Maintaining a wildflower meadow

[Salpaint]

Hello all. I'm new to this forum and hoping to learn from others experiences in maintaining a wildflower meadow to encourage more insects.

This year I have started two small (approximately 25 by 25 ft) 'meadows' in my garden, one spring and the other summer. The spring is lawn which has had the grass clippings removed for 15 years, the summer section is a perennials bed overrun by grass etc. I've relocated most of the perennials to other borders, leaving a few which are good for insects and may survive the new regime. I cut the Spring meadow in July and have just cut the summer patch (Mid Oct).

I am concerned that in cutting the meadows I may be killing the overwintering larvae of the butterflies. The small coppers, meadow browns, ringlets and small skippers seen in summer overwinter as small larvae on grass stems, but I cannot seem to find any info on where abouts.; at ground level, or higher?

When I cut the summer patch with a petrol strimmer and took away the growth, did I mince the larvae? If so it rather defeats the object, I may get a beautiful flowering meadow but there will be no increase in butterflies if I kill the larvae! Has any research been done on this?

Also with the spring area, I want to encourage ladies smock for the orange tips, but they pupate on plant stems, so when I mow am I not destrying them? Somehow, in the wild, they survive grazing cattle etc. or are those just the individuals who pupated on plant species not eaten, or growing outside the field?

If you've got this far, thanks for reading my rather long post!

[selbypaul]

Good question. I've always wondered about exactly the same thing with my own wildflower meadow in my garden

[essexbuzzard]

May I first of all welcome you to UKB, and congratulate you on trying to create a place for nature!

I’m no expert on this, but I would leave cutting your summer meadow a little later, November perhaps, or even next March. This will give most species a chance to start hibernation, and this often occurs on or near the ground.

Regarding the ladies smock, Orange Tip caterpillars wander some distance to pupate, forming the overwintering chrysalis on nearby vegetation, so provided you have somewhere nearby where they are not disturbed, they should be ok.

Your Meadow needs to be in the sunniest position possible, to maximise your chances of success.

[David M]

Good luck with your endeavours, Salpaint. I commend you!

I wish I were in a position to advise but alas, gardening is not my forte although what you propose certainly makes sense from a butterfly perspective.

[selbypaul]

May I first of all welcome you to UKB, and congratulate you on trying to create a place for nature!

I’m no expert on this, but I would leave cutting your summer meadow a little later, November perhaps, or even next March. This will give most species a chance to start hibernation, and this often occurs on or near the ground.

Regarding the ladies smock, Orange Tip caterpillars wander some distance to pupate, forming the overwintering chrysalis on nearby vegetation, so provided you have somewhere nearby where they are not disturbed, they should be ok.

Your Meadow needs to be in the sunniest position possible, to maximise your chances of success.

That's really helpful, thanks

[Salpaint]

Thanks for the replies.
Were on a north facing slope, so not ideal, but the site is one of the sunniest I can offer. There are perennials borders surrounding, so that should provide the orange tips with stems to pupate on, though I do cut these down, usually in March so I think I'll try to stretch that to April at least.

Good point about cutting the summer meadow later, general advice seems to be to cut in Autumn but I could leave it until Feb or March next year. I prefer to cut tall stuff in early spring anyway as it gives other creatures a place to overwinter.

I'm fortunate to live deep in the countryside, surrounded by fields and woodland. We have a few acres we keep a couple of horses on and try to manage that land, as much as possible, to benefit wildlife by leaving field margins and not using chemicals on it. The field they use in the summer is almost devoid of butterflies as they eat or trample every inch! The winter field gets muddy in places and generally mashed as they are not stabled and live out 24/7. This field is rested and allowed to regrow until October or November. It has become plant species rich (For acidic soil) and supports lots of bumble bees, butterflies, moths etc. but I worry the winter mashing must destroy a lot of overwintering larvae and pupae, hence wanting to provide a safe area in my garden.

[David M]

Where in the country are you, Salpaint?

[bugboy]

Hi Salpaint, one thing you could try when cutting the wild areas to mitigate removing the life (apart from avoiding strimmers, those things send shivers down my spine since as you say, they mince everything in their path) is instigate a rotational system where some areas are left uncut for 12 months. Also, if you don't already do this, leave the cuttings in situ for a day or two to allow any life the chance to get down to ground level before its removed.

Do you have Yellow Rattle growing in these areas? its a semi parasite on grasses and allows other plants to gain a toe hold creating a richer floral diversity.

I'm very jealous of you living in the middle of the countryside!

[Salpaint]

Where in the country are you, Salpaint?

I'm in West Wales, at about 450ft in a valley but still fairly sunny. Our location and aspect along with an acid soil means we'll never have the range of butterflies those on limey soils in the South East can enjoy but we still have quite a few species, though even with this last hot summer we didn't have the quantities I hoped for.

Bugboy, Good idea about leaving some each year uncut, and leaving the cuttings. I did use a petrol strimmer, I started out with a scythe but it was too much for me to do it all, I suppose one advantage of not cutting it all would be I might manage to scythe instead of strim

I collected yellow rattle seed from one of the fields and scattered it on the new area. I can vouch for how effective it is, it arrived in the corner of our winter grazing field a few years back when we used to have it cut for hay. Within a few years it was over most of the field and reduced the grass so much it was no longer worth cutting it for hay! The summer before last we needed to have the horses in there during the summer and that has got rid of most of it, for the moment, but there are still patches in places. The seed does not persist in the soil long so may take a while to recolonise

We have Devil's bit scabious in a damp part by the stream which I'm trying to multiply up. I grew some plants from our seed and have added some to the garden meadow.

[David M]

I'm in West Wales, at about 450ft in a valley but still fairly sunny. Our location and aspect along with an acid soil means we'll never have the range of butterflies those on limey soils in the South East can enjoy but we still have quite a few species, though even with this last hot summer we didn't have the quantities I hoped for.

Interesting, Salpaint. Given that I'm in south Wales myself I'm intrigued. Can you narrow down your location a bit more?

I'm in Swansea (on the Gower).

[Salpaint]

I'm in West Wales, at about 450ft in a valley but still fairly sunny. Our location and aspect along with an acid soil means we'll never have the range of butterflies those on limey soils in the South East can enjoy but we still have quite a few species, though even with this last hot summer we didn't have the quantities I hoped for.

Interesting, Salpaint. Given that I'm in south Wales myself I'm intrigued. Can you narrow down your location a bit more?

I'm in Swansea (on the Gower).

We're near Newcastle Emlyn, I would imagine the Gower is better butterfly country than here.

[David M]

We're near Newcastle Emlyn, I would imagine the Gower is better butterfly country than here.

Yes, it probably is, but you're in a decent part of Wales there, Salpaint.

You will have colonies of Brown, Purple and White Letter Hairstreaks near to you as well as Pearl Bordered Frits a short(ish) distance away at Cwm Soden. Silver Studded Blues are at the Castlemartin firing ranges whilst Marsh & Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries aren't a million miles away, and you could spend a mere morning getting acquainted with Large Heaths at Tregaron further north!

[Salpaint]

We're near Newcastle Emlyn, I would imagine the Gower is better butterfly country than here.

Yes, it probably is, but you're in a decent part of Wales there, Salpaint.

You will have colonies of Brown, Purple and White Letter Hairstreaks near to you as well as Pearl Bordered Frits a short(ish) distance away at Cwm Soden. Silver Studded Blues are at the Castlemartin firing ranges whilst Marsh & Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries aren't a million miles away, and you could spend a mere morning getting acquainted with Large Heaths at Tregaron further north!

Had a visit from a Pearl Bordered Frit, sadly quite a few years ago and not since. Same with a Green Hairstreak. Yes, I should go further afield on a sunny day, but I'm usually enjoying my garden or riding my horse. My husband and I do keep an eye open for butterflies and other wildlife while out riding, we're usually going at a nice gentle pace as we're mostly on quiet roads and lanes or in woodland, so we do get a good look at the hedge banks and path edges

[David M]

..Had a visit from a Pearl Bordered Frit, sadly quite a few years ago and not since. Same with a Green Hairstreak. Yes, I should go further afield on a sunny day, but I'm usually enjoying my garden or riding my horse. My husband and I do keep an eye open for butterflies and other wildlife while out riding, we're usually going at a nice gentle pace as we're mostly on quiet roads and lanes or in woodland, so we do get a good look at the hedge banks and path edges..

Good for you, Salpaint....and a Pearl Bordered Fritillary is a highly notable garden visitor.

You could always check your local blackthorn for Brown Hairstreak ova if you were short of something to do.

[NickMorgan]

Interesting topic Salpaint and something I have been trying to figure out for some time.
My father had an area of land in the Scottish Borders, that I helped him look after and improve for wildlife. It was mainly unmanaged woodland and rank grassland. Many would say it was ideal for wildlife, but Rhododendron had colonised much of it and other areas were taken over completely by Sycamore. The more open spaces were almost entirely Rosebay Willow Herb. Over the 15 years that he was there, I removed a considerable amount of Sycamore and thinned out the woodland. This has allowed a completely new layer of wildflowers to establish amongst the trees.
Dad sprayed off most of the Rosebay Willow Herb which has allowed grasses and other wild flowers to colonise.
We inherited the property a couple of years ago and I am continuing his work there. I have two areas that I am trying to maintain for butterflies. One is mostly grass, with scattered trees, which is loved by Ringlets. I used to cut this and leave the cuttings after the first frosts. The idea being that any Ringlet or Meadow Brown caterpillars will be lower down in the grass by then. It is cut at 4 inches height. This really just tops the grass and cuts down Raspberry and ferns and any young trees. This year, for the first time I haven't cut it, as there is little other than grass growing there, and like you, I thought that the odd fern or taller bit of vegetation may provide shelter for moths and other invertebrates.
For the area I call the wild flower meadow, I cut this once a year once the Thistles have finished flowering. This is really to keep in with the neighbouring farmers, who I am sure despair when they look over the fence! The Thistles tend to be the last plants to flower. However, I do leave them around the edges, which are not so obvious from the neighbouring fields, as I know the value of their seeds for birds.
Currently, I don't collect the cuttings and the machine I use tends to mush them up quite a bit. When we move down there permanently next spring I want to explore the option of buying an Allen Scythe, which will leave the vegetation in an easier state to rake up.
To come back to your original point, I leave areas uncut each year amounting to about a third of the meadow, so that there will always be an area for caterpillars and chrysalises. It is all a bit of an experiment, so I am keen to learn from others, too.