‘No Mow May’ – how doing nothing can help our environment
This May, Hastings Borough Council (HBC) is encouraging residents to help the bees and support local biodiversity by not mowing lawns for No Mow May.
Not mowing lawns helps support the survival of bees and other pollinating insects, and allows natural wildflowers to thrive, all of which are an essential part of the ecosystem.
Where possible, this season the council has altered some of their maintenance mowing schedules which are normally scheduled for late April or in early May to help promote wildflowers and encourage pollinators in less recreationally used areas. These areas will be cut later in the year when flower heads have gone to seed, helping to encourage wildflowers, insects and wildlife.
Murray Davidson, Hastings Borough Council’s Environment and Natural Resources Manager, explained: “Hastings Borough Council is always looking for ways we can help wildlife thrive in the town. By working with our contractors, Idverde, and local experts we are regularly identifying areas that would benefit from changes to mowing times. By changing our management, we help wildflowers and other wildlife thrive.”
If you want to get involved, you can also partake in Plantlife’s ‘Every Flower Counts’. For this all you have to do is count how many flowers you have in a random square meter of your garden and upload it to their website between May 23rd – 31st and receive your personal nectar score to measure how much nectar your plants are contributing.
Find out more: https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/about-us/news/no-mow-may-how-to-get-ten-times-more-bees-on-your-lockdown-lawn
One very, very important issue about Bee’s and the environment not mentioned here.
As a previous apiarist the major problem is chemicals such as Roundup being used. Also councils for one using chemicals to kill the street weeds. Instead of natural methods because it is cheaper.