"No Mow May"

Lots of urban areas in South Yorks have adopted it now, and local schools are coming on board with wildflower areas outside school grounds👍

The no mow bit in our garden is doing well, just different natural grasses, left over from when this bit of land was a dairy walk for a farm which was sold off 30 years ago. Just over the hedge we own a right of way and all the wild flowers were cut down by council mowers recently although they did carefully go round one primrose plant! (Bit of an argument over that one as we and other owners usually cut our own paths and a lot more carefully too. )Over the hedge from that a 20  acre maize  field has been sprayed for "weeds" etc. Adjoining that a very large grass field has been cut for silage, then manured by a dairy herd and if we get some rain another cut will be due. The cows didn't have much grazing after the silage cut so they headed for all the lush borders left as part of the schemes to encourage "nature." We did get to enjoy the Cow Parsley etc for a short while. The Swallows will have to travell a bit further for food, there are no long grass meadows to skim over for insects.

So yes I'm all for No Mow May it might give something a chance to survive however briefly and every inch counts. 

Why not laud the achievements mentioned. Doing your own thing with no impact on anyone else.  Plenty of room for this without the radical " rewilders" inappropriate mass tree planting, purely chasing grants and green washing. 

I really do not think anyone has criticised you for your efforts, ever, Fish, just pointed out alternative practises which may be more appropriate, particularly in other settings. Nobody has mentioned the points you repeatedly make as being anything other than nature damaging to my knowledge. However the ever so repetitive mantras quickly follow any attempt at doing exactly what you suggest, that is lauding the excellent work being done by others. Is this because those efforts just doesn’t fit your world or do you want any such nature based thread shut down because it dares to mention things you have an aversion to?

Anyway, back to NMM. Here is some really helpful advice from the Royal Horticultural Society.

 https://www.rhs.org.uk/lawns/wildflower-meadow-maintenance

You never know, this might just tempt even more folk to get involved. 👍

My sister and I have seeded a wildflower area in Mum’s garden. Only a small area, but going to be interesting to see how it does. We intend scatterings lot more seeds throughout the year.I am having to water it though, we haven’t had any rain for the last four weeks, and nothing forecast except lots of sunshine. Ground is powder dry.

Went to Plas Newydd today, run by NT, and was pleasantly surprised by the cricket pitch being turned into a wildflower meadow.

The colours were a visual delight with plenty of Pyramid Orchids alongside Red Clover, Eyebright, Buttercups and Yellow Rattle along with the usual Cornflowers and Daisies.

Our local council has been letting roundabouts grow with wildflowers for a while now. Win-win, they save money in not having to mow and we get to have a more pleasurable driving experience as its always mentioned.

"No Mow May" should become the norm year-round in lots of places.

Our local council (Fife, Scotland) have introduced the policy in specific areas of some of our local parks. The result is that some of the featureless lawns are now looking like the meadows of 100 years ago. Beautiful. This hasn't happened by chance, though. The council has given Mother Nature a helping hand by sowing "wild" flower seeds and managing the areas in a sympathetic manner. And that's an important point. Nature cannot restore 100 years of cultivation all on her own. A little human help can ADD to the rewilding.

A case in point is our seasonal site up here in Clachan, Scotland. Whilst the lawned areas are tended to and mown by the wardens, there are a number of wild areas set-aside for nature.

In previous years these wild areas have been managed at the start of the season by cutting back the ferns and bracken that would otherwise choke the area of light, nutrients and water. This has allowed the local wild flowers to bloom, encouraging bees, butterflies and other insects into the area. With a little gentle management, these "wild" areas have been a haven of biodiversity in previous seasons.

This year, the new wardens have chosen (or been asked by the C&MC) not to manage these areas at all. The result is that these areas are completely choked with ferns and bracken. There's NO wild flowers, NO butterflies, NO bees. There are some new wildlife though... TICKS. Scottish bracken is a breeding ground for ticks (and adders).

Last year we removed 3 ticks from our dog in the whole season. This year there have been 5 incidences in 6 days. Not only on dogs but on humans, too. (With one tick INSIDE the caravan).

Just a little anecdote to say that management-free isn't always a good thing. Sometimes Mother Nature appreciates a little knowledgable help. :-)

The very dry weather of the last 4 weeks saw grass growth virtually stop. Only now starting to cut the fields here. Not an intentional "No mow" just a quirk of nature. Yes councils and civic organisation can do their bit and seem to be doing so. 

Contrary to the understanding of a few, No Mow May is not about a total lack of stewardship or management of the land, quite the contrary. With proper thought and action restorative practices can enrich the habitats we have so badly effected. To leave that almost monoculture grass swards completely alone will not be sufficient to help recovery, to go from that very regular mowing to within an inch of death to absolute abstinence will just allow those big bad bullies plants like docks, ferns, bracken and the like to take over. Thankfully several councils around us have been carefully and gently over seeding with enrichment species and the mowing regime has been adjusted to aid the return to rich and diverse meadow type environments. It’s amazing what a bit of common sense, knowledge and action can do to assist that natural recovery.