Habitat management

In regularly cut areas there are four main types of grassland with associated management options available to us:

Each of these are illustrated and described in more detail in the following sections.

Habitat types

Consideration needs to be given to what is the most appropriate option in individual locations.

The following factors need to be considered:

health and safety near roads (including maintaining visual splay)
need for hazard free use for play or recreation
need to maintain pathways
frequency of usage
site status (country park, green flag award site etc)
the type and number of different species present (different habitat types have different biodiversity values, e.g. a high grass content will suppresses wildflowers)
accessibility and how a site is used (longer grass can reduce the access for visitors and users with assisted mobility requirements)
requirement for maintaining access (for example in recreation sites and areas of open space)
the large range of public views on grass cutting
success of any previous seeding or management method
amount of shading (shading from trees can prevent wildflower growth)
soil and habitat type (some soil types are more suited to wildflower planting)