There is much more you can do to support pollinators; No Mow May is just a place to start.No Mow May is a movement that has gained popularity in the last several years, encouraging people to mow their lawns and meadows less often in order to benefit animals and cut down on water and fossil fuel emissions. At first glance, it seems almost too good to be true: you may have a significant positive impact on the environment by doing absolutely nothing. Therefore, it may not come as a surprise if allowing your grass to develop for a month hasn’t lived up to expectations.
But No Mow May has served as a significant springboard for reconsidering what constitutes beauty in suburban and urban settings, as well as how these areas may provide essential habitat and other environmental advantages. In addition to purifying and cooling the air, restoring compacted soils, and lowering urban floods via landscapes that absorb more storm water, our yards have the ability to sustain butterflies, bees, and birds. We need to be aware of No Mow May’s shortcomings and approach these objectives more thoughtfully if we want to go forward with designing healthier landscapes for our neighbors and family.
Why It’s Not Such a Good Idea to Mow May
Not Mow A couple of May’s problems can potentially have the opposite effect from what is intended. For instance, the campaign to cut down on lawn mowing in May started in the UK, where Sheila Colla, an associate professor at York University and conservation biologist, says “it doesn’t necessarily translate well in North America where we have different challenges and need different solutions.”
Permits the Growth of Invasive Plants
One problem is that the majority of us live on heavily modified properties in cities and suburbs without access to native plant seed banks. Because native plants co-evolved with many native insect species, they are essential for feeding the larvae of butterflies and bees. What’s probably in the soil are aggressive annual weeds like crabgrass and Canada thistle, as well as invasive weed seeds that won’t provide much in the way of nutrients for animals.
Just Short-Term Assistance for Local Bees
Colla also notes that some bee species, including the once-common but now endangered American bumblebee (Bombus pensylvanicus), nest above ground. When the mowers return in June, their dwellings will be completely ruined.
One major research that is often used to support the benefits of beekeeping in the US was carried out in Appleton, Wisconsin, on unmowed lawns. It made the case that a wide variety of native flowers supported a notable diversity of bee species. Even though the research was originally withdrawn because of mistakes in the identification of plants and bees, it is still often quoted.
Encourages Less Expensive Bouquets
Author and pollinator advocate Heather Holm points out that non-native dandelions are one of the most common blooming plants we see in our lawns. Though their taproots enrich soil and these plants provide flavor to our salads, their pollen is “nutritionally inadequate to support bee larvae on its own, primarily due to the low protein count.”
Therefore, bees still have to spend more energy obtaining supplies from a broader range of blooms, which may or may not be present on an unmowed urban lawn, even if there are a lot of dandelions nearby. When foraging, bees often display floral fidelity, which is the tendency to adhere to a single species when it’s in bloom in order to simplify things and use less energy. However, a lawn covered with dandelions may actually provide us with fewer pollinators if the main resource is deficient in nutrients necessary to support the growth and development of bee larvae.
Pay Attention to Plant Diversity
An option is recommended by researchers at the University of Minnesota Bee Lab: “Slow Mow Summer.” This idea promotes sparse summertime grass mowing and overall lawn space reduction. This is where you can aid animals in your environment by taking the exciting next step. Think about adding more kinds and species of plants to your area (such as shrubs, trees, sedges, grasses, and herbaceous perennials) rather than merely switching out monocultures.
For instance, in an effort to provide their lawns an alternative while also providing flower rewards for insects, many people are spreading Dutch white clover onto their lawns. Even yet, it remains almost entirely monoculture and does not act as a host plant for caterpillars, which are crucial food for young birds during the breeding season and, should they elude the birds, develop into butterflies.
Additionally, Holm notes that honey bees often use exotic clover, which they have evolved with, and that this might lead to a “pathogen spillover between honey bees and native bees.” Because of their vast population and geographic range, honey bees carry a number of illnesses that they deposit on flowers during pollination. When a native bee, like a bumblebee, visits a flower to browse, it carries those pathogens with it, which may cause sickness, deformity, or even death for the bee and its offspring.
All in all, our native bees are better pollinators than honey bees, and around 25% of them specialize in certain native plant groupings (meaning the plant and the bee depend on one other since they co-evolved to utilize each other for either pollen or pollination). After being inspired by No Mow May, one of the finest things you can do is create a garden that uses native plants from your area, including a variety of species that provide blooming resources from spring to autumn.
Steer Clear of Dangerous Bugs
And last, if your landscape is becoming less or no grass and instead becomes thicker, higher, and more varied—like a well-planned meadow garden—you could be worried about ticks. Recent studies, however, suggest that these worries are unfounded. For instance, The Tick Project, a 5-year study, discovered that grassy regions had less ticks than woody places. According to a two-year US Forest Service research conducted in Massachusetts, tick populations were not present in lawn/meadow zones that were just 10 inches high.2.
In addition to applying repellant and doing a body check after being outside, the following design techniques are also recommended as best practices:
Make the pathways across the terrain broader. Widening paths may assist prevent you from stepping on plants that ticks use as “quest” spots by extending their tendrils to grab onto leaves. Paths also serve as entry points and indicators of purpose.
Boost habitat cover and plant variety. Provide habitat for predators of animals that spread illness to support these predators. Consider animals like owls, foxes, and coyotes that feed on white-footed mice, which ticks use as a vector for lyme disease.
Select shorter plants. Plants should not grow taller than two to three feet. Tick attraction will decrease but pollinators will still have enough of food to forage.
Moving Forward
We can expand on what No Mow May started in other areas of the globe, no matter where our home landscapes may be. You may encourage bees and caterpillars and use less water and fertilizer by lowering the amount of grass and replacing it with a varied mixture of native plants that are suited to the location (soil, light, and moisture). By having more diverse plants, you’ll also improve ecosystem services like reducing storm water runoff via layered, thick landscapes that also help cool and purify the air in our cities.
So go ahead and enjoy a Slow Mow Summer as you consider how you may make a significant difference in your yard. Wherever you reside, I recommend going to see an example of a meadow to obtain ideas from the plant species that grow there. See how birds catch caterpillars and beetles to feed their young while native bees feast on blossoms. Then, to replicate the ecosystem in your yard, learn more about those plant species and the animals they support by visiting sites like the National animals Federation, Xerces Society, Wild Ones, Audubon, and Pollinator Partnership.
Why? For a monoculture of lawn—mowed or not—your landscape matters and has the power to shift the tide toward a healthier, more resilient future.
