If all of us chose to put our lawnmowers away for one month, we could start creating a network of places where pollinators would both survive and thrive.Īt this point, even those with the best eco-will in the world may be thinking about the ‘messy garden’ brigade and accusations that leaving the lawn alone is unsightly or even lazy. There simply isn’t enough food to support them in our landscape. In Ireland, one-third of wild bees are threatened with extinction - and this is mainly because of hunger. Where our lawns offer pollen and nectar to insects and animals, mowing them intensively therefore threatens species that depend on them for food. Over time, lawns managed in this way become more flower rich. Mowing less can give wildflowers a chance to compete with the grass, allowing local, native wildflowers to naturally emerge. No Mow May is a way of beginning to restore these important habitats, creating small pockets of native meadows in our gardens and communities. Native meadows are also disappearing across Ireland. Since the 1970s, the UK has lost 97% of wildflower meadows. Worryingly, future generations won’t see them either if we are to continue trailblazing down this path of nature depletion and destruction. These are plants that we would never usually see in our gardens. I’m not just talking about dandelions, buttercup, daisies and clovers, but also wild strawberry, wild garlic and even orchid. The international charity Plantlife spearheaded this campaign back in 2018 and every year ‘No Mow Mayers’ report seeing a diverse range of plant species during the month.
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