Tooting: Cuts to bring more wildlife to Tooting Common begin

Grass cuts on Tooting Common have begun which will see more diversity come to the area.

The common, which is maintained by Enable Parks and Wandsworth Council, is now getting its first eco cut.

The areas have been cut and in a few days the cuttings will be gathered and collected, thus reducing the level of nutrients in the soil.

When an area of grassland has high nutrients it means that there are few species and numbers of wildflowers, as well as strong growth of coarse grasses.

The wildflower diversity of these areas can be improved by a method that includes cutting and removing the grass off-site. This lowers the nutrients in the soil, thus allowing the coarse grasses to grow less and giving the wildflowers the chance to flourish.

Enable will undertake two cuts and collects of the grasslands areas (all of which are pink in the photo).

A spokesperson for Enable said: "The July eco grass cut is underway on the Commons, with the aim to improve the grassland diversity.

"The areas have been cut and in a few days the cuttings will be gathered into rows and collected, which reduces the nutrient levels in the soil."

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