Management is simple.
In conjunction with the Parish Council, we have agreed a mowing regime to be implemented by the mowing contractor. In essence the meadow area will be left unmown through the spring and summer, except for the paths through the meadow and around the border. A level of flexibility is needed on dates, to reflect the actual weather conditions.
The meadow will be mown in late summer, when flowering plants have set their seeds. When making hay, the hay is left to dry in the sun for two or three days, and is turned to help with this drying. The consequence of this is that most of the seeds of the flowering plants fall out and will germinate for the next year.
The cut grass must be removed. In a real hay meadow, this is the hay crop. Removing the grass leads to a slow reduction in the fertility of the soil. If the grass were to be left to rot then the nutrients would return to the soil. It is the lower fertility that enables the flowering plants to compete with the more vigorous grasses.
In 2018 the grass was cut (strimmed) in late August and left to dry for about three days. We then raked it and bagged it. The hay was removed from the site and given to a neighbouring farmer, to feed to his animals.
