A natural lawn ..

We have a humongous area of grass. Sown in 2012 with rye grass and clover. It generates large amounts of grass cuttings which are then composted.

But these days we don’t mow as we used to. We’ve been encouraging the native plants in the lawn to flower to benefit pollinators for several years. I cut paths into the lawn and a section remains unmown until the autumn. Other sections get a trim with the mower blades set on their highest setting to encourage a succession of flowers.

Watching male ghost moths displaying (lekking) on the lawn is a rare treat.

My mum spent a married lifetime watching my dad weeding and feeding his primped and pampered lawn.  These days she looks out with some bewilderment at the prairie of unmown grass that spreads before her.

Even though we restrict our mowing, paths still need to be cut. I now have a mountain range of grass cuttings to incorporate into the compost.