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@fazzini pro gardener here. There is not a selective weedkiller that would only kill the marestail. You would have to clear the whole area which obviously I wouldn't recommend. If you have marestail in a lawn area unfortunately the only way to control it is regular mowing. It will weaken it but not eliminate. If it's in borders regular digging out and you could carefully spot treat young growth with weedkiller but better to have someone qualified to apply. If you have neighbours you like definitely don't just let it go wild. It's nightmare stuff that will push up through tarmac if left unchecked.
Thanks @myti, it's mostly arrived from next door's paved 'jungle', but it's common in all the surrounding area. Only had an issue with it over last 2 years. It's now spread from their back garden through ours and into our neighbours on the other side. Mower coming out once the rain sods off.
@Bunnyhop - me neither, just wanted to leave the good stuff for the bees, butterflies etc in my tiny patch of garden, but not let the horsetail get out of control. Was hoping there might be a solution for both.
Just mowed for the second time since, well probably the start of the year! It was all grass by this point, no blooms and knee deep. Took a couple of runs with the mower to sort. Hopefully did the local wildlife some good 😊
Long grassers: thinking ahead to pre-winter cutting (I'm in central Scotland so that happens earlier than many on here). We've left one quarter of our grass uncut this year - completely uncut. It's developed nicely and the garden's all the better for it.
Should I cut the really long stuff back before winter?
Or, just leave it to do as nature intended?
We'd like to continue the same long-grass approach next year and beyond but I'm unsure what the best action is NOW (if any) that'll help that. If I don't have to attack it with the trimmer then I'm more than OK with that...
@a11y I usually, and have, cut mine once in late summer -a week ago. I put the mower on the highest setting (I’ve tried a scythe but I’ve not got the rhythm) then I leave the grass to dry for a few days. I collect it with a rake and I shake it round to scatter seeds and invertebrates. I then loosely pile it on one of my animal shelters up the garden. Some areas I don’t cut at all and the result is quite different- big tussock’s develop which are very popular with small mammals but less flowers in summer - cow parsley does well though!
There’s more info on the let it bloom June thread - I’ve searched for a dedicated wildlife/gardening thread but can’t find one - perhaps we need to start one?
I’m at the same stage now too, I plan to cut the top half of the garden to the longest mower setting I think but not sure what to do with the bottom half.
It’s got a lot of dandelions in which I’d Leila fewer of next year.
I’ve also thought about scattering some low height clover (if that’s a thing) on the top half in the hope that over time we end up with a clover lawn that doesn’t grow too tall.
Last night I cut the lawn on the highest setting, but still left the 'long meadow bit in the centre' for another week. I'll hand cut this with shears, remove the long grass, mow on the highest setting, rake, then try and sprinkle the seeds from the long grass back on this patch (very much as wheelsonfire1 has done).
I tend to leave the side wild nettle bit, because dead nettles have lots of hiding places for insects (hollow stalks in the winter).
We've got hundreds of baby frogs this year, which have been beneficial to the veg beds.
Previously I’ve been just cutting once a year in autumn, but reckon that won’t really hack it for a proper meadow as the herbaceous perennials are starting to take over. Do others do a summer cut too? I did belatedly chop everything in late august this year but probably that’s not very different from the autumn cut anyway.
Last year I left the Autumn cut until the Spring. That resulted in a lot of dead patches which took a long time to recover. This year I'll do a long cut when the grass has dropped its seed.
Another wildlife gardening Q. Previous owners were very 'golf course' about the lawn so the back is a bit of a monoculture (front is improving). We get a lot of moss here, which I killed off with ferrous & scarified in the spring hoping to expose a bit of dirt for seeds to take hold in. Is it worth doing again or am I wasting my time? I'm not looking for full-on meadow status - even a few daisies and dandilions would be a good start.
am I wasting my time? I’m not looking for full-on meadow status – even a few daisies and dandilions would be a good start.
Mine was almost half moss early this year. I raked it in about march when we had a spell of good weather - didn't bother with ferrous or anything - then left it to it, various gasses, clover, selfheal and buttercups have taken over the clear patches and there's little moss in site.
Birds were quite pleased with the pile of lose moss I left for them too.
Thanks all, I’ll give it a trim with the strimmer I think, then collect it in.I already use the lawnmower’s highest height setting on the rest of the grass and that’d just rip the long grass out the ground if I tried (which I did briefly, just to see).
Do others do a summer cut too?
I cut a bit in Spring up to April then leave it no mow May -July. Then a summer cut in August and occasionally then-on until it stops growing for winter.
I also sowed a few yellow rattle seeds last autumn. They seem to have flowered well and as parasites they suppress the grass too.
There is a lot more detailed info at the RHS website:
Thanks yeah I've got a great annual crop of yellow rattle after planting seeds several years ago. It's all worked out pretty well up to now with just the annual autumn cut, but the perennials are starting to take over a bit too much. Some of them I planted for fun but I'm not really looking for a herbaceous border 🙂
Think I'll aim at a bit earlier in Aug next time, this year I just didn't get round to it early enough. Spring comes so late here that doing it any earlier would risk chopping it down in its prime.
Not a chance of mowing in August this year without a snorkel for the mower.
Finally I cut the wildflower section of the garden. Cut by hand with shears, then a high mower cut and finally a good raking. The rest of the lawn has only been mowed on a high setting maybe 3 or 4 times this year. The lawn looks incredibly green and healthy.
The wild section was full of frogs, insects and wild flower seeds.
Next year I'm going to sow the wild flower seeds into plugs and plant these out, as throwing the seed has not worked as well as I'd hoped.
We're planning more seedlings into our wild areas next year. Certainly more heathers and heath's too.
Ms Bruce has some wildflower patches which she planted with help from volunteers on one of the green spaces she manages, we mowed them at the end of August and have found that scythes were a very effective method of cutting them. The problem with scythes is that for them to cut effectively they need to be sharp, properly set up and you have to aquire a reasonable technique.
Once you have got some basic skills it work well and is less risky to critters than strimmers and lawn mowers. Scything also is good for trunk rotation if you paddle a kayak.
Agree scything would be ideal but it’s just not that practical for most people.
I cut my meadow bank on Monday. Actually I scalped it with the petrol strimmer and it was much thicker than previous years due to the poor summer. Today I raked/scrapped off all loose stuff and chucked in a load of wild flower seed including lot's of yellow rattle that I collected over the summer. Managed to get some yellow rattle with this method last year so hoping for more next year.
Those of you who are intending participating in “no mow May” - try leaving that area entirely now without cutting? All the invertebrates and mammals that have been overwintering will thrive and you’ll probably get a different variety of grasses and flowers from last year. I’ve still not cut down the perennials and annuals in our front flower bed, this morning there was a flock of goldfinches again on the seed heads of the evening primrose and Japanese anemones- beautiful to see close up. It does look a bit untidy but the rewards are worth it now I don’t put bird food out anymore.
there was a flock of goldfinches
Correct term is 'a charm' of goldfinches, apparently, for info.
For anyone suggesting we all do it this year, are you prepared to come to me in June and mow my lawns?
are you prepared to come to me in June and mow my lawns
You don't need to leave the whole lawn, just pick whatever area you're happy to leave and crack on with mowing the rest.
Thanks for the reminder - I need to mow once or twice before late April. Hopefully we will get a long enough break in the rain to do that soon.
I've not mown all of last year - mainly due to the dog scrabbling about reducing most of the 'lawn' to mud
When we get a dry spell I’ll be mowing the paths I need, but leaving the rest. Re-opening this thread has reminded me to get going with the wildflower plugs.
Any lawn-biodiversity experts care to advise me about moss? Our lawn is in the process of recovering from years of golf style lawncare and I'm keen to encourage it to be more wild. Being pretty far North (Inverness) we get loads of moss in the lawn. Last year I killed it off a bit and scarified in the hope that it might expose the soil and we might get something else growing. Should I keep up wit this or just leave the moss and see what happens?
Need some dry weather so I can give it a cut hopefully before May. At least to clear the winter dog mess. Last year I cut it in some areas and not others, we a lucky/unlucky to have a largish garden. The Lawn part has gradually shrunk and been replaced by either veg beds or left to go wild since the kids leaving home.
Should I keep up wit this or just leave the moss and see what happens?
No expert, but we're at altitude here and so the lawn tends to be about 40-50% moss at this time of year. I used to religiously use feed and weed or whatever, but now just let it get on with it. It isn't a show garden, and as long as it's mostly green then I reckon it's fine. Left to flower and flourish in blocks (see previous pics) there's a great show of stuff in the early summer.
We will be cutting it all through May and the rest of the summer. I hate how messy it looks and all the weeds that spread as a result of those who don’t bother
Managed to sneak a cut of our whole garden in the other day inbetween downpours. Will now leave 3/4 of an acre or thereabouts to it's own devices until hay cut. Did manage to pick up a second hand sickle mower on facebook the other day that will hopefully avoid me having to panic source a hired one in august.... assuming this works (it starts and stops so.....)
As for moss, I inherited a scarifier from somewhere which gets a bit of use on the proper lawn. Last year was terrible for moss and I didn’t get round to doing it (partly because it was so wet most of the time) so took advantage of the recent dry spell to give it a go. Properly scalped the lawn but it could do with another go when (if!) it dries up again.
Unless you’re really committed though (and depending on local climate) it’s a bit of a war of attrition. I don’t mind some moss but it got a bit excessive last year.
The meadow however will be untouched for a few months yet other than strimming round the stepping stones.
I've been using iron sulphate after scarifying most years.
Although I'm concerned that the "turf hardening" aspect is really just a euphemism for clearing out the worms, so it may just be self defeating in the long term.
I might just stick with scarifying now that the iron sulphates run out and try to let the grass in the shady/wet areas grow a little longer. I've also got a load of spent grow-bags from last year I'm going to use to level those areas a bit.
me neither, just wanted to leave the good stuff for the bees, butterflies etc in my tiny patch of garden, but not let the horsetail get out of control. Was hoping there might be a solution for both.
Mares tail is a PITA.
We eventually succeeded by letting the whole top half of the garden grow to knee high, then nukeing the whole area with glyphosate. Seemed to kill it throughout the garden as it spreads through the roots. We still get the odd bit in the flowerbeds but it's manageable weeding it manually. Neither neighbor cares for their garden so this sort of thing is an inevitability.
Trouble is that end of the garden was too shady to grow anything we actually wanted, so it's now concreted over and a summer house 😂
Who's in (or rather out) for NOT mowing for May?
This phrase was first coined by 'Plantlife' an international conservation charity. They persuaded landowners and councils to refrain from mowing grass verges to allow wildflowers to thrive.
It was so successful that the charity started to persuade gardeners and anyone with a patch of land to leave the mowing and let it grow. Since then people have reported orchids and other rare plants in their garden, which have been given the chance over a few years to re-appear. The No Mow May has encouraged gardeners to consider the advantages for wildlife, especially insects and birds, thus helping many declining species.
In our garden we've been doing this for several years with a lot of success. The rewards of seeing many more butterflies, moths, insects and birds has been enjoyable. Also it's an excuse for a bit of lazy gardening. 🙂
A small patch of lawn left wild is all that's needed.
Or as we do, go even further and have a NO MOW for the whole of summer.
I'm in. Only started for the first time last year and it was a good start. Left approx 1/4 of our grass area to its own devices apart from mowing a path through it for the kids to use for biking laps of the garden. Similar approach this year athough 'lost' part of the area for a trampoline for the kids. Won't look quite as nice with the trampoline in the middle of it, this was last year:
We’re in again! Parts don’t get mown at all, some parts once in September and other parts occasionally on the highest setting. Beneficial to wildlife, use less energy (mine and the planets), and provides a lot of interesting stuff to look at.
Our no mow area hasn’t been mown since the autumn and is already bright with yellow cowslips, primroses and purple bugle. No sign of the yellow rattle yet but last year that appeared later.
I'm in did a mow on Monday but mowed around the daisies.
You mean I get to avoid my least favourite domestic chore AND help nature? I am IN.
For the first time in years I've mown the lot but on the highest setting. I'd got more compost than I need so mowed and spread.
Wildflower meadow planted here just need some sun to get growing. Do still mow as I want to make compost. Rhubarb cropping already.
If you have yellow rattle the plants should be coming up and very recognisable by now, albeit small. Pairs of fairly thin serrated-edge leaves in a cross shape (ie alternating pairs).
Planning a summer(*) cut this year for a change, as various perennials are starting to take over. I'll cut round a few things I want to keep, but I don't want too many of them!
(*) ok based on last year's weather I'd better call it a July cut, summer or no!
I have mown my lawn this weekend but left a bit in the middle where the daisies are.
Apparently bees like daisies. We've been out in the garden all day and I've not seen a bee on them all day. They are too busy on the foxgloves and other unknown flowers.
Am I wasting my time leaving daisies or can I treat myself to a nice neat lawn?
Have left most of my garden this year apart from a 50cm wide edge strip which keeps the garden looking neat and gives a nice path to walk around and view the longer grass and the millions of beautiful little blue flowers that have come up and been allowed to reach fruition. Absolutely stunning this year! There's so much to see if you let it grow, and with the cut strip it looks classy I think.
Lots of bees having a buzzy time
Various insects on our daisies, it's all good 👍🏿
Some of the taller grasses are beautiful
Our borders are a mix of grasses, bluebell, pentaglottis, various sweet pea and geranium, all looking ace. One evening last week we eat outside, the dandelion were about to seed and the sun shining through all the heads was stunning
A call for No Mow Summer
Had an epic bug paradise developing on the front verge (we were letting the street down by refusing to cut it back). Sadly, it started making the wrong kind of buzzing noise last week, accompanied by puffs of smoke, and now we have a six foot deep trench instead.
This is our second summer* in this place and the front lawn seems to be recovering a bit from the previous owners' golf-course style of lawn care. Got a few species of flower poking through so am leaving it apart from a couple of paths through the long stuff.
The back lawn is just grass, but longer. Decided to give it a chop yesterday because I wont have a chance for a while and the kids asked for somewhere easier to kick a football. Going to keep thinking of more ways to improve the biodiversity in the back, but we seem to be getting plenty of bees on all the granny flowers**.
* Nothern Scotland, so you might want to put sarcastic quote marks around that
** I don't know any of the actual species but you know the kind of thing.
I gave in and cut it a few days early just because of the weather forecasts, tbf it was completely rubbish, just long grass and an occasional dandelion. On the plus side, cutting long grass is so much more satisfying than short grass.
All the borders and such are wild flowers and left pretty much wild so hopefully that balances ot
We're coming up to the end of No Mow May.
It's been interesting as the weather hasn't been the best and many of the plants in the lawn have taken a while to show themselves. The best has been the return of the red clover, which appeared about 4 years ago, there are some yellow rattle plants, cuckoo flower (which will be lovely next year) and many other wild flowers ready to bloom once we get a bit more warmth.
Also lovely are the long grasses blowing in a breeze, buzzing with many insects. I shall mow a path next weeks and a seating area, but leave the rest.
Are we now ready to Embrace 'Let It Bloom June'?
Anyone else seen titchmarsh comment against no mow may in the telegraph 😕 just putting our house on the market & estate agents quite happy with the long grass as no mow may is so well known 👍
And yes we'll be leaving our patch probs till Sept like last year.
Wild patch is a mass of things, always a lot of dandelions early on and now yellow rattle taking over. Our remaining "proper" lawn didn't get much mowing in May and very few flowers anyway. Might be better off abandoning it to nature but I'll keep plugging away for now.
I've only cut around the edge of the house, the perimeter of the lawn and a couple paths to the benches. It don't look great truth be told. If it was like a swath of machair I'd be happier but whilst at the same latitude we are inland of the coast rather than a strip next to the beach.
Without trawling all the way back, anyone had any luck scattering wildflower seeds to make it both more attractive to the wildlife and aesthetically more rich?
I think wildflower seeds on a well-established lawn has limited success. They have to get to the soil, germinate, make it through....there's a high rate of attrition. I bought in the yellow rattle and it has worked very well but it went onto a very scrappy bit of partially-bare land after I'd scraped off a good bit of the turf.
The other thing is the seeds need to suit the soil type and climate, whatever is already growing locally probably has a better chance. Red poppies are a waste of time here but the yellow welsh ones grow like, well, weeds.
I got the yellow rattle to take on our previously well established lawn - it’s blooming quite nicely now. But I think you have to be careful to ensure the seeds get in contact with some soil.
But I am not so sure our plug plants from last year have really done much this year - it seems to be more the local flowers from hedge rows and what on the borders I’d consider as “weeds” that are happiest.
Not watched the video above but no more may is a bit simplistic. Just letting a grass lawn grown long in may is a bit of a waste of time. Letting vegetation that contains a few wildflowers grow long in may is better, letting a wild patch grow long and leave long over winter is even better, just now it a few times a year if possible. Letting a patch of lawn grow long and expecting a grand display of wildflowers is a fools errands. Generally most of the perennial wildflowers are poor dispersers so you need to sow them in or even better plant some plugs. Seed mixes of colourful annuals on bare ground will give a nice display and help the bees etc but they won't persist long.
My garden after a couple of weeks of warm and wet weather is exploding. I can barely keep up with weeds / growth on patio and paths, and the banking and tree areas we mow early then don't touch for a few months are knee+ deep in the space of a couple of weeks. A really gentle spring, with no late frosts, then this warm and wet...
Yeah I saw that video a few days ago, the guy has a point, so I’ve divided my pretty small bit of lawn (6mx6m) into two areas, one half I’ll keep short ish, and the other I’m just going to let it grow all summer and probably cut it down late autumn. Get a lot of wildlife in my garden (hedgehogs and lots of small birds) and I think they like the unkempt ness of it.
Anyone else seen titchmarsh comment against no mow may in the telegraph 😕
Yes I saw that but then saw it was the telegraph so just thought "oh piss off"
As Matt says the last week has seen a big burst of growth and colors. Lots of warm and wet doing a turbo boost
I think a lot depends on the grasses in your lawn, mine is thoroughly swamped with tiny blue flowers, they aren't specially planted just lawn plants that have been allowed to grow.
I'd really like some hedgehog action to deal with the slugs, our last house had a spiky resident but short of a kidnap I'm not sure how one acquires a hedgehog.
Any advice?
Well the one obvious thing is to make sure this an easy way in for them, I have a little hedgehog sized cutout on the bottom of my side gate. I sometimes put food out, but the challenge is not attracting every cat or magpie in the area. You can make a cat proof hedgehog feeding stations to get round that.
I think a lot of it depends on where you are too, the estate I’m on is pretty much all cul de sacs with a band of semi woodland running through the middle. I think it’s mostly the lack of fast traffic that means they do well around here.
Edit to add, obviously you’re going to stand a better chance of attracting them if your garden has areas of cover and undergrowth. I have a border of huge shrubs along my fence line and I’ve scattered dead wood underneath that, makes for great cover/habitat.
anagallis_arvensisFull Member
Not watched the video above but no more may is a bit simplistic.
It's worth watching. I enjoyed it a lot.
Yes wildflower meadows need hardly any nourishment, so a bit of work is needed. The first year it can look great, but there after maybe not so. Poppies for example need the whole area turned/ploughed over to germinate the seeds again.
As others have said, flowers/weeds tend to plant themselves where they want to be. Our path is full of valaria, herbs, wild strawberry, Astrantia, aquilegia, buttercups, foxgloves and others I can't name, they arrived without any help from me.
Kormoran - the little blue flowers sound as though they are 'speedwell'.
Our wild path.
I made a hedgehog feeder a while back out of a pallet to encourage them into the garden a while back. Seems to work really well, needs a u-bend to keep it the cats. We had a mother and pups living in our leaf pile for a while, they're often regularly on the garden and I've tripped over a hedgehog at least one (no harm done).
I've left the back lawn grow long, but generally mow it in June. The front lawn I've stripped off and put in wildflowers with a mown a path in the middle, not in full bloom yet, but a few bits are starting now. I'll only mow that once a year
Thanks for the hedgehog tips everyone, the pallet bothy looks ace!
,@bunnyhop yes that is the flower, thanks! It's everywhere, it looks great amongst the grasses. Very pretty and meadow like, it is the best we've had and without even trying.
I've got a load of teasels on the go this year, beautiful flowers and Finches love the seeds. They look great in the winter especially against the snow and frost. Once you've got a couple they seed themselves very easily
I know it’s early, but, here’s one of the areas that I leave to grow. I cut it in late September and with the mild weather it has grown nicely, I managed to avoid scalping it so the tussocks and “lumpy” bits have remained and hopefully full of invertebrates and small animals overwintering. It’s covered with 8” of snow today so I hope they’re all snug!
Have you got a photo wheelsonfire?
I needed to mow the bits we do mow after September as the grass keeps growing, but it's been too wet and the snow from this morning has thawed making it wetter.
Had a field fare and 2 redwings looking for worms, this is a first in our garden, so leaving it wild has paid off.
This is the same area of grass now, it’s died back a bit with the tussocks still formed that will provide habitat for overwintering mammals and insects such as the meadow brown butterfly. On a slightly different note, I don’t adopt the scorched earth policy of my neighbour so the front garden may look untidy during winter, the herbaceous plants haven’t been cut back yet and leaves are left to decompose and feed the soil. I was thinking of doing it soon but whilst having breakfast I was able to watch goldfinches and blue and great tits feeding on the seed heads of the Japanese anemones and michaelmas daisies - a blackbird was rooting around in the leaves. Untidiness is the friend of the natural world! 
I've had an extension built where my lawn used to be, which means no more no mow May for me, at least not up on the flat top piece. However, with the spoil from the footings I've built three huge raised beds using sleepers, which will have a dedicated pollinator friendly range of plants.
I've spent this morning planting damsons, apples and plum trees where I had some overblown trees reduced or removed, and am about to plant a pollinator friendly hedgerow of blackthorn, hawthorn and dog rose about 15 metres of it down the sloped side, so loads of blossom and potential crops of sloes.
I've got a shady patch under some oak and beech trees which remains wild with docks, brambles and various other spiky things, and that's also used as a brash pile for rotting down prunings and other bits of rubbish, so the creepy crawly stuff is reasonably well catered for.
Be careful with the blackthorn, the thorns come straight out of the stems and if they pierce your skin often break off and stay. This can cause severe infection, I had one in the top of my head for about six months that went in whilst I was shredding. I wouldn’t be without them though, lovely blossom and an effective hedge, jays often plant acorns in blackthorn thickets so they can grow protected from cattle.
Let's not get this thread crossed with the manscaping thread....
PLanning on leaving a few wild patches on our front lawn this year again. They had a bit of a trim in the autumn and are just starting to grow again. Is there any merit in giving them an early season buzz or should I just leave them to do their thing?