Natural History Wanderings

Xerces Society reports

No Mow May seems like a simple thing: You leave your lawn mower in the shed for a month, flowers bloom, and happy bees forage.

Of course, it’s not quite so straightforward. The benefits from not mowing for a few weeks are limited. There is research that shows multiple species of bees do forage on dandelions and white clover, but let’s be honest, if all you’re doing is letting dandelions and other weeds bloom, that’s not good quality habitat—and any benefits will be canceled if you power up your mower and restart as if nothing has changed once June arrives. We can’t pat ourselves on the back and say, “Yay, we saved the bees.”

Read on xerces.org/blog/no-mow-may-easy-start-for-nature-friendly-yard-but-not-finish-line