As the semester is coming to an end and our world is starting to become more alive with spring turning into summer, I wanted to talk about something that I just recently in the pace few years have found myself participating in. When I was in high school, I used to lots of landscaping work for a various amount of people, but besides my own property, I spent many hours working for an older woman named Lyn. Lyned was extremely involved with the gardening community and still to this day has one of the best backyard gardens I have ever seen, but as she has gotten older, she needed to hire people to do more of the heavy lifting and physically demanding task. Although she hired me to do these jobs, she often was outside with me doing other types of gardening task. During this time, she introduced me to No Mow May, a simple but unique way of promoting a healthy environment.
The practice is exactly as it sounds, no matter how long your grass grows, no matter how much you do not like the look of your lawn, you are not allowed to cut the grass. No Mow May can actually be really healthy for garden for a numerous amount of reasons, one of them which is with biodiversity. Allowing grass and other plants to grow without mowing provides habitats for various insects, birds, and small mammals that you typically do not think about. It also promotes native plant growth such as with many wildflowers and native plant species that many people believe are weeds. It is also thought that No Mow May does a great job at allowing your grass to retain more moisture, allowing for your lawn to feel and look healthier. I personally also enjoy the look of a lawn with longer naturally growing grass because it makes the area seem more natural, while allowing me to see more wildlife and flowers.
Another benefit that comes from No Mow May is in the forms of chemical usage. Many people across the United States use chemicals on their lawn and throughout their gardens to mitigate the amount of weeds that are growing in their yard. Although many people find this to make their lawn looking healthy and overall more aesthetically pleasing, it has extremely terrible impacts on the environment. Most of these chemicals are either consumed by the animals, causing them to gain terrible defects and die off, or end up back into our water supply and ingested by us. Participating in No Mow May both reduces the amount of chemicals we have in our environment and the added benefit of taking the month off to maintaining their yard, which can even be a money saver for some.
In conclusion, No Mow May offers a simple yet impactful way to promote environmental health and biodiversity in our communities. By refraining from mowing our lawns for just one month, we can create habitats for various species, promote the growth of native plants, conserve water, and reduce chemical usage. Embracing this practice not only benefits our local ecosystems but also saves time and money on lawn maintenance. I highly recommend those who have not participated in this to give it a try to see how they like it, the worst that can happen is that your lawn is a little bit more overgrown than usual, the best thing that can happen is that you promote a healthy environment, bring more wildlife to the area, and support native flower species.
Sources:
What is No Mow May: why and how to take part | (homesandgardens.com)
What is No Mow May? And Does it Actually Help Pollinators? – Garden Therapy
No Mow May: why you shouldn’t mow your lawn this month | Ideal Home
I really enjoy the concept of No Mow May. My dad is extremely against using fertilizers in our lawn unless necessary and has even done projects which were similar to the ideas of No Mow May. I think it is really impactful to the enviornment and even our own health to avoid inhaling chemicals, just to achieve the “aesthetic look.” I think trying No Mow May, even for just one month can be beneficial to everyones lawn.
I love this concept. Although there’s no way my parents would go for this idea, I personally like the look of a natural lawn so much more than a mowed lawn. I think that promoting biodiversity and native species is so important to our ecosystem. Animals rely on the natural environment, and replacing them with different types of plants or using fertilizer disrupts this. No Mow May is a practice I would love to partake in when I have my own house.