Until July 2017, documenting the seasons of coastal Dorset. I'm a complete amateur so don't trust I'm always right. If ever you see I'm wrong - whether with identifications or in anything else - do say! Meanwhile . . . I've now moved to Halifax in West Yorkshire. Click on the link below to collect the new URL. Don't forget to follow there!

Monday 9 July 2012

AFTER THE GRASS WAS CUT

Last month, I posted about the wild plants in a park. After that, the grass grew and grew until it was like a low level field of (wall?) barley. It turned honey brown. Scarlet pimpernels spread. Their flowers were open more often. But when the light was bright the wind blew and the field rippled; lovely to watch but not particularly enjoyable as a photographic blur. When the plants stood still, the sun went behind clouds. I postponed and postponed until, one day, the sun came out, it wasn't raining and the wind had dropped and . . .

and a man came along and cut it down.

Later, I went to look.
 Cut-leaved Crane's-bill (Geranium dissectum)
 Cut-leaved Crane's-bill (Geranium dissectum)

Part of the cut-leafed cranesbill, was still there by the roundabout but nearly everything else had gone.

Fluffy white feather


There were

Grey Feather


feathers.

Mangled Pine Cone on cut grass


There was a mangled pine cone.

Chopped up seed clock

Chopped up clocks.

COMMON ROUGH WOODLICE - Porcellio scaber
COMMON ROUGH WOODLICE - Porcellio scaber

And woodlice on a decaying stump. Apparently these woodlice have two pairs of lungs - take a look at UK Safari.

Anagallis arvensis Scarlet Pimpernel flower - just the flower - fallen when the grass was cut.
Anagallis arvensis
Scarlet Pimpernel flower - just the flower - fallen when the grass was cut.

And at last, briefly, the pimpernel flowers, detached from their stalks and roots, were open and still. It was hard not to be sad.
If the grass is not cut, tins and bottles can fall in it, be hidden by it, be ready to cut anyone who sits there or falls. It has to be done. I'm glad it is done - except for the part of me that isn't.
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12 comments:

Bridget said...

Growth of grass has been crazy this year with all that moisture. We need to cut an area we left for wildflowers.Sadly all the wildflowers were overwhelmed with grass.

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Grass once it's been left to grow tall can look very brown and horrid. The nice thing about lots of rain is that it's greening up again quickly.

Anonymous said...

Councils should wait until after seeds have dropped to guarantee that there will be more flowers next year but they seldom do.

We have had Scarlet Pimpernel and Self Heal in great number this year, more than I have ever seen here before. Wishing for some sun for everyone...

Anonymous said...

Forgot to say, love the new header!

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Hi, Toffeeapple. Glad you like the header. I think, in this case, the council did quite well. It's mostly children who use it and it's best that they be able to run without wondering what's in the grass - and footballs don't work too well when it's long either. I got more agitated the year they cut back the blackberry bushes just as the fruit ripened!

Mark Willis said...

We have to treat the grass-cutting exercise as official "pruning", and we all know that pruning re-invogorates growth, so all will be well in the end.

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Hi Mark, this park must be very well drained. I would have expected it to go muddy once it was cut but it's coping well.

Gerald (SK14) said...

oo i don't like those wood lice but then I guess they do a job

Down by the sea said...

Hi Lucy,
Your posts always take us down to the flowers or insects level which is so wonderful.
I new banner is so striking too.
Sarah x

Dartford Warbler said...

I`m so glad I have found your blog ( via Sarah at Down by the Sea). Wonderful photos.

It makes me sad to see the flower filled verges of country lanes being cut before the wild flowers have had time to seed.

We have the small flowered cut leafed crane`s bill growing at the edge of a field, along with scarlet pimpernel and common centaury ( which is not very common at all).

Rosie Nixon Fluerty said...

Our verges are getting cut just now and it always saddens me to see many of my photographic opportunities being turned into clippings. I've never seen Scarlet Pimpernel around here.

Laura Bloomsbury said...

what a wonderful way to see and document the mini dramas of ordinary happenings.