My grandpa always wanted my sister and I to go to their house right after school got out for a couple of days. He would take us to the park, a movie, and ice cream the first day and grandma would show us her needlepoint. The next two days were slave labor digging dandelions. He inspected to make sure we got the whole root. Man was obsessed with them.
No Mow May
- Thread starter AgronAlum
- Start date
It's well intended but not the best. We have mowed twice now. But I refuse to allow spray except for 2 small patches of creeping charlie so we are the dandelion neighbors. Oh well. Couple weeks and then they fade pretty dramatically for the rest of the year. Turfgrass isn't the best anyway. Slowly turning pockets into native perennials or adding trees. Plans to to put native grasses in the ditches someday and then a back section into native prairie type. For now have a new native flower section that is just alive with bees late summer. Really buzzing with activity.
Local library has converted most of their turf into prairie and it's really beautiful all season.
Local library has converted most of their turf into prairie and it's really beautiful all season.
I mowed the back for the first time tonight, though it was a second mowing for the front. Stalled my mower once and threatened to a couple other times.
I was wanting to let it go a little longer this year after our house sitter scalped the yard last August. It all turned brown and didn't come back until the rain came back in October. By then moss had taken hold. I'd heard that leaving it a little longer in the spring helps the roots go deeper so it stays healthier in the summer heat. But then people got sick and I got busy with work and it got away from me.
I was wanting to let it go a little longer this year after our house sitter scalped the yard last August. It all turned brown and didn't come back until the rain came back in October. By then moss had taken hold. I'd heard that leaving it a little longer in the spring helps the roots go deeper so it stays healthier in the summer heat. But then people got sick and I got busy with work and it got away from me.
I usually start shorter and increase as the spring goes on
Looks longer when the weeds are trimmed back
I wouldn't want to deprive my hired mowers a month's worth of wages, of course my lawn is mowed every week in May.
It's all ******** about not mowing grass lawns. Grass lawns are pretty much a habitat desert to start with. The lawn no mow grew as an well intended extension of not jumping right in and clearing out dead plants and ground debris from your flower gardens which does help insects. I don't have much grass lawn left, just a couple little patches in the front yard, everything else is ornamental garden. Not close to needing a mow, too dry, but if it did need it I'd not think twice about it.
Got bees bees, lot's of bumble bees and others in the my pachysandra plants which are blooming.
Got bees bees, lot's of bumble bees and others in the my pachysandra plants which are blooming.
Set mower at highest setting. Mow less grass off. The taller mowing will allow the grass cut to settle in that higher mowing without covering. Mowing it twice high will size clippings smaller. Never mow lower than 3 inches ever.
I can't imagine going the whole month without mowing. It's already thick enough to bog down my mower after a week this time of year. I'm a couple days away from #3 for the month.
I think you’re underestimating the length of some of these lawns. There’s no way it won’t chunk up and choke out the remaining grass.
Is the No Mow May really about pollinators? I thought it was to encourage deeper root growth which will be better when it gets hot and dry. Paging all agronomists.
I dedicated a corner to native perennials and love it. Something is always in bloom by early April.
It is one of the best things I’ve done at my house. It is crazy the variety of butterflies and even hummingbirds that find that small patch in suburbia.
It is one of the best things I’ve done at my house. It is crazy the variety of butterflies and even hummingbirds that find that small patch in suburbia.
This. My goal is always... Wild Area + Beds and Landscaping > Lawn ...for the win.
St Augustine does a good job of crowding things out.
Also does a good job of making sure you were every damn time.
No mow April would make more sense than May. Things grow so fast in May where it's just not practical to let your lawn grow so high (with or without weeds).
Even if you have dandelions and weeds (like myself), a routinely cut lawn looks pretty darn good and still offers opportunities for pollinators.
Even if you have dandelions and weeds (like myself), a routinely cut lawn looks pretty darn good and still offers opportunities for pollinators.
I spot spray the dandelions and creeping charlie but leave the clover alone for the bees. If I didn't mow for two weeks I would need a bush hog to cut my grass.