Eco Blog: No Mow Day

Letting the flowers bloom on your lawn helps to provide a vital source of nectar for bees and other insects.

No Mow May encourages people to fight the urge to have a perfectly manicured lawn and put the mower away for just a month.

At this time of year lawns are cut on average every 2 weeks and this dramatically reduces the number of lawn flowers which play a huge part in the survival of bees and other pollinators by providing vital early nectar sources ahead of the summer.

Leaving your grass 3-5 cm long throughout May provides optimum conditions for prolific lawn flowers, and leaving a longer length around the edge or in less visible areas promotes a greater diversity of flowers too.

Why we love bees

Bees are one of our most important pollinators, and we rely on their hard work for much of what we eat. They pollinate the flowers that produce our fruit, nuts and seeds, and help to spread colour through our landscape. Bees are vital in keeping up the health of our ecosystem, so we need to give them the biggest chance possible to thrive.

What types of flowers will you see?

You might be surprised at how many flowers you can spot if you the let the grass grow. Daisies, dandelions, creeping buttercups, common mouse-ear, cuckooflowers and white clover are to name just a few. There are also lots of plants you can grow in your garden, window box and vegetable patch that will attract pollinators. These include rosemary, lavender, apple blossom, strawberries and tomatoes.

Want to know more about keeping your garden full of wildlife? Keep your eyes on the blog!