More importantly, the fact that in some places neighbors can complain about the aesthetics of your private property and force you to change them according to their tastes is utterly insane, whether the property is hideous or not.
10 Likes
If a well mown lawn is civilised, then civilisation has never reached my gardens.
5 Likes
“No mow may” is just another form of greenwashing what is a bad practice. Why have lawns, anyway?
truth!
Here in the northern Great Plains in the US, No Mow May is good to keep people from vigorously cleaning up their yards in April which gives the critters that overwintered in leaf piles a little extra time.
7 Likes
First city in the US (in 2020) would be more accurate. No Mow May started in the UK earlier
4 Likes
Ah ok. I heard that from the local newspaper, so I guess it had some local biases.
1 Like
Completely agree!
Sharing a nice No Mow story:
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/millions-of-wildflowers-now-delight-the-communtiy-where-vermont-couple-used-to-spend-all-day-mowing-grass/
2 Likes
I do mow in May, but not “down” to the gras roots. Most wildflowers that grow in our lawn are more or less resistant to mowing. Dandelions (Taraxacum), Prunella vulgaris, Bellis perennis, Trifolium repens, Trifolium pratense that are native here do survive mowing without problems. If I find an interesting wildflower in the lawn, I just do not mow that interesting “patch”.
I rather try to plant a combination of native wildflowers and cultivated plants that attract insects in the borders. In the shady parts, I let grow native Enchanters Nightshade (Circaea lutetiana) and Hemp Nettle (Galeopsis).
3 Likes
I believe the parks in my area, rush to mow everything in the very last days of April so they can participate with the No Mow May, therefore the CNC in my area is usually me trying to outrun them in the fields before everything is scrubbed clean and all that remains is green stubble and fresh mowed turtles.
1 Like
Aside from the potential benefits (or lack thereof) of No Mow May, at least it keeps the noisy, fossil-fuel-consuming, carbon-producing and polluting lawn mowers in the shed for a month…
11 Likes
I got plenty of native flowers & plants, as well as insects, a few snakes (much to the neighbor’s dismay), and such in our tiny suburban yard not mowing until absolutely necessary (aka warning prior to ticket from city). Not mowing until May (US south, may is summer, no mow March would make more sense here haha) Just reducing the frequency throughout the year did that.
No Mo May is like a gateway for people to mowing less, and getting used to seeing ‘unkept’ lawns, so I don’t see how it’s bad. It isn’t enough, but it isn’t bad. If I were to edit it, my first step would be to make it more like plant zones, if you are in zone 4 (most of WI) it’s no mow may, if you are in zone 8, it’s no mow march, etc.
6 Likes
That’s my motto, too! I’ve only mowed once so far this year and that was after being done with grading for spring semester when a couple hours of time to spare coincided with weather conditions suitable for yard work. This semester has been crazy busy with entirely too many weekend commitments. So instead of “no mow May” I practiced “no mow until May.” My lawnmower needed a moment to think about whether to tackle this mess or not. 
6 Likes
I’ll preface this by saying two things:
- I’m answering from the perspective of someone who lives in th suburbs of a city in the Midwestern United States. Most who feel like they can answer this question from the perspective of an entire country or the entire lawn-loving world are, I would argue (and you’re free to disagree), lacking perspective.
- I myself don’t practice No Mow May. I have a big section of my back yard that I let go mostly wild. I just pull all invasives and some (but not all) non-natives throughout the year, and mow a quarter of it once every three months to kind of simulate (in the best way I know how) natural disturbance that might otherwise occur. The rest of the lawn, as a compromise with my wife and to avoid getting my “wild patch” destroyed by the city, I maintain as a pretty well-manicured polyculture lawn.
Now that that’s out of the way, I’ll answer your question with a question. Is the practice of obstaining from horticultural practices and inputs (most of them environmentally and ecologically harmful), even if just for one month, in what you otherwise maintain as lawn the rest of the year immediately and directly beneficial for the environment or the local ecology? Possibly correct answers range from “maybe a little” to “probably not” to “it’s actually maybe a little harmful” (I don’t personally buy that last one but some do).
However, there’s more nuance to it than that. These “No Mow May is the best” or “No Mow May is the worst” opinion articles (and even studies) often fail to consider the full perspective.
A more well-rounded set of questions to ask yourself might be:
- Is the mitigation of an entire month’s worth of gasoline/energy consumption to power lawn equipment beneficial?
- Is the mitigation of an entire month’s worth of chemical inputs (fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, etc.) beneficial? (I make an assumption here that at least most people don’t rebound afterward. Whether that is a safe assumption to make is another question you might consider for yourself.)
- Is even just a month-long reprieve from the mindset of “I must destroy all life except for one or two species of non-native grasses and maybe a tree or two” beneficial?
For me personally, I’d answer yes to each question. I’m a huge believer in the “Kill Your Lawn” ethos and believe that in many, if not most, parts of the lawn-loving world, the notion of the lawn is largely unnecessary, harmful, and wasteful, and needs to go. However, one of the biggest obstacles to that is people’s perspectives. How many stories do you hear (or have you yourself experienced) of people trying to kill their lawn and plant native and being held back by the strongly held views of the lawn-loving society around them?
The lawn, and the notion that the natural world must be tamed and made “orderly”, is deeply ingrained into the American psyche. Horticultural practices counter to that is anethema. While “No Mow May” is like a baby’s first steps, it is a step toward changing that perspective. I wish everyone, at least in my area, would do No Mow May and then ask themselves “what’s next?”
If the goal is to get to a world where people consume less and steward and nurture nature (a massive shift in perspective for most people and for society in general), certainly telling them “the baby steps you’re taking are not at all helpful” is counterproductive (and untrue), yeah? Rather than get “well, actually…” on people, the guidance being provided to practitioners of No Mow May should be: “That’s really cool that you’re thinking about being a good inhabitant of the planet. Here are steps you might consider taking next.” (e.g. extend No Mow May to June; remove invasive species (your turfgrass species likely being among them); stop planting non-local and/or non-native plants; encourage and/or plant local eco-type natives; etc.)
6 Likes
I live in a fairly new development in northern California on the cusp between the Sacramento Valley and the Sierra Foothills. Our lots are smal - not Midwest or eastern size. The great majority of lawns here are manicured by lawn maintenance professionals or are plastic. Around us we have preserves which are mostly flood plains, but which harbor many native and invasive plants and critters. A few Hawksbeards volunteered last year on my lawn which I mowed around. This year I have a several larger patches of these which are going to seed along with some tall grasses with seed heads. Along with bees and hover flies I now have Lesser Goldfinch frequenting my yard. However, I am fearing a notice from the city instigated by a call from an irate neighbor about not keeping my lawn trimmed as the seeds from the weeds in my yard are going to infect my neighbors.
6 Likes
I am no lover of lawns and no longer have one … but native species planting still requires management and that’s where people go wrong because many are simply looking for a way out of actually gardening.
Then, No Mow May as an idea comes from Britain and if you garden in a different latitude and climatic zone you will probably want to nominate a different month.
https://1001species.substack.com/p/leave-it-long-keep-it-green
4 Likes
Many interesting posts already, “it depends” on a lot of factors. My guess is if you have enough surface the more variety, the better. I have to say that I don’t own a house, just a plot of land in the “country” side, temperate climate…
So starting with the lawn, let’s be honest, I like some curated lawn for comfort, it’s not too wet in the morning dew or after a downpour, I can walk barefoot to have a look at the other areas (be careful, though), I get less ticks, and… it looks good! at least when it’s fresh. By “curated” I mean “mown regularly”, I’m not seeding or treating, it would be useless here…
Btw I have noticed that in natural areas you can also find small areas that are ‘mowed’, where herds of grazing mammals gather, so short grass is also part of nature…
I leave other areas of high grass with 1-2 cut per year, it’s a real little prairie, and I even keep some areas high for years sometimes, as long as trees don’t grow (some trees are almost impossible to remove without heavy machines, they just keep regrowing from the stump and it gets stronger). Brambles have weaker roots but can be nasty.
The advantage of this variety is that different species grow in these different areas, I noticed some points:
- mowing but less frequently sometimes produces more (low) flowers than the prairie itself, at least in some periods, the grass is just covered with flowers! although I see mostly honey bees there
- in the areas that are even less frequently mowed I can see different patterns:
- rare flowers if I’m lucky (eg orchids, but not every year)
- some ‘bunches’ of higher flowers that attract a great variety of insects
- but also invasive species, mostly very aggressive invasive Solidago not native in Europe that prevent any other local species to grow, and covers most abandoned plots
Looking at all this, I’m trying to preserve the flowers and plants that look interesting, and when comes the time I’m forced to mow, I’m using a (motor) scythe or brush cutter to keep the stems intacts, because many species of small insects have their larvae in them, also keeping stacks of hay and cuttings are interesting for the fauna… I even found a Slow worm lizard under some hay that had been left on the ground.
I’m not a specialist in insects or plants, but less than a year after starting my inventory I’ve found some rare species of fairy longhorn moths, so I will now try to preserve the plant species in which they lay their eggs.
I just found a nest of Harvest mouse in a bush of brambles that I was going to remove completely, now I’m thinking I may keep some of it…
So, observation and conservation are important in a decision, trying to preserve species that are less common? If you spot something interesting in your lawn, you might try to learn more about their biology and needs, maybe your lawn/garden can play a role, and it might help you decide if or when to mow…
4 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.