MANAGING MEADOWS AND GRASSLANDS

MANAGEMENT IN THE FIRST YEAR AFTER SOWING A MIXTURE

Meadow mixtures are composed mainly of perennial species which will not flower until at least a full year after sowing.  In the first spring and summer following an autumn, winter or spring sowing there will be a flush of annual weeds arising from the soil seed bank.  These should be controlled by regular mowing or grazing throughout the first year, which in turn will encourage the sown species to establish.  Where the sowing has been into existing grass this likewise should be kept mown or grazed tight during the first year to reduce competition from other species.

The fertility of the site will dictate the intensity of management in the first and later years.  On the very poorest soils cutting or grazing may not be required.  On the richest, frequent cutting will be needed, and the cuttings may have to be removed to prevent die back of the sown species.

Meadow Mixtures Sown With a Cornfield “Nurse”

If the mixture has been over-sown with a nurse cover of cornfield annuals these will suppress annual weed growth, easing management in the first year.  Cutting should be delayed until July, or later, following flowering of the cornfield annuals.  This cut will reveal the developing meadow mixture.  Do not wait for the annuals to set seed or allow the vegetation to collapse before you cut, as this will compromise the meadow seedlings.

Meadow Mixtures Sown With Yellow Rattle

Yellow Rattle is an attractive, partially parasitic, grassland annual which can reduce the vigour of certain grasses.  Sown in the autumn, it can reduce the competition from grasses and allow some flower species to establish more easily.

Having sown a meadow mixture, Yellow Rattle may disappear after the first year if cutting or grazing in early summer of the first year does not allow it an opportunity to set seed.  To ensure a good population of Yellow Rattle in the second year, it may be necessary to over-seed this species in the autumn - see the Yellow Rattle page for more information.  If the meadow mixture is sown with a cornfield annual “nurse”, Yellow Rattle will normally complete its life cycle before the first cut.

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