Do you want to do something good for the planet without spending a euro, without giving up anything and indeed… literally making less effort? Good: stop mowing the lawn for the entire month of May. It’s not an excuse for laziness – even if we like to think so – but a choice increasingly supported by science and millions of conscious gardeners around the world.
Is called No Mow May – May without mowing – and it is a campaign born in England thanks to the environmentalist organisation Plantlife which, for several years now, has been inviting garden owners to keep the lawnmower in the garage for the whole month. The reason? A lawn cut too short is a biological desert: it offers no food, shelter or living space for pollinating insects, already hard hit by the climate crisis, pesticides and habitat loss.
Instead, leaving the grass to grow freely – even just for a few weeks – allows daisies, clovers, dandelions and primroses to flourish, transforming the garden into a real banquet for bees, butterflies, bumblebees and hundreds of other insects. According to research by Plantlifea lawn that is mowed less frequently can host up to ten times more nectar-rich flowers than one that is mowed regularly. Ten times.
(Read also: Not just bees: how many species of pollinators does a lawn need?)
But the good news doesn’t end there. More recent studies, such as those published on Journal of Applied Ecologyconfirm that even small, unmowed urban plots can make a significant difference to insect populations at a local level. The phenomenon is now global: from the United Kingdom to the United States, from Germany to Australia, more and more municipalities and public administrations are adopting the No Mow May principle also for parks, roundabouts and community green spaces, exponentially multiplying the positive impact of this choice.
In Germany, the German Horticultural Society has long since launched its national campaign explicitly inviting citizens to give up mowing in the month of May. And in Italy? The movement is growing, thanks to greater environmental awareness and the dissemination of content dedicated to the biodiversity of home gardens on social media.
However, there is a theme that comes up often: “But my garden will look abandoned!”. Understandable. The good news is that there is no need to leave everything uncultivated: even just a wild corner, a strip of free lawn along the wall or a “forgotten” flowerbed can make the difference. Feel free to mow the rest, but let that small space live: it will be a precious oasis for the local fauna.
Another trend that is accompanying No Mow May is that of the so-called “lazy lawn” – the lazy lawn – which aims to replace the traditional turf with mixtures of low-maintenance native plants, capable of flowering spontaneously and requiring very little water. A perfect solution for those who want a beautiful, sustainable and insect-friendly garden all year round, not just in May.
If you really can’t give up the lawnmower, here are at least some tips to reduce damage to wildlife: mow starting from the center of the lawn towards the edges, so the insects have time to escape to safety. Prefer a manual scythe or brush cutter to a rotary mower, which sucks up and kills insects without escape. And if you can, mow during the cooler hours of the day, when pollinators are less active.
Remember: every garden, every flowered balcony, every corner of greenery left free is a piece of a larger mosaic. Urban biodiversity is also built in this way, one uncultivated lawn at a time.
Sources: Deutsche Gartenbau-Gesellschaft / Plant Life
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