What is Up With No Mow May?
by Jac
A lot of environmental actions are hard - proper recycling, using less stuff, remembering your reusables. No Mow May is chance to literally do NOTHING and help the planet!
The No Mow May movement started in the UK about 10 years ago to support beneficial bees. In the spring, there are less flowering plants to provide nectar for bees and other pollinators emerging from hibernation. Not mowing your grass provides habitat for these beneficial insects. And letting dandelions, clover and other flowering plants grow helps provide food and give them a better chance at surviving and thriving past spring. Letting your grass and dandelions grow in May can result in five times the number of native, beneficial bees in your yard! To learn more, you can check out this short video featuring the founder of No Mow May in the US.
In addition to benefiting pollinators, other buzz-worthy benefits of mowing less in May include saving water, helping your lawn become more resilient to drought, and reducing emissions from gas-powered lawn equipment.
Actions you can take
Other than really not mowing during the month of May, how else can you celebrate "No Mow May" the rest of the growing season?
Consider mowing your lawn every other week instead of every week. Research has shown that this increases the number of pollinators while decreasing pests and allergy causing plants.
Decrease your watering time. The EPA estimates that 30% of residential water usage is devoted to outdoor lawns and gardens, with as much as 50 percent of that water wasted! We need only look to the drought in the western U.S. to be reminded how precious water truly is. Use sprinklers that are low to the ground and adjust the nozzles so they spray the grass, not the street or sidewalk. You can also consider letting your grass go dormant in the summer.
When May is over, adjust your mower to the highest setting and make the first pass to reduce the grass height. After you have reduced the grass height to a more manageable length, change the mower setting by reducing the height of the blade, before making a second pass.
Reduce eliminate your use of fertilizers and other pesticides in your lawn. Check out resources at Midwest Grows Green
Our lawns are the largest single irrigated crop in the U.S., comprising 2% of all land area. Yet they are ecologically "dead" and provide no benefit to wildlife. Grass also has very shallow roots which makes it terrible at absorbing stormwater (have you had standing water in your yard over the last couple weeks?!) Consider dedicating a portion of your yard to native grasses or clover lawns that require little maintenance, improve soil quality and are much better at absorbing stormwater.
