for the little creatures who had a bit of refuge in the standing hay that was left. It just makes me sad that too many people prioritise neatness over nature.
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    The last time I mowed it was the same as @fidgetbones, mostly picking up dead leaves. I am getting a lot of straggly seed heads  but I'm leaving them for now. 
    AB Still learning

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I quite like the little yellow weeds that are brightening up my crispy lawn.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    I get chicory flowering every morning, gone by afternoon. Such beautiful blue flowers.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    The grass in my "lawn" areas is very mixed, grows at different rates and succumbs to drought at different rates. The coarse "weed" grasses and the very fine-leaved "shade tolerant" mix that I use for patching/oversowing seem to be hanging on longest, particularly in the areas that do get shade for part of the day, but the result is that it looks better, or rather, less bad, if it's trimmed so that it's all the same height. The violets and speedwells are still green too, and are below the mowing height.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Some weeks ago OH mowed half of the front 'lawn' ... along the diagonal the portion nearest the house ... that way the chap delivering the free newspaper can walk across the lawn to NDN without entangling his sandal buckles in the standing hay ... he must be 95 if he's a day and wears tee shirt, shorts and sandals year round.  None of the mown area has grown since ... but neither has the uncut area.  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Anyone want to move to Devon,😉

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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