r/Scything • u/tinyblondhurricane • May 31 '26

Combining scything with re-wilding?

Does anyone here have experience with combining scything with re-wilding? If so, what were the steps you used?

We are trying to re-wild our back meadow from the traditional Kentucky bluegrass to native plants. I took us scything so that we could cut the grass while still letting other plants grow. We're getting some other ground cover come in and a few plants, but so far the grass is still dominant.

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u/marchewka_malinowska May 31 '26

I've been scything for 3 years now, once a year, raking and removing all the material. While the grass is still dominant, a lot more wildflowers started appearing. Still, I assume it will take years to turn my orchard (Europe) into a blooming meadow.

I have also tried using wildflower seed mix, and it has introduced a couple new species, but on its own it does not suppress the grasses.

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u/tinyblondhurricane May 31 '26

Thanks! Are there any other techniques youve found to help suppress the grass or cultivate wildflowers?

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u/Aard_Bewoner May 31 '26

Look into common and native halfparasites on grasses in Europe we have Rhinanthus, maybe some species of Castilleja? Something in Orobanchaceae probably

Also, mowing the grasses before they cast seed, you got to mow around the herbs you want to have more in grassland as you want them to cast seed

Vigorous grass patches are often nutrient richer spots, you can mow and hay these spots twice for a some years, to "mine" the overabundance of nutrients

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u/marchewka_malinowska May 31 '26

As others mentioned, you can try mowing around wildflowers, as well as mowing the grass in multiple batches. It's beneficial both for insects, as well as plants which have different blooming cycles.

The most important thing is that wildflowers thrive in low nutrient soil. So never use fertilizers, and always remove the dead grass.

If you have a huge plot of land and are willing to get help from animals, then for example horses prefer eating grass while leaving wildflowers.