Ongoing management

The first year after sowing:

• the most obvious plant growth in new grassland at Abbey Farm is annual plants like poppies, Mayweed, Charlock and Fumitory
• underneath these are seedlings of the plants included in the seed mix, most of which are perennials
• in this year we balance two aims:
  • keeping plant cover low enough so that small seedlings are not crowded out
  • removing the year’s plant growth so that nutrients continue to be taken from the grassland site
• The low fertility of the soils at Flitcham means that first-year growth is often sparse, so it can be left without mowing during the first summer. We then mow and remove the cuttings during September
• we do not use any pesticides or herbicides on the grasslands. The high diversity of the seed mix means spraying a herbicide would also kill plants that we have sown

Years 2-4

• in the second year biennial plants in the seed mix often show well, such as Wild Parsnip and Viper’s Bugloss
• each year progressively more perennial plants flower
• again two management aims have to be balanced:
  • remove the plant growth each year
  • allowing any flowering seed mix plants to produce viable seed
• We try to meet both these aims by mowing and removing the cuttings in late September

Subsequent years

• from the fourth year onwards we may start grazing with livestock (we use sheep), though it depends on the condition of the sward
• autumn mowing and removal remains an option
• failure to remove each year’s growth may encourage common, rank vegetation species like False Oat-grass