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Delaying your lawn mowing can help out important pollinators

May 26, 2020 | 11:51 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – If you haven’t mowed your lawn yet this month, the Nature Conservancy of Canada wants you to wait a little longer.

Spokesperson Andrew Holland said the organization is promoting the No Mow May campaign.

“It’s an effort to draw attention to peoples’ lawns and [to encourage] them to leave them shaggy, sort of like our hair the last couple of months…we’ve all been inside during the COVID-19 restrictions, and our hair’s gotten a bit long, and we’re encouraging people to take the same approach with their lawns because that can really be beneficial for insects and pollinators,” Holland told Lethbridge News Now.

He said the initiative started in the U.K. and has since grown across Canada.

The City of Calgary has a program that promotes the growth of wild grass, while Toronto has a municipal grant program that gives participants $5,000 to make their yards a haven for pollinators.

Holland said it’s estimated that there’s over 6.2 million lawns across Canada.

“There’s a lot of bees and butterflies and moths that are really useful pollinators. They rely on the flowers and the nectar from those that are on lawns. So, lawns can be a really important area of habitat in our cities and towns where we’ve been experiencing habitat loss in different parts of the country,” Holland explained, adding No Mow May is intended to be a ‘light-hearted campaign’.

“If you’re getting grief at home from someone saying ‘hey, you’re being lazy – why aren’t you tackling the lawn’, you can tell them [you’re] being environmentally friendly and [are] actually helping nature.”

WHAT ABOUT WEEDS?

For anyone whose lawn is plagued by weeds, Holland suggested picking and choosing which areas to mow, if it’s necessary.

“Maybe leave certain areas higher than others because…for pollinators, they really rely on flowers. So, these lawns, if you let them get a bit taller, that can be really beneficial for moths, butterflies and pollinators like that,” he told LNN.

“Even dandelions, I know some people might think they’re an eye sore but those are really important for nectar for pollinators.”

PLANTING IN THE YARD

Holland admitted that he knows some people have and will mow their lawns as the month ends, but he suggested some ways people can still be environmentally friendly.

“Plant some native plants, shrubs and trees in the backyard that can be helpful for pollinators and bees, whether it’s common milkweed, black-eyed Susan, wild geraniums,” he said.

Other helpful plants, shrubs and trees one can plant in their yard include:

· Wild strawberry

· Bush honey suckle

· Butterfly weed

· Fireweed

· All native asters and goldenrods

· Silver Maple trees

· Sugar Maple trees

· Prairie Willow shrubs

· Sandcherry shrubs

· Northern Dewberry shrubs

· Red Raspberry shrubs

· Low bush blueberry shrubs

Holland added that once someone starts mowing, maybe they can ‘mow a bit less’.

“Mow slower, maybe with less frequency. You know, not every two weeks; maybe every three weeks to a month depending on how much rain you get…[and] if you have a teenager [at home], they’re probably loving it. They don’t have to go out and mow the lawn,” he said with a laugh.

More tips from the Nature Conservancy of Canada on how to attract pollinators can be found here.