No Mow May

[TabithaTimeTurner]

Just a little friendly reminder that if you could not mow your lawn for May the insects and flowers would be very grateful. Even leaving a small wild patch can really help. Plus it gives the lazy fuckers amongst us an excuse not to mow the lawn for a while 😁

This is from Plant Life:
We’ve lost approximately 97% of flower-rich meadows since the 1930’s and with them gone are vital food needed by pollinators, like bees and butterflies.But your lawn can help! A healthy lawn with some long grass and wildflowers benefits wildlife, tackles pollution and can even lock away carbon below ground. With over 20 million gardens in the UK, even the smallest grassy patches add up to a significant proportion of our land which, if managed properly, can deliver enormous gains for nature, communities and the climate.This is why Plantlife calls for people to get involved with #NoMowMay every year, and let wild plants get a head start on the summer.Best of all, to reap these benefits all you have to do is not mow your lawn in May and beyond!Join the movement here https://www.plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/no-mow-may-registration-2024/

We do no-mow most months but this month we've had to cut it back and mow because the brambles are threatening to take over at the top.

I've just been out in the garden and there are plenty of bees buzzing about despite me cutting the lawn yesterday. I was going to count up how many flowers the garden has but got bored when I got to 20 types. That's types of flower; actual flowers are in the hundreds, if not thousands (there's a lot of forget-me-not!). There is already huge variety, I don't need to ruin my lawn for the sake of the bees.

NMM will only help pollinators if your garden consists solely of (a) a lawn and (b) paving slabs / decking.

I did it last year and decided not to this year. Mainly because my garden already has a water source and is packed full of plants for pollinators that I try to have flowering in succession. I felt that last year I created a little habitat in the uncut grass and then cut it all away after a few weeks, so it felt pointless.

If there's actual evidence it does some good then I may look at leaving a strip down one side as suggested above. I do understand that it perhaps encourages people that don't have anything wildlife friendly in their gardens to join in.

Totally agree with leaving gaps in fences for hedgehogs if possible. We have one and had a lovely little family of hedgehogs living under our shed last year.