In this video I carry out my yearly hay cut on this very special site.
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17 Comments
๐ – NะW ะ DะะขING ONLINE ๐๐ฅdโ
Good honest hard graft. You guys must sleep well. I've bought some scabious in a pot, will it tolerate some shade say as part of a hedgerow verge.
That is a workout for sure mate! Such biodiversity in that meadow. ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐
Looks hard work that joel ๐ great work by the way ๐ธ๐๐ธ
โค๏ธ your video, Joel. Very interesting. Have a lovely ๐ week
What an amazing wildlife meadow, itโs just a pity there arenโt many more around the country that could be linked up to help isolated species populate other areas ๐
Well done! That was a lot of work, for sure. I'm glad you had some help. I always worry about leaving enough longer stems for invertebrates to overwinter in for my flower beds. Next year I hope to have my small meadow and pond done. My to-do list just keeps getting longer…
Belated happy birthday, my friend! I hope it was a great one spent with your lovely new fiancรฉe! ๐ป
Happy Birthday!
Beautiful Joel. Didn't here you say in the vidรฉo but can I ask how big that is?
Fantastic work, Joel. Best wishes from Finland.
Good job!
Edit: happy birthday to you๐ฅณ๐
That field looks good, love the trees and bushes around it. I can only imagine how it must look like next yearโค๏ธ I watched the 'When to cut your maedow' video a while ago and first I thought I was going to cut my meadow patch back a little this fall. But so far a few plants are still blooming, so I will cut away the dead stems next year spring. Next year I will finally get to see some plants that only flower in their second year.
In the previous video I tried to comment back twice, but somehow the comment got deleted when I came back later. Very frustrating. I researched the Rowan tree, but I think I cannot imagine it in my garden, because I don't know how a trimmed Rowan tree looks like. On Google you only see the big, tall trees. Maybe that is something that you can share in a video one day? Showing examples of small to medium tree species, what they look like when being trimmed and what to expect.
I also researched several crabapple species. There are quite some lovely newer varieties available through nurseries in my country. I definitely love the apple blossoms in spring and the fact that most of them will get 6/7 metres tops without pruning. I hope they are still beneficial for bees and bird, even though not 100% native.
Last week I discovered videos from the woodland trust 'A year in the life of..' A lot of native tree species is in there and it's gorgeous to get to know the trees like that. Would definitely recommend watching these, if you hadn't already. I feel inspired and I want to make such videos of my own little hawthorn tree as well. It will be fun to combine all these pictures and footage throughout the year and show it's progress. I think I will do the same of my gardens. I started taking pictures from roughly the same angles in februari 2022 and will continue until February next year. I think it will make an interested video.
One more thing, this week I spotted my first red robin in my back garden๐
It was on the porch of our neighbours and it was doing a up and down dance of some sorts. I was curious which bird it was, it turned his head and then it's body and did his dance towards me. Then it flew to the wood fence, checking out the buddleja for some food I guess and then it flew away.
I was so thrilled in seeing my favourite bird that I associate with December and my birthday. It definitely must have seen my plan in growing a baby hawthorn tree for them๐๐ณ
I literally can't wait for that seedling to become a tree and feed my future bird friends.
(Paul from Paul T's World has a red robin bird friend, while he is filming and doing other gardening stuff and I want my own red robin bird friend to๐)
Wow, if 30 varieties of butterflies over just 1 acre doesn't get you to start a meadow, of any size, well I just don't know. I tried to start one across my front yard, along the road. No germination, hoping some does this coming spring, along with some added seed this Autumn.
So great you get to maintain this special place and see it getting more established and attracting more wild creatures every year! Loved that spider! Hope you got cake! Best wishes.
For anyone that doesn't have access to a beast of a tractor, but does have a power scythe, once you've got your windrows, fork it onto a tarp and use the power scythe to drag it off.
Our first year we used wheelbarrows, then 3m tarps manually dragged. Then we got a mountfield 95h (bargain for hay meadow owners) and now we have a BCS740 and can take off similar amounts as your tractor. The tarp just glides over (especially if cut at 8cm+). With three tarps on rotation (being filled/being dragged/emptied waiting to be filled) we get thru it in no time.
Bonus to walk behind tractor is how close you are to observe any new species that have popped up. Something you don't see up in a cab.
Happy birthday ๐ Phew! Hard work but so worthwhile. What an amazing meadow such biodiversity thatโs now thriving there. It demonstrates what an affect loosing so many wildflower meadows in the country over the years has had.
Whew ! I feel worn out just watching you guys working ๐ Great job done on what looks like a super meadow .Belated birthday wishes too Joel ๐๐