No Mow May

[Toddy]

It's a lovely day here, and someone commented that a neighbour is already firing up their lawnmower......I'm not cutting our grass, not until after May.
Our lawn has pignuts, self heal, daisies, shepherd's purse, lily of the valley, clover, poppies, wood millet, many different grasses, etc., infesting it.
If left to grow in peace it's a little meadow and the bees and butterflies love it.
I cut and tidy the edges and leave the rest until the end of May.

Plantlife has a page about it, how even a small patch can harbour so much variety and support native insects.

Join No Mow May

No Mow May is Plantlife’s annual campaign urging everyone to pack away the lawnmower, let wildflowers grow freely and help nature. Whether you’re in a city, town or the countryside, it’s super easy to take part.

www.plantlife.org.uk

Good excuse not to cut the grass

 

[Broch]

I totally agree! I have three grass-cutting regimes on my patch that tries to emulate variations in herbivore browsing in the distant past. There's no science to it; just an attempt to create diversity.

Some grass around the house, paths, and the track to the wood are cut regularly - so fairly constant but light browsing. It's not cut short, probably 3 - 4". Then there are two areas that are cut in March and then left till the end of August. This is intended to simulate seasonal browsing as animals move to the uplands then descend again. Then there's the last area that only gets cut at most once a year maybe not cut for a couple of years.

 

[Pattree]

I’d like to claim that my non-mowing intervals were as well planned. I certainly won’t be cutting grass until after May. I want to see the May blossom and (with luck) the May bugs before that happens. The front garden is mown once in the Autumn around the time that I cut the hedge.

I count this as a luxury and wouldn’t expect the same from someone with adjacent neighbours, children or a decorative garden

 

[Toddy]

I have neighbours, and they cut their grass to the mm. I trim my edges, keep the paths clear, and leave the rest to grow and bloom
It actually looks deliberate.

 

[Broch]

I know people that actually put up signs saying 'this garden is purposefully messy for the benefit of wildlife'

 

[Pattree]

My garden is purposely messy for the benefit of an ecology that includes me!

 

[Mesquite]

I mowed our lawns today and I'll probably leave the front lawn now until June as it's got a lot of wood violets (Viola odorata) on it now.

The back lawn will continue to be mowed weekly as it makes it a lot easier to clean up after the dogs.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

We only have grass in front of the house & some to the right, prehaps around 300 sq meters in all & if I left it until may, which has happened, it will grow to past knee height & then I have to cut it by hand. Mowing the lawn is not my prefered chore but it's better than getting the sickle & shears out. The daisies prefer shorter grass anyway.

As the rest of the garden is more or less left to do it's own thing... I don't feel too guilty about trimming the grass a little. The blackbirds appreciate it too. Not a lot of short grass round these here parts once spring really gets going.

 

[FerlasDave]

I think there’s a significant difference between a conventional lawn, and an area of long grass that contains wildflowers or other plants.

Im quite fastidious about my lawn, I mow weekly, feed, aerate and seed throughout the season. I like a good lawn, and having a small garden it provides useful space.

I see the point in no mow may, and if people want to do that it’s great. But it’s not for me I’m afraid.

 

[chimpy leon]

Not maintaining what are largely monocultures for one month isn’t going to do a great deal to benefit wildlife.

I personally enjoy keeping my grass as short as possible, but as a compromise I have seeded an area with pollinator specific wild flowers around my small wildlife pond which I re-located last autumn to help encourage amphibians. Seeing newts never gets old.

 

[Toddy]

The newts are actually why I started not cutting my grass. We have two ponds now, and they have newts and frogs....and they hatch the tiniest little amphibians which leave and disperse through the grass. I just could not face the thought that I was mincing them up when I cut the grass.

I don't have monoculture of a lawn, I have a green carpet that has everything from clover and daisies to pignuts, self heal and lily of the valley growing through it. It's a healthy green mix.

I have had 'lawns' and I do understand and appreciate the work to maintain them, but honestly, I'd rather see bees and know that worms are busy....and that I haven't minced the efts and froglings.

Each to their own

 

[TLM]

I cut an area around the house to keep ticks away on the rest I just have cut paths.

 

[Springchicken]

I try and have a mix of mown and untouched: I try and keep what I grandly call 'the lawn' under my enormous walnut tree short-ish, leaving the little clump of cowslips well alone; elsewhere, I mow paths until the flowers have done their thing. It's not ideal but I reckon the bees can get their fill off the apple, cherry, Plum and pear trees as well as the flower beds; the other wild beasties seem to tolerate my regime...

 

[FerlasDave]

I have had 'lawns' and I do understand and appreciate the work to maintain them, but honestly, I'd rather see bees and know that worms are busy....and that I haven't minced the efts and froglings.

Honestly the amount of worm castings that come up through my lawn don’t doubt they’re busy! Also plenty of bees around in the scruffy bits and the flower beds we have filled with perennials.

My lawn routines may have been thwarted somewhat now though as I have just found out that the blackbirds are nesting in the holly tree. So I’ll be giving that a wide birth for the next few weeks so as not to disturb them.

 

[Broch]

Not maintaining what are largely monocultures for one month isn’t going to do a great deal to benefit wildlife.

I personally enjoy keeping my grass as short as possible, but as a compromise I have seeded an area with pollinator specific wild flowers around my small wildlife pond which I re-located last autumn to help encourage amphibians. Seeing newts never gets old.

The evidence suggests otherwise. In a natural ecosystem where browsing controls the grass length, short periods of time of long grass with flowers would have coincided with the need for pollinating insects to collect nectar. We're not talking about the romantic 'wildflower' meadows of C18 paintings, but natural meadow mixed herbs. We are desperately short of that very habitat in the UK yet gardens account for nearly 5% of land in the UK - that's a substantial value in feeding invertebrates.

 

[chimpy leon]

I’m not addressing anyone specifically here but this no-mow may is a pretty short-sighted idea.

Pollinators aside, you’re effectively inviting animals to live there and then after the month is up evicting them in the harshest, most brutal and abrupt way possible - a blade spinning over their heads at 3000 rpm smashing up everything in its way!

If you think it works then go for it… I’ll stick to my permanent and separate wildlife / maintained grass setup because I witness it work, and I don’t have to worry about killing stuff in my grass because it’s short enough to avoid what little resides there.

 

[Broch]

We will have to agree to disagree; I can see there is little point in me listing the advantages and value.

 

[Macaroon]

We will have to agree to disagree; I can see there is little point in me listing the advantages and value.

Admirable forbearance.

 

[chimpy leon]

We will have to agree to disagree; I can see there is little point in me listing the advantages and value.

No, you don’t need to. I’m already aware of them hence reaching my own conclusion.
I’ve gone for a more sustainable and long term way of attracting and helping wildlife in my garden, but if not mowing your grass for a month makes you happy then that’s fine too.

 

[Toddy]

Ah, no, I don't not mow for a month, I don't mow until May is by. That way it's like cutting hay.