Mowing

[A_T]

I have a large field in which I get plenty of meadow browns, ringlets and gatekeepers in the summer. In recent years I have left much of it to grow without cutting it at all. Is this the best way to encourage egg-laying and caterpillars - or should I be mowing the whole field at some stage during the year? Is so when? And will mowing destroy eggs and caterpillars?

I would be grateful for any advice on how best to manage this field with butterflies in mind.

Thanks

[Gruditch]

Have you thought about letting someone use it for temporary grazing. Letting a pony on there for a few weeks, would be far better than mowing.


Regards Gruditch

[JohnR]

If you haven't got a spare pony about your person - I flailed my field last month, leaving the hay to drop seed for a week or so before gathering. I top the field again about March at about 3-4 inches to cut the winter's growth of grass. Then sit back and enjoy it until the thistle seeds are sufficiently annoying to start the whole cycle over again.

[Gruditch]

Depending on where you are in the country, there should be horse owners crying out for grazing. In Hampshire, a local farmer who now has a livery stable on his land, told me ( as he was selling of his milking herd ) that there are now more horses in Hampshire than cows. Where as in the Scottish highlands, I've never even seen a horse. I've looked after a few paddocks using a similar method to that that John suggests. It works pretty well, the results are good, but it can be time consuming, and hard work if you don't have a tractor, gang mower etc.

If you do ever go down the grazing rout. Just don't let the livestock stay on too long. It doesn't do the animals any good, and you can end up with a mud pit.

Regards Gruditch

[Neil Hulme]

Hi A_T,

Mow approximately half the field every late September/early October, and ensure that as many of the cuttings are removed as possible (raking by hand if you don't have a top-of-the-range 'cut & collect' machine!). Don't perform this to a simple half and half pattern, but try to create an irregular mosaic of shorter/longer patches of grass. Vary this pattern from year to year. Let the arisings lie and dry out if taking a hay crop.

Cutting and collecting the arisings will always remove some early stages (caterpillars and pupae), hence only cut 50% each year. On the other hand, leaving it entirely uncut will result in the build-up of an ever thicker 'thatch', suppressing the growth of more delicate flowering plants. This will also result in a gradual increase in nutrient levels (as will leaving cut material on the ground to rot down), encouraging the growth of more vigorous plants such as nettle, thistle, hemp agrimony etc.

You might want to consider dumping the arisings In a sunny corner of the field on an annual basis (rather than having to take them off-site). This would hopefully encourage the development of a nettle bed (you can start a bed from seed, planting out when 3-4 " tall, but it's not possible to just transplant mature nettles), for the benefit of species such as Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma and Red Admiral. Cut a proportion of these back to ground level at end May/start June, to encourage fresh growth for summer brood Small Tortoiseshell and Comma to lay on.

The above advice is given on the assumption that livestock grazing is not a viable option. If it is, grazing is best performed from September to March. Be careful not to over-do it, so as to avoid a very short and uniform sward.

BWs, Neil

[Jack Harrison]

Gary:

Where as in the Scottish highlands, I've never even seen a horse.

Mull is not quite the Highlands, but there are horses here. Mind you, they do seem a bit wimpish.



Jack

[JohnR]

Looks as if it is ripe for aerial spraying with Azulox if it comes back on the temporary ticket next year The wimps would have to be moved first.

[Gruditch]

Jackets! what a couple of wimps.

At the moment there is a lady grazing two New Forest ponies in one of the paddocks I look after. New Forest ponies are a tough little breed, but she has jackets on them already, its 20 degrees out there.

Regards Gruditch

[A_T]

Hi A_T,

Mow approximately half the field every late September/early October, and ensure that as many of the cuttings are removed as possible (raking by hand if you don't have a top-of-the-range 'cut & collect' machine!). Don't perform this to a simple half and half pattern, but try to create an irregular mosaic of shorter/longer patches of grass. Vary this pattern from year to year. Let the arisings lie and dry out if taking a hay crop.

Cutting and collecting the arisings will always remove some early stages (caterpillars and pupae), hence only cut 50% each year. On the other hand, leaving it entirely uncut will result in the build-up of an ever thicker 'thatch', suppressing the growth of more delicate flowering plants. This will also result in a gradual increase in nutrient levels (as will leaving cut material on the ground to rot down), encouraging the growth of more vigorous plants such as nettle, thistle, hemp agrimony etc.

You might want to consider dumping the arisings In a sunny corner of the field on an annual basis (rather than having to take them off-site). This would hopefully encourage the development of a nettle bed (you can start a bed from seed, planting out when 3-4 " tall, but it's not possible to just transplant mature nettles), for the benefit of species such as Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma and Red Admiral. Cut a proportion of these back to ground level at end May/start June, to encourage fresh growth for summer brood Small Tortoiseshell and Comma to lay on.

The above advice is given on the assumption that livestock grazing is not a viable option. If it is, grazing is best performed from September to March. Be careful not to over-do it, so as to avoid a very short and uniform sward.

BWs, Neil

Thanks this sounds like good advice. I exercise my dogs in the field so livestock is not on the cards. I have a Honda rough cutting mower and cut almost the whole filed in September - I only hope I haven't destroyed all butterflies.