Create new, natural environments on your property. Fall is a great time for working outdoors…the days are cooler, so it’s much more pleasant to be working outside than during the extreme heat of summer. If you’re the owner of a DR® Field and Brush Mower, this is a great time to spruce up your property. But rather than just clearing out-of-control weeds and brush, there are a few brush mowing projects you can do with your DR at this time of year to create new and exciting natural environments that will come to life next spring.
If you’ve seen any of our literature about the DR® Field and Brush Mower, you may have read about how great the DR is for creating “European woodlots.” We started using this term many years ago when we first began offering the Field and Brush Mower, and we’re still using it today. However, through the years we’ve had more than a few folks give us a call or send us a letter asking, “What is a European woodlot?” It’s a good question, and here’s our answer, along with some tips for creating your own European woodlot. A European woodlot is any forested area, regardless of size, that is free of immature undergrowth like weeds, vines, briars, small saplings and the like.
The dominant species that thrive in European woodlots are mature trees that have naturally taken over and shaded any undergrowth. These areas are healthy and clean, as the selected trees are free to grow without competing with other plant species. Also, with less underbrush, it’s easier to see the trees and move through the forest. Such woodlots are common in Europe, where many forests have, through the centuries, been stripped of undergrowth because citizens are allowed to remove dead and dying trees for firewood and building purposes.
The first step toward creating your own European woodlot is to clear away any unwanted growth that currently thrives within your wooded area. It’s much easier to do this in the fall, after the leaves have fallen, so you can selectively mow around those smaller trees you want to save…while spotting and avoiding obstacles like rocks, hummocks and stumps. With the DR® Field and Brush Mower you can easily chop up weeds and brush, which can be left on the ground throughout the winter. The cut material will decompose and provide the trees in your woodlot with important nutrients they’ll need during the colder, stressful months ahead. By springtime, the material you cut in the fall will be almost completely gone and your soil and trees will be richer and healthier.
Brush mowing in the fall will also encourage the ground covers that are native to your part of the country to grow next spring. Also, by mowing now you’ll be eliminating the woody plants that compete with trees for water and sunlight. Next spring, if there’s adequate sunlight filtering through the tree canopy, the floor of your woodlot will produce a lush, low-lying ground cover that can be maintained by mowing just a few times a year or left to fill in around the trees.
Finally, depending on how “clean” you want your woodlot to be, it may be necessary to remove fallen trees and branches that can’t be cut with your DR®. On the other hand, some folks prefer a more “wild” woodlot that is easy to walk through, but that has sufficient cover for birds and wildlife.
Where the Wildflowers Grow
There’s a lot to be said for having a wildflower meadow on your property. It will cost a lot less than a lawn to maintain. It will require less water, less fertilizer, less gasoline (for mowing), much less time, and it’s attractive. There are two ways to create a wildflower meadow—you can plant selected wildflower species, or encourage the native wildflowers that may already exist on your property to grow. Cultivating wildflowers from seed produces a beautiful field of your favorite flowers, but it requires a fair amount of work, much like planting and caring for a new lawn. If you have a DR® Field and Brush Mower, it’s much easier to create a similar effect by mowing at the right times of year.
Most meadow areas over time will try to revert to wooded land. Tall, fibrous weeds and small saplings will begin to grow, shading the natural wildflowers and grasses. Mowing these areas late in the fall has several benefits:
2. Woody vegetation is eliminated so that grasses and wildflowers can grow next spring without so much competition for light and moisture.
3. Wildflower seeds will be scattered as you mow, and the cut material will serve as an insulating blanket for existing wildflower plants over the winter.
4. Mowing your wildflower meadow late in the fall each year will continue to discourage the woody vegetation and encourage the development of grasses and wildflowers.
You probably won’t end up with a solid blanket of flowers like you can get when you plant them from seed. However, your wildflower meadow will likely be more “wild”, with a variety of flowers, grasses and competing plants…but just as natural, beautiful, and satisfying as anything you could plant.