Seattle Parks and Recreation intentionally skipped mowing swaths of Woodland Park during the pandemic shutdown to encourage pollinators and lower maintenance.
Erica Browne Grivas
The biggest crop in the country isn’t grown on farms. It’s our lawns, and collectively it covers 2 percent of the land in the country, amounting to 40 million acres, according to Beecityusa.org. So, when looking to expand habitat for declining pollinators like bees, many ecologists see our lawns as our biggest lever.
Hence, the No-Mow May movement, a mouthful adopted from a United Kingdom citizen science group called Plantlife, now gaining traction by adoption in pledged pollinator-friendly Bee Cities and Bee Campuses and in some cities that have changed their weed ordinances.
The idea behind it is that cutting the grass in early spring endangers vulnerable pollinators and beneficial insects nesting and seeking forage. The majority of bees nest in the ground or in stalks of overwintering plants. Letting the grass stretch while some clover or native violets bloom can go a long way to boost those dwindling populations.
Studies indicate biodiversity jumps with each skipped mow, drawing multiple bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects, beecityusa.org/no-mow-may. Other benefits include lower water use -- taller grass sends down longer, more efficient roots, fewer pests and of course, saving time, money, as well as air and noise pollution from gas-powered mowers.
Our love affair with lawns
Of course, as with the “re-wilding” and “leave the leaves” movements, an intentionally messy lawn isn’t an easy sell to homeowner’s associations, some neighbors and government officials. Velvety manicured lawns are central to the mass-marketed ideal of an American home landscape, which took hold in the early 1900s.
Why is this an issue? Besides removing habitat for pollinators, a traditionally managed lawn is an overall a net-loss environmentally. When you add chemicals, it makes soil less healthy, dependent on fertilizers and pesticides to thrive, pushing a lawn from a wasted economic opportunity to one that negates biodiversity from the ground up — something we really can’t afford in the current situation.
Alarmed by the rapid decline of the European honeybee due to pesticide use and other pressures, people are looking for ways to welcome pollinators back — in pocket gardens, public parks and pollinator corridors. A prime motivator is that bees and other pollinators, from butterflies to bats, are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat, according to usda.gov/peoples-garden/pollinators.
But while honeybees pollinate crops and mainly non-native plants, ecologists are even more concerned about the loss of native bee species, which play a larger role supporting the native plant ecosystem.
Questions about No-Mow May
Is skipping mowing in May the answer, however? Washington Post writer Jessica Damiano suggests it’s a stopgap measure that can do more harm than good, largely because a) it can let weeds take hold that are harder to remove later, and b) the pollinators need permanent homes to return to, not just a one-month Airbnb stay, and c) the weeds that are generally in lawns, like dandelions, are not as nutrient-rich as native plants, washingtonpost.com/lifestyle.
A side note: No-Mow April is also a thing because in some parts of the country, and maybe in your yard, the bees wake up earlier than May. So, if you try this, watch when they wake up or ask your local county extension office.
As in many things, the answer is probably somewhere in the gray middle. If you are keeping your lawn, and you can save some pollinators that month, that’s a short-term win, but undoubtedly the more efficient answer is to break up with our lawns and build some long-term habitat.
How can your lawn earn its keep?
Some on-ramps to saying goodbye to your lawn, and making it more environmentally helpful include:
Add in some pollinator-attracting spring bulbs in the winter and don’t mow until after that foliage dies back.
Dig up a patch and make it a meadow — this takes some research and time to establish — or a pollinator-friendly garden bed, a rain garden or a thyme or clover lawn.
Let one section go wild, and encourage and add native plants within, weeding out invasives.
In terms of maintenance, switch to electric mowers and trimmers, hand pull weeds instead of using pesticides, use organic compost as fertilizer, water deeply and less often to encourage deep roots and set your blade a little higher.
Incorporate plants that draw beneficial insects and pollinators year-round in the rest of your garden.
Add a shallow water basin with pebbles, and leave some leaves, rocks, sticks, and snags to support overwintering creatures.
Resources:
Bee City USA on No-Mow May:
Finding native plants for the PNW: