Meadow Mowing to Support Wildlife

Participants are invited to walk the Tapley Farm Labyrinth to meditate on our relationship with the land in an open meadow context. Featuring an artist talk by Carol Gregor about the history of sacred geometry and how it has informed her creative process as an architect, we will learn how to tune into the surrounding environment to better understand our place within it.

Workshops on maintaining meadows to support wildlife will help us understand how to tend open meadows to support birds and pollinators.While it is well known that mowing is necessary to maintain open space in Maine, the practice of mowing continues to be misunderstood and ecologically disruptive. One of the easiest ways to cultivate habitat is to stop mowing during summer months so that flowers may bloom to feed pollinators. Leaving plants to mature into seed feeds migrating birds, is an important food source for winter resident birds and allows meadow plants to regenerate.

Participants will learn mowing techniques to tackle aggressive plants, alternate mowed areas and maintain paths for easy access to meadow spaces. During our walk, we'll practice observation and plant identification to speculate on the potential expressed by this particular meadow community. We will learn ways of increasing diversity by setting up native plant nurseries, demonstrating transplanting into the field and dispersing native seeds.