Ecological management

To give nature a helping hand, we sow some of the dikes with a native mixture of flowers and herbs that is suitable for the dikes in North Holland. This creates flower-rich dikes, which serve as a seed source for further dispersal. A species-rich grass cover with flowers not only provides a greater food supply for insects, but also has a more varied root structure, which contributes to erosion resistance. This makes the dike more resistant to prolonged drought. A flower-filled dike is a safe dike!

Sinus mowing or strip mowing

Sinus management is insect-friendly management on the dike that forms a ribbon across the agricultural landscape. It is a 'meandering mowing method' in which we mainly mow the rough parts in the first mowing round (from mid-June). How and what we mow depends on the vegetation development at the location. Sometimes we also mow in strips and leave half of the vegetation standing. And in the second mowing round (mid-August), we mow the other half, so that the transition between the two mowing sections takes place organically. This creates varied vegetation. 

We carry out this type of mowing with our own maintenance service. We apply ecological mowing to the Assendelverzeedijk and the Hondsbossche Zeewering, the Kolhornerkade along the Kolhornervaart, the Mijzenpolder, the Westerzeedijk, the IJsselmeerdijk, and in the Bergermeer, among other places. These are dikes that no longer have a water-retaining function or dikes on reservoir waters, which allows us to experiment.