The river valleys, flooded annually during floods, are a rich source of high-quality forbs that go to the hay. The meadow has always been considered an important part of rural life. Mowing teams provided hay to all livestock in the village. Floodplain meadows are considered especially fruitful, and the grass mowed on them is the most nutritious for animals.
The concept
The meadow located in close proximity to the floodplain of the river and annually flooded with its waters is called floodplain. If you compare it with other meadows, then against their background he will look poor. A large number of plant species rarely grow here. This is due to the fact that constant flooding is far from suitable for all vegetation.
But the quality of pasture grass and hay from it is the highest, as well as productivity. There is also an explanation for this. Each time the water leaves, the floodplain meadows are covered with alluvial deposits, the so-called bulk. It nourishes the soil, and in addition to moisturizing, it creates favorable conditions for abundant and rapid growth of plants.
Depending on where the floodplain meadow is located, the soil may vary in composition. But unlike other types of pastures, all soils are fertile, loose and well ventilated. River valleys may vary in terms of flooding.
Flooding duration
Depending on how long the water leaves the coast, floodplain meadows are divided:
- On short floodplain flooded for up to 15 days. They are found near small rivers or near bodies of water with high banks.
- Medium floodplains are covered with water for a period of 15 to 25 days. Such meadows are most often found in floodplains of large reservoirs.
- Long floodplain meadows can stand under water for 25 days or more. Such species are most common and are located near large rivers.
The grass composition filling the floodplain meadow depends on the time of flooding. There are plants that can easily tolerate a long spill. These include creeping wheatgrass, swamp rank, common manna, reed canary and others. In fact, there are not many types of herbs in nature that can withstand flooding for 40-50 days.
The medium-resistant grass stand that fills the floodplain meadow includes: reed and meadow fescue, creeping and hybrid clover, meadow bluegrass and others.
Among grasses that are not very resistant to flooding, there are ryegrasses, sowing alfalfa, meadow clover and hedgehog team.
Resistance of meadow plants to cold
All vegetation of floodplain meadows can also be divided into species by winter hardiness:
- Very resistant to frost - boneless rump, Siberian scallop, giant polevole, creeping wheatgrass, common beckmania, fescue, clover and yellow alfalfa.
- Cold resistant grasses - meadow timothy grass, red fescue, horned lamb and others.
- Medium-resistant plants - meadow fescue, hybrid alfalfa, meadow clover, team hedgehog.
- Malozimostoychie herbs - pasture and multi-rooted ryegrass.
Floodplain meadows sown with frost-resistant plant species have the greatest diversity of grasses, and therefore both quantity and quality of hay. But even for them, very low temperatures or a large layer of snow can be dangerous and can affect productivity.
The riverine part of the floodplain
By location, the types of floodplain meadows are divided into riverbed, central and middle parts of the floodplain.
The riverbed part is located in close proximity to the river bed. Usually occupies a small strip of land with sandy deposits. Cereals grow best in riverbed floodplain meadows. In turn, this part can be conditionally divided into 3 types:
- High-level ones are meadows located either in the forest and covered with rough grass stands (cutter, cow parsnip), or in the steppe zone, where there is a mixture of meadow cereals, forbs and steppe representatives (chinton, thin-legged, typical and others).
- Floodplain meadow of the middle level. Forbs, legumes, valuable broad-leaved cereals are found here.
- Low level meadows. They are distinguished by dampness, which is most liked by wheatgrass, white woodland, meadowgrass, beckmania, canary and others.
River meadows are most suitable for the growth of rhizome cereals and umbellate with a well-developed root system.
Meadows of the central floodplain
This is the largest area of floodplain meadows, and it is located immediately beyond the riverbed zone. Here, sandy-clay deposits with a large species of forbs are most often found. Since these are the least flooded areas, they often lack moisture, which leads to a fairly low grass stand.
Here, a large number of loose cereal crops grow: timothy grass, tall ryegrass, meadow fescue, a team hedgehog, meadow foxtail, common fieldgrass and others. Some of them, such as foxtail, give 2 crops per season, which allows you to collect from 20 to 50 centners of hay per hectare. All these perennial herbs grow in one place up to 10-15 years, giving high yields of feed from year to year.
Middle and lower floodplains
Meadows located in the middle part of the floodplain are considered the best in terms of yield and quality of grass. Most often here you can meet timothy from cereals, meadow and red fescue, foxtail and bluegrass. From the legume family you can find yellow alfalfa, red and white clover, mouse peas, rank, horned lamb. From the herbs - buttercup, meadow geranium, cornflower, bedstraw, common ruffle, yarrow and others. Such a diversity of species is explained by the particularly high content of silt in the soil, which settles after the flow of water.
The lower level of the floodplain (near-terrace zone) is characterized by a decrease in the relief, which often leads to waterlogging, and in some cases even to the formation of peat swamp.
Here, the soil does not have the same aeration as in other types of floodplain meadows, so you can see real thickets of willow, alder, nettle and artichoke. In these places, the cereals — the marsh bluegrass, the meadow foxtail, the pike, the turfy, creeping field — “feel good” in these places.
If environmental conditions allow, then in the terraced floodplain meadows you can meet in a large number of hygrophytes - sedge, reeds, reeds, cotton grass.
Marshland
Swampy floodplain meadows are usually located in the most flooded places, where water can stand from 50 to 95 days. They are characterized by peaty-gley soils, on which water can reach a level of up to 2 m or more. After the flood, this area remains very wet for a long time. Most often here you can find these types of plants:
- Cereals: reed double-source, meadow foxtail, soddy pike, overgrowing mannik and meadow oatmeal.
- Forbs: sour sorrel, cherished starlet, burlap, swamp forget-me-not, creeping buttercup, cinquefoil straight and thick - leaved meadowsweet.
- Of the varieties of sedge: millet, fox, hare, acute and early.
Due to the swampiness, these meadows are rarely used for pasture, although the plants growing here are suitable for hay and are characterized by high nutritional properties.
Flood meadow care
Whatever the characteristic of floodplain meadows at the location or duration of flooding, they need to be improved. First of all, this applies to vegetation in the middle and upper floodplain zone. Experienced specialists know that 30% of the meadow is occupied by cereal and bean herbs. To enhance their growth, they carry out harrowing in a couple of tracks, in which at the same time garbage is removed and hummocks are compared.
It is recommended to carry out these works immediately after the water has descended. In the event that after floods there is an increased growth of herbs, harrowing should not be, but it is better to postpone this work for a while after haying.
You need to mow the grass for the first time before flowering, as if you do it during its heading, then over time the number of its varieties will significantly decrease in the meadow.
If biaxial technology is used, then at the first cut it is necessary to leave stems 4-5 cm high, and at the second - 6-7 cm. This will allow the plants to keep to the maximum nutrients that accumulate in the lower part of the stem, so that frosts can easily be transferred.
Fertilization of floodplain meadows
To improve the quality and productivity of floodplain meadows, fertilizers should be applied to the soil. This will not only enhance the growth of grass, but also affect its nutritional properties. Mineral fertilizers will help increase productivity, which will only grow from year to year, and will make plants more resistant to adverse natural factors.
According to experts, the regular application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers in the first 2-3 years increases the yield by 0.5 tons per hectare. After the fifth year, the indicators average 2.6 t / ha. At the same time, there is an increased growth of legumes, which improve soil nitrogen fixation, which leads to an increase in the growth of cereals and forbs.