Gardeners urged not to mow their lawns in May

GARDENERS are embracing wilder lawns in a shift that is good news for plants and wildlife, charity Plantlife said ahead of its annual “No Mow May” campaign.

Plantlife is encouraging people to leave the lawnmower in the shed for May and to mow less and at different lengths and frequencies through the summer to create a mosaic of habitats that benefit wildflowers, bees and other insects.

As part of its campaign, it encourages gardeners to take part in an “every flower counts” citizen science survey in the last week of May to see what is growing in the nation’s lawns.

The survey allows people to see the difference they are making for nature through mowing less and encouraging pollen and nectarrich wildflowers in their lawn, by providing them with their personal nectar score.

The charity says the survey’s results show a shift towards less mowing and wilder gardens, with 78.8% of the 2,157 participants choosing not to mow their lawns for a month before the survey last year, compared to 33.6% of those who took part in 2019.

In 2021 those who did not mow their lawn in May reported more than 250 different plants among the grass, including wild strawberry, wild garlic, and rare species such as adder’s-tongue fern, meadow saxifrage, snake’s-head fritillary and eyebright.

There were even wild orchids, including species which have suffered significant decline such as man and green-winged orchids, as well as southern and northern marsh orchids and bee orchids in lawns which had been left alone.

People taking part in the survey recorded almost 100 species of pollinators in their lawns in 2021, including 25 types of moths and butterflies, and 24 different bees including the scarce moss carder bee.

A typical lawn in the survey had 17 daisies on a one metre square patch, and a smattering of buttercups and dandelions, with germander speedwell and field forget-me-nots the next most likely plants to be seen.

The flowers produce nectar and pollen for insects, with dandelionrich lawns particularly wildlifefriendly, Plantlife said.

Although dandelions are outnumbered 85 to one by daisies on the average lawn of people taking part in the every flower counts survey, they produce 9% of its pollen and 37% of its nectar sugar.

To find out more about No Mow May and taking part in the “every flower counts” citizen science survey which runs from May 21-30, people can visit: nomowmay. plantlife.org.uk