‘No Mow May’: Save Bees Or Let Grass Grow To The Knees [Block Talk]

ACROSS AMERICA — If the grass in your neighbor’s yard is growing taller by the day, there may be a good explanation that has nothing to do with their laziness or lack of pride in the neighborhood, and you may need to chill out for a month.

A growing movement to abandon lawn mowing until June — “No Mow May,” a Bee City USA conservation project — is spreading across the country. We’re sunk as a planet without native bees and other important pollinators, and letting the grass grow during May gets them off to a healthier start in the early spring.

The effort — or, rather, lack of effort — seems to be paying off. Lawrence University research a few years ago found five times the number of bees and three times the number of bee species in lawns in Appleton, Wisconsin, that weren’t mowed compared with city parks that were mowed.

With something like 40 million acres of lawn in the Lower 48 states — that’s according to a 2005 NASA estimate based on satellite imaging — advocates say widespread adoption of No Mow May would give pollinators a better chance to build back their populations.

In some of America’s suburbs and cities, No Mow May has been contentious, especially when town councils take up the issue by suspending weed ordinances for a month.

In Appleton, the issue was met with complaints that overgrown lawns make the city look trashy, are a source of misery for people with pollen allergies and fuel neighborhood bickering — all for a limited benefit in areas where bees often don’t have a fighting chance because miles of concrete have replaced their habitat.

We’re asking what you think about No Mow May for Block Talk, Patch’s exclusive neighborhood etiquette column.

Has your town suspended weed ordinances for a month — or do you wish they would — in observance of No Mow May? If local officials don’t act, should individuals who want to protect pollinators be able to participate? If they do, should they at least put up a sign?

Tell us what you think in the form below. And no worries — we don’t collect your email address.

About Block Talk

Block Talk is a regular Patch feature offering real-world advice from readers on how to resolve everyday neighborhood problems. If you have a neighborhood etiquette question or problem you'd like for us to consider, email beth.dalbey@patch.com, with Block Talk as the subject line.

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