No Mow May: the best excuse for not mowing the lawn

By Megan Shersby

Published: Wednesday, 20 April 2022 at 12:00 am

Since the 1930s, nearly 7.5 million acres of flower-rich meadows and pastures have been lost. This has a cascade effect on our wildlife, with fewer pollinators and fewer insect-eating birds.

However, you can help – by doing nothing this May! Take a break from your regular lawn mowing schedule, and help your local wildlife at the same time.

Learn more about helping wildlife in your garden in our wildlife gardening hub which is packed with fantastic advice, including how to build and care for a wildlife pond, how to make a bee hotel, and the best five bird feeds for garden birds.

What is No Mow May?

First launched in 2019 by the botanical charity Plantlife, No Mow May is a campaign that encourages gardeners to not mow their lawn during the month of May, in order to let wild flowers bloom and provide a nectar feast for pollinators such as honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bees, butterflies and moths, and beetles.

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A 7-spot ladybird on a dandelion flower. © Cuveland/ullstein bild/Getty

A Plantlife survey of 2,000 gardeners revealed that the majority mowed their lawns once a fortnight.

The charity’s citizen science survey showed that mowing less than this resulted in an increase in the pollen count, with increases in daises, germander, speedwell and creeping buttercup. And by stopping mowing in July as well, there was an increase in white clover, selfheal and bird’s foot trefoil.

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How to take part in No Mow May

You don’t actually have to completely stop mowing in May, or avoid mowing all of your lawn, particularly if you do need to have shorter grass in places. The aim of No Mow May campaign is to encourage people to change up their mowing regime – mowing less, and leaving patches of long grass in places if possible.

You can register to take part in Plantlife’s Every Flower Counts citizen science survey. This project involves counting the number of flowers within a square metre patch of lawn, and then Plantlife calculates the amount of nectar that’s being produced by those flowers and how many bees are being fed. You’ll then be provided with your own Personal Nectar Score.

The results from across the country will then be combined to calculate a National Nectar Index, and the top ten lawn flowers in people’s gardens.

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