Sick of mowing your lawn? Just stop!
One time, a neighbour of Wellington’s John Flux popped in to check on him, worried that the retiree had died.
Why? Because Flux’s grass berm outside his home was approaching a 50cm in height.
Flux, 90, joked that checking on him three weeks after his last appearance would be a bit too late to save him, but said he appreciated the concern.
He often received comments from his community on the length and healthiness of his grass, so much so that he has taped two articles explaining the NoMow movement to his fence, so people can understand the length of his grass was deliberate – not due to illness or laziness.
The NoMow ecological campaign, which has gained international traction over the past decade, encourages property owners to transform their grass lawns into more biodiverse environments, including allowing grass to grow much longer than its mowed length – about 3cm – to act as a habitat for insects and other fauna.
“Everyone should get onto it... You could do it tomorrow. Especially switching off your lawn mower. Put it in the garage and shut the door.”
Flux, who has a Bachelor of Science and PhD in Ecology from Aberdeen University, said gardens with longer grass gave insects something to eat, helping combat the global decline in insect populations.
Mowed lawns provided no food supply for wildlife aside from worms, which were mostly eaten by blackbirds in New Zealand.
Blackbirds could cause a sizeable amount of damage ecologically because they turned over mulch while searching for worms and also consumed skinks whole, meaning it was hard to realise the lizards were being wiped out until they were gone.
“The skinks get clobbered ... Ecology says everything is connected to everything else.
“Whenever you move one thing something else is gonna give way.
Flux has planted kikuyu grass outside his property, as it does not flower, which gives it a nice green look all year, he said.
He has found that the grass will grow to 30cm in certain areas and then stop, staying at half-a-metre for four years.
He often sees butterflies resting on the grass, as well as other insects enjoying the shelter it provides.
After moving into his Waterloo home in 2016, Flux started his NoMow experiment four years ago.
Using four different grass plots that he planted in different locations, he has been observing their appearances; comparing the grass that he mows, grass he leaves untouched, and grass that he has planted and cut, and grass he planted and then left alone.
The difference is clear, he said.
While the cut grass was dry and yellow despite being watered, the grass left untouched was long and green. Most importantly, the longer grass has formed a build up along its base.
While seemingly innocuous, this build up allows the plants to absorb far more water in the case of heavy rain than a usual lawn would.
With climate change promising wetter winters, and Hutt Valley being a flood plain, water has been on his mind, Flux said.
Longer grass also absorbed higher amounts of carbon than cut grass, helping the country meet its carbon emission target by 2050.