St. Louis Park Isn't Promoting No Mow May: Here's Why

ST. LOUIS PARK, MN — Unlike other cities in the Twin Cities metro and across the nation, St. Louis Park is not promoting No Mow May this year.

The goal of "No Mow May" is to allow the gross the grow long this month to help create habitats and food resources for pollinators. Bees are in trouble worldwide. Bees are important pollinators, and their work is vital. Scientists say it's a complex problem, but habitat loss is one of the big culprits.

In March, the Edina City Council adopted a resolution in March declaring May as "No Mow May." The resolution directs inspectors to temporarily suspend enforcement of portions of the City Code from May 1 through June 15.

St. Louis Park has done no such thing. Instead, the city said it has decided to undertake a number of other impactful pollinator initiatives:

Declared St. Louis Park a "bee-friendly" city. This resolution defines appropriate parks where pesticides are not sprayed, and where dandelions and white clover are promoted.

Provide a Native Vegetation Permit (Ord. Sec. 34-118), which allows homeowners to convert their lawns to native pollinator-promoting plants and exempting them from the tall grass ordinance.

Converted public lands to native prairie plants in areas where mowing was difficult and not usable for recreation, and around lakes and ponds. The city is currently working on plans to convert park and utility areas not used for organized recreation to pollinator patches.

Continued conversion of exotic annual flowerbeds in parks to strategic native flower perennial beds.

Mayor Spano has taken the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge for annual pollinator initiatives.

Hosted a native plant sale, offering discounted flats of native plants to residents to establish pollinator gardens.

Of course, St. Louis Park residents can still participate in No Mow May if they want to.