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Too late to cut back wild flower area?
Muddy_footprint
Posts: 5
Hi I'm looking for some advise, I started a wild flower section in my garden and planted 200 plug plants of wild flower plants in late spring, after a really dry spell at the start of their life I wanted to ensure they had time to get established and havent cut them back yet, this is due to time and weather constraints as we are nearer banbury and get really heavy dew's in the morning, I'm hoping for a dry spell to be able to cut back the grass and plants but I don't know if I've left it too late? I know there are definitely small mammels living in the grass and I'm worried about taking away their protection just before winter. Should I leave I now till spring? Thank you for your help.
0
Posts
I’m sure someone with more knowledge about how it might affect next year’s growth will be along soon.
Is it a wildflower meadow or a wildlife area?...they're not necessarily synonymous...a wildflower meadow will need strictly cutting back otherwise the plugs you planted will be choked out by the overgrowth and die over winter. A wildlife area, however, can/should be left to its own devices as the goal is habitat creation and refuge so you should only adopt a focussed approach at thinning problem plants.
If you're going for the former then I would suggest cutting back to 6inches at the soonest opportunity, which is usually enough to keep most invertebrates and mammals safe at this time of year. Then cut down further to 3 inches in march.
If you're going for the latter then leave it.
Decide what's most important to you.