No Mow May: Naturalist Notes
Take a break and enjoy some guilt-free relaxation! Keep your lawnmowers in the shed a little longer to support our native pollinators.
No Mow May started in the UK in 2019 to provide early spring nectar for bees, butterflies, moths, and other insects. The movement has since spread to the US where lawns cover 40 million acres (2%) of land, but offer little benefit to wildlife or us. Skipping mows or mowing less frequently can increase pollinator and insect activity in lawns and attract more insect-eating birds. Plus, it reduces noise pollution, fuel emissions, and soil compaction. You'll even save time and money to invest in native plants! Don't have a pollinator garden? Let dandelions and clovers grow in your yard to help our buzzing friends.
Some tips to get started with your own No Mow May:
Check your city's grass and weeds rules before participating. If your lawn gets too tall, you might get fined if your city is not officially observing No Mow May.
Contact local government officials and encourage them to recognize No Mow May in your city and suspend grass and weeds penalties in May.
When you go to cut the tall grass again in June, avoid damaging your lawn mower by raising the blade height or using a string trimmer first.
To keep the effort going past No Mow May, reduce mowing all spring and summer. Try mowing every two to three weeks instead of every week.
To keep your neighbors happy, maintain a mowed buffer.
If you can’t keep your whole lawn No Mow, try to keep un-mowed patches.
If you want to take this all a step further and make a pollinator-friendly lawn here is a list of some native plants you might want to check out here.
Submitted by Cathy Wesley, naturalist, May 2023