No Mow May
Registration is now closed for the 2023 No Mow May season.
Replace your turf grass with pollinator-friendly and climate-adaptive landscaping: The City of Edina passed Ordinance 2023-07 on June 6, 2023 to allow planned landscapes and natural areas to replace turf grass on residential properties. Residents can read the full updated ordinance and staff report here. Specific allowances include:
- Increasing the allowable height of turf grass and weeds before enforcement from 10 inches to 12 inches.
- Decreasing the front yard setback for planned landscape areas and natural areas from 20 feet to five feet and adding a mitigation option to allow for the front, side, or rear yard setback to be reduced to zero feet.
- Eliminating the enforcement of tall turf grasses and weeds for the month of May plus a grace period of two weeks for residential properties.
- Increasing buffer distances around waterbodies from 20 feet to 30 feet.
- Repealing the requirement to cut planned landscape areas and natural areas once per summer.
- Revising the purpose of the section to acknowledge the value of replacing lawns with native grasses and wildflowers consistent with a naturally occurring Midwestern American landscape such as combating climate change, providing shelter and food for songbirds and other small mammals, and compared to the typical lawn, native grasses improve water quality, reduce air pollution, provide habitat restoration and protection, and increase carbon sequestration.
- Adding and modifying definitions for garden, native plants, and planned landscape area.
June - Return to Mow Tips: When you start mowing again in June, learn from the UMN about mowing best practices for a healthy lawn. Best practices for bringing your grass back down to a reasonable height while keeping it healthy include:
Mow late in the day or when grass is dry
Mow down in small increments (never more than 1/3 of grass blade’s height at one time)
Rake up excessive clippings to prevent them from going into streets. This protects your local water quality and keeps storm drains clear.
To Help Pollinators Year-round:
- Plant native species – of plants, trees, shrubs and more to provide the greatest benefit to pollinators. Flowering plants, grasses and sedges help to provide nectar for food and nutrition as well as habitat. Leave plant debris (fallen leaves, stems, trimmings, etc.) inside your garden beds or in a uncovered pile or bin kept outside until mid-June or later to provide shelter, allow hibernating pollinators the time to emerge, and a place for many of our threatened native bee species to nest (ground nesters and wood nesters).
Mow less – instead of mowing your lawn every single week, or even multiple times a week, mow every 2 to 3 weeks. Mowing stresses your grass and creates unhealthy lawns if mowed too frequently. Lawns mowed every 3 weeks can have as much as 2.5x more lawn flowers, and support a greater number of pollinators (UMass-Amherst, 2018).
Mow higher – consider keeping your lawn 3.5-4.5” inches in height. Taller grass holds more moisture, is less prone to stress, and better hides plants like clover and dandelion that pollinators need.
Water your lawn about 1” (in volume) per week in the early morning or late evening, and avoid watering during rain events.
Water your lawn all at once rather than in smaller quantities more frequently. This can disrupt pollinators and other insects, and stress your lawn during periods of drought.
Allow some flowering plants to persist in your lawn; tolerate clover and dandelions. To provide plenty of food sources from spring and throughout fall, avoid de-weeding your entire yard – no need to pull up all those ‘evil’ patches of clover or rid your lawn of all those ‘pesky’ dandelions. These are a favorite food source for many of MN’s threatened pollinators, including several bee species.
Limit or cease use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Use organic sources sparingly instead.
Ready to re-seed your grass lawn? Consider prioritizing fine fescue over Kentucky bluegrass. Fine fescue is slow growing, while KY bluegrass requires more frequent mowing.
Consider applying for Minnesota’s Lawns to Legumes program.
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Registration closed May 15th for the 2023 program.
No Mow May encourages residents who live in owner-occupied or rented properties to allow flowering plants in lawns to bloom that provide habitat and nutrition for early-season pollinators by pausing mowing their lawn during the month of May. Following the success of Edina’s inaugural event in 2022, City Council passed a Resolution of Support for No Mow May in 2023, temporarily suspending its turf and weed ordinances, for residents who register, related to lawn height and 'weed' maintenance. All properties must come back into compliance by June 15th, 2023.
Sign up by May 15th to ensure your yard is included in No Mow May this year. Last year's participants must register for 2023 to be omitted again from the turf and weed ordinances (effective dates: May 1st — June 15th, 2023).
In order to register, participants must be logged in to a BetterTogether account—those interested in participating who do not have an account can create one for free here.
Benefits of No Mow May: Participating in No Mow May supports all of Minnesota's pollinators - Minnesota pollinators include native bees, butterflies, ants, flies, beetles, birds and more! Avoid mowing in early spring and during the month of May to protect overwinter habitat for threatened bee populations and other pollinators, while allowing flowering plants to grow rich in nectar and other key nutrients that serve as food for our pollinator friends during a time when needed most. In urban areas, like Edina, pollinator habitat and food sources are relatively sparse this time of year—by joining No Mow May, you can help support the health and diversity of native pollinator populations by providing the resources needed for pollinators to thrive.
Yard signs are available to all who register through May 22. Signs are available for pick-up at Edina Public Works front desk. Visit Public Works 7:00am - 3:30pm Monday-Friday to claim your sign:
7450 Metro Blvd.
Edina, MN 55439
Have a sign from last year? Reuse it!
Missed out on Edina No Mow May signs? Participants can print a free sign from Bee City USA's No Mow May website to display.
Want to know what to do with your sign after May? Save it! The sign is meant to be used for multiple years, so consider stowing it in a closet, garage or basement after May, for future use in the years to come.
Pollinator Workshops: Interested in learning more ways you can help? Learn the basics of planting and maintaining a bee lawn, or register for any of the following workshops as part of Edina's No Mow May Webinar Series! FREE for Edina residents — Registration required:
- Resilient Yards: Thursday, May 11th at 6:00 pm
- Pollinator Plantings: Thursday, May 18th at 6:00 pm
- Turf Alternatives: Tuesday, May 23rd at 6:00pm
* Residents: After entering your information and Edina address, a coupon code will be automatically applied and mandatory payment will be dismissed. Non-residents: cost is $15 per workshop.
Who's Listening
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Phone 952-826-1621 Email ghancock@EdinaMN.gov -
Phone 952-826-0367 Email jcanton@edinamn.gov
