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Creating a meadow, but not sure what machinery is best – we have the answers for you, no matter the size of your meadow.
No matter the size of your meadow – whether it’s a small lawn, a community field or acres of farmland – you will need to think about equipment. All types of machinery have their advantages and disadvantages, but which combinations you use largely depends on the equipment you already have and the size of your meadow.
Today, a growing number of lawns and smaller green spaces are being turned into meadows, without the aid of big machinery and livestock.
Mowing and then removing the clippings, mimics the hay cutting and grazing cycles used on larger sites. Many spaces – including lawns, school grounds, road verges, graveyards and fields under a hectare – are being managed in this way. Follow this wheel below for a year in the life of small meadow management:
What is it used for?
Cutting and removing grass at the end of the summer to mimic a hay cut.
How to use it
Best to start with the cutting blades set as high as possible and cut several times, lowering the cutting height each time.
Top tip
Best if the grass box is not attached for the 1st couple of cuts and raked by hand after each cut.
Creating bare ground (before sowing the seed).
Rake off all the dead grass and thatch after scarifying.
Suited to smaller sites such as gardens, verges and green spaces. Available through most plant and machinery hire shops.
Annual cut of small meadows in gardens or green spaces or for creating bare ground.
Strim area as short as possible and rake off all the cuttings.
Can be used to create bare ground if using strimmer with a cord.
Creating bare ground and managing small meadows .
A metal rake can be used to remove clippings after the grass has been cut. A soil rake is good for removing building up of mossy thatch at the bass.
Remove all the raked material before it rots down and the nutrients enrich the soil.
Cutting large meadows that are too small for farm machinery or have limited access.
These are also useful where steep slopes preclude any ride-on machinery.
Available through most plant and machinery hire shops.
This machinery is designed to fit on the back of a tractor and for field-scale meadow management for sites bigger than one hectare. As a farmer or landowner, it is likely that you will have this equipment readily available, but this guidance will help with the best ways of utilising it for meadow creation. If not, nearby farmers or land managers might be able to help you out with borrowing equipment.
Useful for pulling out thatch, particularly in ungrazed meadows. Ideally before creating bare ground for sowing wildflowers in a field with existing grass – or if problem plants exist just use this.
They pull out the thatch of dead grass and moss that can build up in meadows, to expose the bare ground.
They work well in sites which have previously had problem plants – because they only scratch the surface and are less likely to awaken seeds from the past.
Creating a lot of bare ground, quickly.
Care must be taken not to power the harrow too deep – aim for a setting of no more than 1” deep, not a standard agricultural operation.
They must only be used in meadows already with very short grass and lacking problem plants present recently or seed bank.
These tools are best used for creating bare ground.
They work best on slightly soft ground with very short grass.
They are less effective than power or tine harrows, so the meadow will need to be chain-harrowed several times.
Cutting meadows, as part of the hay making process.
It is used for spreading grass around the meadow.
The grass is spread around the meadow, to aid drying during hay making.
Can be used for spreading green hay out if this is used as a seed source for meadow creation.
Baling the hay in traditional hay meadow management.
Collects previously cut, turned, dried long grass/hay, and shapes it into compact large rounds or small squares.
Round balers need the bales to be moved by a tractor, whereas small square bales can be easily moved by hand.
These tools are used for cutting and collecting at the same time.
Cutting and removing the annual grass growth in a meadow where it’s not possible to make hay.
They are increasingly being used to manage road verges and smaller meadows, where it is not practical to make hay or graze livestock.
Straw choppers are used for spreading green hay bales out.
A much spreader is used for spreading green hay.
To use a much spreader, drive slowly across the field.
Green hay should be spread as quickly as possible, to avoid over heating the green hay.
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