Grass cuttings as mulch

lowerterracemowTis the season for haymaking around here.

You can’t get to our local village without having to drive awfully slowly behind a piece of agricultural machinery leaving a field or heading to one. Farmers with one arm out the window looking at crops.

And grass is a pretty lush crop right now.  We’ve had a proper lovely spring. A bit wet, a bit warm and just the perfect growing conditions for our mountain terraces.

I swear fifteen days is about the difference between control and knee high wildflowers and weeds.

I am not complaining; I have use for this crop. lowerterracemown

Not for animals.  The horses have more than enough to munch on with all the lush growth  No, I use grass cuttings as a weed suppressant around the top vegetable gardens.

Here is where I collect my necessary ingredients.  The first terrace is by far my fave; you actually get a good long walk without having to really engage the core muscles and haul the heavy mower off the edges of sloping bits of grass.

And this is the first place where I started mowing curves.

arturliliesIt was all unintentional in the beginning.  I was mowing away, minding my own business. But actually day dreaming and not looking ahead and I ran smack bang into an overhanging cherry branch.  I swerved to avoid a full face plant; and then suddenly stopped. The branch was full of ripe juicy fruit.  So I paused to stuff my face. (What? You are able to show any restraint when it comes to munching cherries?).  And the resumed my mowing. Little realizing that I had created a kink in my long straight lines.

And I quite liked the effect.  And it meant that I can see more wildflowers in the mix on the edge.  We are having a marvellous wildflower show.

But I have to manage even the verge: thistles, errant cherry seedlings and brambles need to be cut out. Spot pruning if you like.

But back to the mulch. jdasparagus

My two spots today are way up the top of the farm.  The lilies right beside the asparagus bed.  And Jean Daniel’s asparagus.

Here is Artur modelling the mulch.

I’m delighted to see how many of these little asparagus have emerged from Jean Daniel’s patch.  I have seventeen (I think) coming up out of the 30 I planted two years ago.

I have placed a bright yellow piquet next to each fragile plant so they don’t get trampled.

poolgardenbankmulchedAnd then I mulched like mad everywhere around.  And strimmed the whole patch; ready for the cherry season.  There are half a dozen really good cherry trees up here. And unlike many of mine, easy to access.  So it pays to have all the grass below the trees nice and neat.

And I had just enough left over to do some work on the steep bank above the lawn.

The whole area is planted up with my eragrostis. Save for a patch at the front which didn’t have enough soil last season (or was it the year before?).  I have built it up with assorted weeds and mulch over time.  And now it is ready for a few more dozen grasses.

A job for next week I think. Too knackered now.