The connection between mowing and the beginning of the gardening season is deeply entrenched in the psyche of gardeners but the reasons for re-thinking our mowing habits are quite clear.
Many British pollinating insects are in decline. Since the 1930s we have lost 97% of our wild flower meadows largely owing to changing farming practices..Between 1980 and 2013, every square kilometre in the UK lost an average of 11 species of bee and hoverfly.
No Mow May has now become a regular feature of the gardening calendar. The results indicate that modifying the way we mow can result in a tenfold increase in the amount of nectar available to bees and other pollinators with a reported increase in the growth of daisies, germander, speedwell and creeping buttercup.
For a bigger impact on biodiversity the RSPB are promoting the spring meadow (don't mow your lawn or part of your lawn at all until early July and then mow as normal until the grass stops growing in late autumn) or the summer meadow (mow your lawn once in late March / early April and then leave it until August or September before mowing once or twice until the end of the autumn growing season thus mimicking the old hay meadows).
WIth all the suggested regimes it's important to remove all the cuttings. If you don’t do this, any rotting debris might smother germinating wildflower seeds and will fertilise the ground, encouraging tough grasses to take over.
Leaving areas of grass to go ‘wild’ is now becoming increasingly common in public areas.This trend is partly driven by the biodiversity issues discussed above but also by the desire to save mowing time (or cost). Public reaction to this is to say the least mixed. A lot of people are concerned that leaving the grass uncut looks untidy. They are also worried about road safety issues with visibility, neglect of footpaths and cycleways, the spreading of weeds and limiting of public access.
To avoid these issues we should follow some basic guidelines such as::
For larger areas it is recommended that paths are mown through the long grass to break up the view and allow access.
Road safety should be prioritised usually with a one metre strip mown beside the highway.
Areas used as play areas should remain available for that use and mown
Areas in the middle of towns or villages should be kept tidy to avoid disagreements
If we create some basic guidelines we can all hopefully adopt a more relaxed mowing regime at least to part of our gardens and part of our public spaces.
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