FAQs

No Mow May first originated as a campaign in the UK aimed at helping promote and educate people about the need for pollinator conservation efforts, and in doing so, letting your lawn grow throughout the month of May to help provide nutrition and habitat for threatened pollinators at a time when these resources are relatively scare. 

Not mowing your lawn during the early weeks of spring will provide some food, nutritional and habitat/sheltering benefits to pollinators, however this can only happen if common lawn flowers (many of which are commonly referred to as 'weeds') are allowed to bloom. This includes plants such as dandelions, white & red clover, violets, bellflower, creeping charlie and some others. If you do not want these plants or 'weeds' to spread, cut or pick off the flower heads once they have finished blooming and before they go to seed! 

Less frequent mowing has been found in some cases to result in an increased abundance and richness (diversity) of bee and other pollinator species in urban and suburban lawns. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst found  that lawns mowed every 2 weeks or every 3 weeks (rather than weekly) were observed to have greater numbers of bees present, and observed an increase in the species richness or biodiversity of bee populations found in unmown and less frequently mowed greenspaces.

Ultimately, the best thing you can do to help support pollinators is to plant and maintain a diverse mix of pollinator-friendly flowers and grasses throughout your yard.

1. Create microhabitats for pollinators around your yard by incorporating more garden space, and planting native species of flowers and plants (including flowering trees and shrubs), as well as native grasses and sedges which will help benefit threatened and endangered pollinators by providing a place to shelter and overwinter for those that hibernate.

2. Follow the 'Lazy Lawnmower' approach to managing your yard by mowing less frequently all year round, leaving your mower's blade height to 3.5 or 4 inches at a minimum, and cease use of any chemicals, pesticides or weed killers in your yard.

3. Follow the 'Lazy Gardener' approach as well. This means leaving plant debris such as dead leaves, plant and flower stems, grass clippings, etc. either inside your garden beds and areas or in a open bin, box or pile outside so that nesting bees, moths and other key pollinators have place to shelter and reproduce. If you store any firewood, or had to cut down a tree--this is prime real-estate for many of Minnesota's threatened native bee species, that nest in wood. Remember that 'messy' gardens support more than just pollinators, they benefit other wildlife too! 

Not mowing your lawn doesn’t cause harm. There are concerns that the sudden shock of cutting a great amount of a grass blade at once can harm the turf by causing stress.. To avoid this stress, turfgrass professionals recommend mowing down your grass in smaller increments to ease grass back in to the habit of mowing. As a general rule of thumb, never mow more than 1/3^rd of your grass’ blade height in a single mowing event, to prevent this stress.

Raking in spring is only a considered to be a necessary practice if compaction is present, and should only be done when grass is dry. Compaction refers to compact, poorly aerated soil which can sometimes be a problem following a winter with heavy snow. Raking your lawn too early can actually lead to more harm than good, as springtime temperatures and excess snow melt and rain often leave our lawns wet or soggy—a rather fragile state when nighttime temperatures still commonly fall below or near freezing. According to the University of Minnesota, try to resist the urge to getting an early start to spring lawncare and cleanup, as this can damage plants and further compact soil as they begin to fade out of dormancy.