Native Plants
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Saturday - November 03, 2012
From: Llano, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Meadow Gardens, Seasonal Tasks
Title: High mowing equipment for Llano TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
We're trying to follow your wildflower meadow recommendation "if your meadow has tall, warm-season native grasses, wait until late summer or early fall to mow, allowing them to elongate, flower, and set seed. Never mow mid to tall-grasses below six inches." when strip-mowing a meadow of about 20 acres. Can you suggest a type of equipment that will mow this high? Everything we find seems to be made for lawns and cuts 4" max. What do we ask for? Thank you!ANSWER:
We're afraid that hardware is a little out of our line. This sounds to us like a piece of equipment you might only use one or two times a year, and therefore a good candidate for rentals as opposed to purchase. We would suggest the nearest Home Depot or Lowe's or even a tractor supply company. We did try to find something online in your area that might help you, but didn't do too well at that. Our suggestion is to go into the nearest business that provides rentals, and inquire what they have or suggest.
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