No Mow May
by Lisa Ludwigsen
Consider the sad lot of the common dandelion and the lovely white clover. Long relegated to the status of unwanted weeds in the great American lawn, these stalwarts grow effortlessly, provide medicine, and offer up flowers that are sweet and uplifting. They are also important food sources for a wide group of pollinators.
There is a movement afoot to shift our ideas about so-called weeds and rethink the environmental cost of a meticulously groomed, homogenous lawn. The campaign, known as “No Mow May,” started in England and has gained traction in the U.S., particularly in the Midwest. In 2019, the British conservation nonprofit, PlantLife, began encouraging landowners, from city-dwellers to suburbanites to larger lot caretakers, to let springtime grasses and wild plants mature to the flowering stage in order to attract pollinators. The idea is to transform lawns from plant and animal wastelands into diversity hotspots where important pollinators just coming out of hibernation can find crucial food sources. It’s a relatively simple concept with surprisingly powerful effects. It turns out that dandelions—along with other common weeds—are a powerhouse of nectar for pollinators looking for crucial springtime nutrition.
Some neighbors and homeowners associations frown upon the wild, unkempt look, and it can be a big step to let our carefully manicured lawns go untended. It certainly offers a new aesthetic—a lawn blanketed in bright yellow dandelion and flowers could be considered a cheerful welcome of spring.
Here in the drought-stricken West, residential lawns are being replaced with low-water landscaping, so we have a head start on diversifying plant life in our yards. But many public spaces still sport that uniform green grass carpet, mowed short year-round. Those large expanses provide excellent opportunities to encourage nectaring pollinators like honeybees, butterflies, bumblebees, beneficial wasps, and others. If not the entire field or open space, at least a section could be left unmowed.
In some places, No Mow May proponents have turned to local governments for support. Appleton, Wisconsin was the first U.S. city to officially adopt No Mow May, with 435 lawns enrolled in the community program. As of 2021, communities in Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, and Montana have followed suit, joining a dozen communities in Wisconsin.
It can be surprising to discover which native plants pop up in an average yard. I’ve found dandelions, achillea, clover, poppies, miner’s lettuce, chickweed, and native grasses. After three years of letting go of my self-imposed strict springtime mowing schedule, I still must tolerate the messiness from the street view. “What must the neighbors think of me?” runs through my head. It’s a stretch, but I try to imagine myself as the caretaker of an English meadow.
On a recent trip to Wisconsin, I noticed a food co-op was giving away No Mow May yard signs, and I saw many signs in delightfully wild front yards. This year I plan on downloading and printing one of the yard signs available through the PlantLife website.
In addition to the benefits for pollinators, plants, and animals, No Mow May also benefits humans. We can delay the long mowing season and spend time enjoying the plants and insects that populate our lawns. Connecting with nature in your front yard can be great fun for kids and adults alike.
Once May flowering has dwindled, it is advised to make a couple of passes with the mower, beginning at a high mower setting, or use a weed whacker the first time, then resume your normal mowing schedule.
PlantLife’s motto for No Mow May—“Dawn of the New British Garden”—can carry over for us here in the U.S. “Dawn of the New American Garden” has a nice ring to it.
Learn more at beecityusa.org/no-mow-may.
Lawn of dandelions image by Archie Thomas.
No Mow May sign image by Lisa Ludwigsen.
