People Are Being Encouraged Not To Mow Their Lawns In May

In good news for the lazier among us, a charity is encouraging everyone to not mow their lawns during the month of May in a bid to help their local ecosystems.

Yep, No Mow May encourages those of us with gardens to keep the lawn mower firmly locked away in the shed next month, with those taking part encouraged to take a survey in the final week of May after weeks of leaving their grass unshorn to see what’s been growing.

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Charity Plantlife says the initiative not only gives an opportunity for all sorts of interesting wild flowers to grow in your garden, but is also a great help to bees and other pollinators in providing more nectar for them.

What’s more, it says the scheme is quickly gathering momentum, with 78.8 percent of the 2,157 respondents to the charity’s annual Every Flower Counts survey saying they didn’t mow their lawn in May, an increase of 33.6 percent for 2019, the Guardian reports.

It adds that those taking part in the survey who didn’t mow their lawns found some incredibly rare plants in their gardens, including bee orchids, snake’s-head fritillaries and eyebrights.

In total, 250 wild plant species were recorded, including wild strawberries and wild garlic.

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Ian Dunn, head of Plantlife and clearly a lover of a good pun, said of the scheme’s increasing popularity: “These results demonstrate that our call to No Mow May has set seed and laid down deep roots.

“The results underline how embracing a little more wildness in our gardens can be a boon for plants, butterflies and bees. We are excited by the unfolding dawn of a new British lawn.”

Plantlife writes on its website: “Join legions of gardeners and say ‘no’ to the mow this May to help our bees, butterflies, wildlife and us!

“Plantlife’s annual No Mow May campaign launches this year on 29 April 2022. So lock up your lawnmower on 1 May and let the wild flowers in your lawn bloom, providing a feast of nectar for our hungry pollinators.

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“Why not join in with our nationwide Every Flower Counts survey at the end of May, which helps us to learn more about the health of the nations’ wild flowers? In return, we’ll tell you your lawn’s personal nectar score.

“People embracing the value of wilder lawns are delivering some thrilling botanical results. We can’t wait to find out what might pop up this May!”

Well, I don’t think much encouragement is required for a month’s reprieve from lawn mowing, and now you can feel good about helping your local ecosystem too.