However, it was the perfect time to cut everything in the garden: an XXL May bridge with the added bonus of a few rays of sunshine. But you may finally leave your mower in the garage and find another activity. It must be said that for several years, the “No Mow May” movement and the hashtag that goes with it are gaining momentum. The principle: do not touch your lawn to avoid destroying all the biodiversity it shelters. Should we follow this initiative? We’ll explain it to you.
What is “No Mow May”?
For several years, the British NGO Plantlife encourages individuals to join this movement. The objective: to save bees and butterflies, pollinators which are unfortunately in decline and which feed on wild flowers and tall grass on sunny days. “Outdated Victorian lawns are a thing of the past,” believes the association, which intends to shake up habits for a good cause.
Does it work ?
Four years ago, a full-scale experiment took place at King’s College in London. “In 2020, for the first time since it was laid in 1772, a section of a King’s College lawn the size of half a football field was not mowed,” indicates the university. On this plot, wild flowers had been sown. A bit like when you let daisies or dandelions grow through the lawn in your garden. In the end, the researchers were quickly able to see the results: three times more species of plants, spiders and insects were found in the space that had not been mowed. The bats also appreciated the approach.
What are the other benefits?
Letting the grass grow would have other benefits to the point that even mower brands are riding the trend. Stihl, for example, highlights the positive consequences of “No Mow” on the vegetable garden: “Pollination by lawn insects is important for many plants, for example apples and cherries, tomatoes and beans . Insects thus contribute decisively to the success of garden harvests. »
Benefits on fruits and vegetables, but also on flower beds. Because a whole ecosystem can be created. The municipality of Nogent-sur-Oise (Oise) explains for example on its website: “The titmice will collect the small caterpillars on the leaves of the rose bushes, to give them to their young. They also reduce the number of aphids. »
With the arrival of hot weather, let’s also remember that tall grass better protects the earth from drought by keeping the soil in the shade. Thanks to their roots, which are deeper than a simple lawn, the wild flowers that develop also allow rainwater to better infiltrate into the ground.
So, should we resist the call of the lawnmower?
To protect biodiversity, there is no need to necessarily go on a mower strike until June 1st. For Célia Jacob, responsible for ecological management at the Nature and Garden department of the city of Nantes, it is above all necessary to mow “neither too short nor too frequently”, whether in May or any other period, and this whatever the size of your garden. “The ideal is to have differentiated management of your lawn, keeping areas more rustic than others,” she suggests. Célia Jacob recommends in any case not to cut below 7 cm, and if possible to keep “refuge zones”, small meadows which allow grasshoppers or butterflies to develop.
“No Mow May” would therefore rather allow you to take a step towards a new way of maintaining your lawn called reasoned mowing (or diversified), which is gaining more and more followers, particularly with inflation. Because less mowing (at least only where it is really necessary) also means less watering but also less electricity or gasoline. So if you see weeds in your favorite park, it’s not necessarily a lack of maintenance, on the contrary. This may be a sign that your community has adopted this principle in the management of its green spaces.