No Mow May in June?

If you took part in No Mow May promoted by PlantLife there are lots of advantages...

• It’s the perfect excuse for putting lawn maintenance on hold and enjoying the more natural aspects of your garden.
• Creates habitat and forage for an enormous variety of insects, birds and invertebrates.
• Offers a fascinating insight into the creatures that live in and around your garden.
• Educational: You’ll be able to observe and learn about diversity of species that your plot can support.
• Longer grass shades the soil and protects from extreme heat.
• Tall grass is so much better at cooling the atmosphere than a close cropped lawn. If we get a heatwave, you’ll feel more comfortable in a meadow garden than you will sitting on a baking hot patio.
• In general, longer grass results in a more robust root system beneath the lawn because the plants can harvest more sunlight and therefore make more nutrients through photosynthesis. Stronger roots mean the plants are more resistant to drought and frost.
• The larger the combined surface area of all those grass leaves, the more carbon they can potentially capture and lock up in the soil.
• Speaking of carbon - if you’re not using your mower, you won’t be using any form of fossil fuel to power it. No Mow May and beyond is kind to the environment in many ways.
  

Are There Any Negatives To No Mow May?

No Mow May is not everyone’s cup of tea. One argument suggests that it is counterproductive to create a beautiful wildlife habitat and then chop it down. Truly valuable wildlife habitat develops over time and should be permanent rather than transitory.

Naturally, some people dislike the aesthetic of what is essentially an overgrown lawn. You may love it - but your neighbours may question your horticultural prowess. Be prepared to explain to your neighbours that rather than being untidy, you are supporting the ecological systems that are crucially important to life on earth.

Allowing weeds to establish and set seeds in your lawn could mean you need to take drastic measures to reinstate a manicured lawn (but hopefully you will see the benefits).

Hay fever sufferers may not enjoy No Mow May and extending it into June and beyond.

Dramatically reducing the length of your grass at the end of May will put enormous stress on the plants. You are likely to have yellowy-brown patches in your lawn for a couple of weeks while the area recovers.

Lawn grasses have been selectively bred so that they produce more shoots when they are mown. That’s how they make a nice thick sward. If the grass is not mown, it will divert it’s energy into growing upwards and this could result in more spaces between the plants. You may need to over-seed your lawn in the autumn.

Tips For Making The Most Of Your Lawn

Invest in a magnifying glass and get up close and personal with the plants and animals that appear. This is especially exciting for children.

Mow paths through the sward and if there’s room, make a seating circle so that you can immerse yourself in nature.  Just leaving a couple of unmown circles around some daisies is great....even leaves a space for the kids paddling pool..........and it leaves space for insects and birds who enjoy the shorter grass.

Learn how to make a moth trap and discover who visits your garden after dark.

Extend the experiment into June or even July to enjoy the new aesthetic.

Consider making a permanent meadow area in your garden to offer an all year round home for wildlife.

Why is it important

With so many wild meadows disappearing since the second world war, and with green spaces rapidly being engulfed by new housing, it’s important that we all do our bit to support Mother Nature. After all, our lives depend upon having clean air and food that has been pollinated by insects.

If you really don’t want to let your lawn grow long, why not compromise? 

Instead of going for full-on knee-length grass, simply mow less often and raise the cutting bar on your mower. 

To really help wildlife, you could create a biodiverse lawn with slow growing grasses and short species of wildflower. Remember when we were young and lawns were studded with clover, buttercups and daisies? Lets embrace the retro vibe and go back to that. The wildlife will love us for it.

June

It’s time for Let it Bloom June!

• The journey doesn’t end just because May has! Why not leave a space in your garden for nature to continue to bloom this June?
• Yellow Rattle could start turning to seed already, so listen out for that rattle sound

Make your garden matter and for more ideas see our 1MetreMatters pages.

See the Plantlife's No Mow Calendar for more information through the months