This year I’m biting the bullet and doing No Mow May. But I have to confess, two weeks in, I’m already itching to get the lawn mower out.
So, to keep my mojo up and my urge to cut the grass at bay, I thought I’d dig a little deeper into why No Mow May is such a good thing.
What is No Mow May?
No Mow May is a really simple concept. It’s an annual campaign by Plant Life. It calls on all of us who are lucky enough to own a garden to simply not mow during May.
The idea is that by allowing our lawns to grow, wild flowers can flourish for a bit. This will compensate for all the meadows we’ve lost here in the UK in the past 50 years.
Why’s it necessary?
I couldn’t believe this statistic when I first saw it. Apparently we’ve lost nearly 97% of our meadows since the 1970’s. (I must confess I’m picturing a bare-chested Poldark with his scythe as I think about old english meadows)!
But more seriously our meadows are sites packed with wild flowers. So with meadow loss, we’ve lost a lot of the food bees, butterflies and other pollinators rely on. This inevitable has had a knock-on effect on our insect populations.
What difference can No Mow May make?
Research shows mowing a lawn less often provides nectar for ten times the amount of bees, butterflies, moths, beetles etc. So not mowing in May, if done on scale could have a huge effect. And with 23 million gardens in the UK, even small grassy patches add up to a large amount of land. Add in all the UK’s verges, roundabouts, parks, business sites etc. and we’re talking something really significant. A potentially massive nectar boost for our insects.
What plants might you see?
In addition to all that insect-life there are also some really interesting and precious plants you could be encouraging too. The top five most common recorded plants in lawns by No Mow May enthusiasts are daisies, creeping buttercups, yellow rattle, common bird’s foot trefoil and field forget-me-nots. I must add to this list dandelions; I have oceans of them popping up thanks to my no mow policy – and yes, I’m resisting digging them up!
But don’t let that put you off. Since its launch in 2019, gardeners who take part have reported not just ‘weeds’ but up to 250 different species of plants, including wild garlic, wild strawberry, even some of our declining orchids and the lovely but rare meadow flower snakeshead fritillary, flowering in amongs the grasses.
In short, No Mow May also means populations of classic meadow plants – even endangered ones like Ragged Robin, Field Scabious and Devil’s-bit Scabious which are now on to the Near Threatened list -might get a much-needed boost.
What about the insects?
I’ve blogged in the past about how to attract insects into your garden through your plant choices. Check out my blogs on:
However, you don’t need to expensive plants to attract insects. Longer grass and wild flowers bring with them a heap of wonderful insects such as butterflies, beetles, bees, moths and hoverflies.
For instance the Speckled Wood butterfly needs certain long grasses for its caterpillars to thrive on. According to the experts these include False Brome , Cock’s-foot and Yorkshire-fog. So No Mow May is a real boost for this butterfly.
(However the Speckled Wood produces up to two generations in a single year. So if you really want to help it leave a few patches of long grass around the garden for the rest of the year.)
The Red-tailed bumblebee and its larvae rely on wild plants such as Red Clover and Dandelions for the nectar and pollen they need.
Lovely old Cockchafer Beetles only live for 5-6 weeks. Despite their short lives above ground, the females rely on grassy areas such as lawns to lay their eggs. This is where the larvae develop hidden deep underground for up to 5 years.
I could go on and on, but the punchline is long grass and the wild plants that pop up when you leave your lawnmower in the shed are really valuable to insects.
What if I don’t have a lawn or much of a garden?
If you have outdoor space but no lawn, the organisers of No Mow May say you can still get involved. You can encourage wildlife to your garden with a pot or window box. They even suggest leaving one with bare soil, as perhaps local wild plants seed will find their way in. Or if you don’t want to leave it to chance, there are native seed mixes you can sprinkle into pots which pollinators like bees and butterflies will love!
How I’m getting on with my No Mow May
Encouraged by all these positive plant and insect possibilities, I’m going to carry on with my No Mow May plans. I know my garden will look a bit scruffy for another couple of weeks but in all that scruffiness there is a certain beauty. I actually think my daisy covered lawn is a sight for sore eyes.
And the gentle buzz of wings across the lawn is definitely a bit louder. I’ve noticed more hoverflies already. Lying back in the lovely thick bed of tickly grass and just listening is wonderful.
On a more practical front, I’m also applying the saved mowing time to doing some other tasks in my garden which I might otherwise not get to.
I’ve spent some time sorting out my north facing border (below) which is full of lovely plants for shade. As a result it has never looked better.
I’ve also done a little tidying of my semi-shaded border, (below) moving a few things which weren’t quite right.
The lack of grass cutting duties is also giving me time to sort out my containers, many of which are empty as I lost so many plants in the late frosts.
So I feel I’m gaining. Honest!
How else to restore our meadows?
If I’ve got you worried about the state of our meadows, I have some good news for you. Aside from No Mow May, there are lots of other initiatives taking place to restore British meadows. The Guardian talked about some of these a couple of years ago, including 90 meadows being initiated to celebrate our late Queen’s golden jubilee.
More recently, to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III, English Heritage is doing something called The King’s Meadows. In short it is either enhancing or creating from scratch 100 meadows at many of its famous, historic sites. These include castles and abbeys, prehistoric stone circles such as Stone Henge and palaces.
As a bit of a history fan and gardening nut this is pushing all the right buttons for me. I love the sound of it! You can see more of these meadow sites on this fab interactive map English Heritage has created.
Conclusion
Meadow sounds like rather a grand, enormous space. Indeed I assumed it had to be a large area. But looking at the space at the Jewel Tower at the Palace of Westminster which is being turned into a ‘meadow’ by English Heritage – it’s not that big. It makes me realise that most of us have mini-meadow potential in our gardens. And combined, our impact could be huge!
Encouraging us gardeners to turn over some or all of our lawns into more of a meadow type space by not mowing, even if it’s only just for May, makes a lot of sense. And could make a real difference!
So if you haven’t started No Mow May yet, don’t think you’ve missed the boat and put it off until next year. Why not just commit to not mowing for the next four weeks. The insects and wild flowers will love it – and I think you’ll love it too!
Happy gardening x
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