"No Mow May" No Way!
Tomorrow is May 1st and the advent of “No Mow May.” We’ve seen many posts, articles and interactions from both sides of the dialogue. Belleview Landscapes is a sustainable focused landscape company. We make every decision through that lense and we ask ourselves; how will this decision impact our people and our community, how will impact our planet, and how will it impact our purpose. And our team of like minded professionals - ecosystems management techs, horticulturists, arborists - all drive those discussions. So we wanted to provide our thoughts on “No Mow May,” from that perspective.
“Native pollinators NEED native plants”
We are fierce advocates of creating habitat and supporting community resilience. The discussion around “no now may” is contentious amongst those that believe they are striving to achieve those goals. Though well intentioned, “no mow may” is NOT the best solution for either endeavour.
1.) Traditional lawns are a tremendous draw on resources. Constant watering, fertilizer, work work work. But they are an important part of the urban landscape. A healthy lawn acts as a carbon sink. And open lawns (private residential and public open space) promote play, respite and community connectivity. Healthy lawns can be achieved holistically by starting with healthy soil. So from this perspective, “no mow may” does not support this.
2.) Creating spaces that promote the health of native pollinators is critical. If we let lawns grow excessively, than pollinators and other inspects have habitat and food supply. But over grown lawns are not managed lawns. Therefore they tend to fill with plants that don’t fully support pollinators. And the ones that do support pollinators are often invasive and threaten native plants.
3.) The bylaws in place to enforce lawn maintenance and property tidiness were created from the perspective of public health and safety.
4.) Native pollinators NEED native plants. Period full stop.
We don’t like lawns. But we need them to some degree. We think the solution is thoughtfully designed spaces. This includes the right plants in the right places for the right reasons. This includes holistically focused, well managed open spaces. This includes pursuing soil health as the foundation for everything.
So what we’re saying is if you want to create habitat and support pollinators than please mow your lawn and speak to a professional about other functional and aesthetically appealing projects you can undertake to acheive these goals.
Written by
Adam C.E. Braun CLHT, FLP
Founder, Owner, Explorer
Belleview Landscapes
We provide holistic turf care and alternative lawn solutions in the Kitchener, Cambridge, and Brant County Areas. We’d be happy to chat about your sustainable landscape goals. Call us at 226-789-4295