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Today the Friends of Surrey Square Park have at last come around cutting the grass in the Wildflower Meadow.
Today the Friends of Surrey Square Park have at last come around cutting the grass in the Wildflower Meadow.
The meadows was established a couple of years ago and was agreed between the Friends and the Park management that we would keep up the maintenance. Of course if easier said than done. But in general we were there. The friends repaired, clean and de-clatter the meadows when needed (see here for example) but for the meadow to be at its prime would require more effort, regular watering (the friends, especially Julian, does that in dray times) and probably more regular mowing, but we do what we can.
The meadows was established a couple of years ago and was agreed between the Friends and the Park management that we would keep up the maintenance. Of course if easier said than done. But in general we were there. The friends repaired, clean and de-clatter the meadows when needed (see here for example) but for the meadow to be at its prime would require more effort, regular watering (the friends, especially Julian, does that in dray times) and probably more regular mowing, but we do what we can.
In any case the meadow really needed some shaving. Herbaceous grasses especially Fescue and Poa types have become over-abundant and the beginning of succession, with the presence of bush-like plants like Hogweeds have transformed the character and nature of the patch making it less biodiverse.
In any case the meadow really needed some shaving. Herbaceous grasses especially Fescue and Poa types have become over-abundant and the beginning of succession, with the presence of bush-like plants like Hogweeds have transformed the character and nature of the patch making it less biodiverse.
Before actually getting on with the cutting some cleaning is required as a considerable amount of rubbish has been accumulating under the elongated vegetation
We got along briskly and in less than no time the detritus was bagged and ready for disposal. The main business was than to commence.
The were the early birds and the usual suspects...
But many others come to say hello, Rosa & Nick for instance
And Elizabeth with little Arash that could join us only later on but got stack into the task at hand with relish and cheerfulness.
At the end was well and in spite of lacking the more suitable tools of the trade we managed to achieve a reasonable result.
We were left with tons of future hey. After some thinking we decided that the best course of action would have been to move the lot to the WildLife Area and mat the newly exposed area at front-end away from the park, in Albridge Street. The grass will hopefully mulch and will allow a better growth for ruderals in the spring (note that the pictures of the hay-like matting was taken few days after).
It was a good day and everybody felt satisfied with the result. Some were worried about our actions being misinterpreted by the public and of the possibility of averse reaction, but I was confident that with the Wildman of Kinglake there with us, few would have had the mettle to be obstreperous!
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