Geert Orye / CC
No Mow May has been around for a few years now. It apparently started in the U.K. as a way to help native pollinators, in particular along the edges of highways, but in other areas as well. It has now spread here, with people being encouraged to let their lawns grow.
I did it last year. Okay… I just didn’t feel like mowing, but it made a good excuse, and I was thinking of trying it again this year, but there apparently can be a down side.
Turf researchers at the University of Guelph in Ontario have said that while it seems like a great idea and has good intentions, it may be bad for your lawn. And not give much benefit to the insects it is supposed to help.
One benefit to just leaving your lawn is that there could be pollinators living in the leaf cover and longer grass and it gives them time to wake up. But they are now saying that if the temperature is above freezing on a regular basis, those critters are already up and moving.
But what about the flowers that grow on your lawn that can feed the pollinators? The most common flower on lawns around here is a dandelion and it apparently is not very nutritious. In fact, pollinators could not survive on dandelions alone.
And the big one is that most types of grass that we use for lawns don’t like having too much off the top all at once. If you remove more than one third of the height of the plant at any one time, it could go into shock and possibly die. Your lawn becomes much more susceptible to drought and other pests because it doesn’t like its haircut, basically.
The one that was brought up to me last year when I mentioned No Mow May was ticks. We have no shortage of them around here, and longer grass just gives them more places to hide.
The turf scientists say it would be much better to plant more flowers around the edges of your lawn. Grow those to feed the pollinators and keep the lawn trimmed. Because lawns really do like to be well groomed, whether we like it or not.
There are others who say that there is solid evidence that allowing your lawn to grow wild for a month this time of year does help those native pollinators, and they do need out help.
So there is conflicting information about whether or not we should mow our lawns this time of year. And since most of my lawn seems to be a combination of moss and bugleweed, I can probably get away with leaving that part alone. The pollinators can enjoy the little flowers on the bugleweed, and I get a bit of time off.
But those dandelions better learn how to duck. The mower could soon be out to get them.
