AIBU to ask you to cut your grass?

[BadEyedManiac]

I know there's a movement around not cutting grass and not trimming hedges and so on which I have to say our local council has enthusiastically embraced to the point that road signs are partly obscured by various shrubbery.

However although this might be lovely for bees (although the absolute benefits are probably limited in the context of the age of industrial farming which no one is doing anything about) it is hell on earth for people with pollen allergies. And is particular hell on earth for people like me who have pollen allergies and a corneal condition.

I've just woken up due to corneal pain and have spent ten minutes pouring eye drops into my eyes and I know it's only going to get worse as summer goes on. The environmental benefits from people failing to tend their greenery in urban areas are negligible while the effects on the people around you can be absolutely brutal. Please, please cut your bloody grass. This is awful.

I have a terrible reaction to grass pollen, and I have definitely noticed things being worse in London than they used to be, perhaps because of reduced mowing, who knows?

but YABU.

Get the bloody injection and stop whining on Mumsnet having a go at everyone else for your own allergy! Jesus you sound exhausting 😂

Where's your analysis that show the links between cutting grass and lower levels of pollen ? Otherwise it's speculative guessing

Exactly. It's not like grass that would normally be cut is the only source of pollen, there's trees, crops and other grassed areas that have never been cut so it doesn't necessarily follow that the OPs symptoms are caused by grass that she thinks should be cut but hasn't been.

Correlation does not equal causation.

I care much more about wildlife than moaning humans, so I'll do what I like with my grass thanks. We'd all be living in a concrete jungle with fake grass if it was up to some people.

Sorry you're suffering but YABU. Long grass doesn't just help bees, it improves conditions for many invertebrates, which in turn provide food for birds (particularly important for parents looking for food for their chicks) and mammals such as hedgehogs.

Having let some of my grass grow long and go to seed I've noticed a huge difference in biodiversity since. There's all sorts of creatures living in the longer parts that aren't in the short, it's startling, with pollinators feeding on the wild flowers that have sprung up too. Plus, IMHO, it looks far more interesting than a pristine lawn.

It’s not the no mow that makes pollen worse but pollution does make it double fold ten times worse

stop or decrease the pollution and the pollen levels will fall

Cutting the grass will make absolutely no difference to your experience of hayfever. I'm a life-long extreme hayfever sufferer (had 5yrs of injection therapy which did absolutely nothing for the symptoms). Historically, we've been a nation of lawn lovers cutting the grass every weekend. Pollen blows on the wind. Long or short grass, makes no difference.

“Cut your grass, people!”

What a weird and peculiar style of posting.

I don't think your ranting and swearing on here is going to persuade people to cut their grass somehow, I don't have a lawn as I'm in a second floor flat, but if I did, too right I wouldn't cut it, I'm with @pd339 I care much more about wildlife than moaning humans too!

I completely agree - wasn't it meant to be no mow May? Well, it's June and I still have to fight against brambles with the buggy on my way to the shops.
The council have left "areas of managed wildlife" but in reality, they've planted no native plants or wildflowers and it has meant the brambles and nettles have completely strangled every other plant there. It looks so neglected and unsightly and has definitely encouraged flytipping and littering there too.

I love guerilla gardeners, native and insect friendly planting but it still requires looking after!

As an aside, try euphrasia eye drops or tablets which may bring some relief

Who and what do you think I care more about: our fragile and vital ecosystem and its systematic destruction through human entitlement; or some ranting and rude OP displaying entitlement issues?

I have let my garden run a bit wild this year, not completely but some places. The difference in butterflies, bees etc is astonishing. Less work, fewer petrol fumes from the mower, more wild life, and it's a nicer environment for my ds. I'll cut back hard in the autumn. I love it.

You wouldn't like our town. They've covered all the verges and roundabouts in wildflower mix and left them to grow. It's beautiful but I imagine there's a lot of pollen.

I refuse to cut my grass. I have newts living in it and a variety of wild flowers have started to appear including wild orchids.

yabu. Shall we cut down all trees too? I've got loads of pollen flying around in my garden and most of it is coming from the trees. 😎

It's all a bit worrying. In my old house a few years ago i had a lavender plant that was thick with bees in summer. In my house now I've planted it down both sides of the front path and have hardly noticed any bees. I'm not fanatical about grass cutting and there's also two trees and roses. Where are they all?

Stop being a knob OP and take antihistimines like the rest of us.
As for

It's only in the UK that I've seen this half arsed woolly headed thinking around what to do with greenery.

rofl. Nope. Come to Germany. It's bee bombs in all the urban grassed areas (roundabouts, traffic islands, scrubby bits of grass next to supermarkets) and only mowing the very edges of road verges so the signage is clear. Which is how it should be.

It’s been quite cool here this May/June, if the weather picks up the bees will appear.
We have had too many to count in our garden on the Confrey/lavender/Sicilian honey garlic

Get a hepa filter for your bedroom.
The need for pollinators trump your medical needs.
we are Hay fever sufferers too btw.
HEPA filter is your friend.

I am presuming you have tried everything else - air filter in the bedroom? Nasal spray? GP for a stronger antihistamine? (We are finding fexofenadine good for the hayfever this year)

Regular mowing of lawns are unnatural and not good for the environment. If you keep a lawn then you should mow it only once or twice a year. Many people suffer from pollen allergies. Same with dust mites. You will have to find other ways to adapt that coexist with the no mow movement.

Yabvu, we need pollinators.

I cut my grass but make sure to have plenty of beneficial plants in my garden, which also create pollen- should I dig up all my plants too?

why not just cover everything with Astro turf? We will all die but at least you won’t have hay fever any more.

You wouldn't moan if your corneas were wearing away and you had hayfever?

Get some immunotherapy. You're being ridiculous.

My hay fever is always worse when the grass is being cut, it seems to stir up the pollens.
We did no mow May and dh is cutting the grass today as all the wild flowers have died here.
I assume you’ve tried eating local honey.
The worst allergen for me is rape fields. Not sure what I can do about that as this year especially the rape seed will be needed for oil.

I have no grass. Nor hedges. My garden was just plain gravel when I moved in. Now it's a fully fledged gravel garden full of bee and butterfly friendly plants with a pond and birds of every type and 2 trees even though its a small garden.
I dont usually get hay-fever but this year my face is a mess.