Caring for God’s Earth – No Mow May

Eco Church

‘No Mow May’ is to encourage lawn owners to consider the needs of plants and insects over that of having a pristine area of grass, but it has its draw backs. If you allow the plants, other than grass, which are present in your lawn to come to flower, then cut them down in June before they have set seed, all you will be left with is a depleted seed bank. If you are doing ‘No mow May’ it would be best to have ‘No mow June’ as well, so plants can complete their lifecycle, providing seeds, leaves, nectar and pollen for the myriad of insects which depend on different parts of the plants for survival.

What would be even better would be to dig up an area of lawn and sow it with wild flower seeds, thereby having less grass to cut and guaranteed food plants for insects. We have just recently extended our wild flower patch and are hoping to attract even more wildlife into the garden.

We do cut our ever diminishing area of lawns to allow the Starlings access to the favoured food for their chicks – Cranefly larvae, known as Leatherjackets. It is a pleasure to watch the adult birds poking about in the grass and winkling out these juicy morsels to feed to their rapidly growing youngsters and then bringing them, once fledged, and showing them how to find them for themselves. As Leatherjackets feed on grass roots, the Starlings are providing a service to the gardener who does not have to resort to the use of chemicals to keep the grass in good condition. There are so many ways in which wildlife is beneficial to humans that we ignore its needs at our peril.