Mowing Madness: Challenging the No Mow May Movement

The No Mow May cult scares me

I watched my father and grandfather become less tolerant of fashion and fads as they grew older. Back then, I thought they dismissed new trends as nonsense far too quickly – perhaps this was a clear example of naivety of the youth. However, it has served me well so far and I am still fascinated by those with different views or opinions. I do not fear change and I do not believe that the past was always a better place.

My kryptonite is not change, but those who blindly follow trends without any knowledge or reason. They should not be described as sheep, as sheep tend to follow well-trodden paths which provided proven results in the past. The people I have in mind are those who follow a trend without any background knowledge, and what’s worse, they’re usually vocal and openly shame others into joining them.

Why is cutting lawns just the tip of the land management iceberg?

It is a fine example of all my fears about a group of people with little knowledge dumbing down a far more interesting and important subject. I have walked an interesting career path between people and nature conservation, and it still fascinates me. Unlike some of my peers, I am not obsessed with tidiness; I can appreciate a well-maintained track, a straight fence and neatly cut lawn or hedge. But equally, I also admire the unkept; that patch of nettles and bramble, the long grass going to seed, or even an old plyboard discarded years ago. All these create different habitats and benefit our wildlife.

I like a mosaic of habitats and have always left wild bits in the garden or encouraged others to see beauty in the unkept. Some may think that No Mow May should fit within my conservation ethics. Sadly, after deliberating over this on far too many long drives, I realised this is not the case.

My anger towards this growing cult has been simmering for a few years and it is time I stood up and spoke out. It represents the most dangerous aspect of today’s world – reducing important subjects to clickbait, eye-catching snippets for those with four-second attention spans, driven by overly simplistic content.

Pension lawyers – experts in conservation

My circle of friends is quite varied, not an echo chamber of just country types with the same cultural background as mine. Last year, our WhatsApp group fell out due to lawns (how very middle class!), as one individual dared to mow and even scarify their lawn in May. The pension lawyer within our group voiced his Greta Thunberg-style disgust and the debate erupted. How dare a friend cut their lawn and try to improve its ability to host BBQs and children in the scared month of May?! The pension lawyer, armed with knowledge gathered from a single National Trust tweet, was well and truly on the moral high ground.

The lawyer in question is also one of my oldest friends and was my best man, so I am aware he can articulate his opinion, and use big words I constantly need to google. Indeed, he submitted a photo of his best practice front lawn in suburban Leeds as evidence… a small square of dying grass and brown moss with patches of compacted soil eroding onto the electric and hybrid cars scattered around a pleasant housing estate. This dry crisp of a lawn which had not been mowed was put forward as the clear example to follow. In his mind, it demonstrated the benefits of not mowing and ensured that Springwatch-devotee neighbours and his in-laws would nod approvingly every time they passed by his house.

So, what happened to the lawn which had been mowed and scarified? Unsurprisingly, it rapidly improved, the sward thickened protecting the soil below while improving runoff and drainage. Alongside the scrubs and borders the garden will no doubt deliver for people and wildlife alike and should be the ideal sweet spot for nature and functionality. The images proved that in this instance the managed lawn delivered far more benefits than the sorry looking unmanaged alternative. Yet, under the eyes of the No Mow May brigade, this garden should still be seen as a heinous crime against nature, it allows no room for thought or the evaluation of situations.

I snapped at the virtues of moss

I told myself not to get involved with the argument and resisted the urge to wade into the heated WhatsApp debate. Then, the lawyer began to defend the brown dead moss of his front lawn like a true virtue signalling millennial. Apparently, it was “reducing his carbon footprint”!

At that point, I finally snapped and pointed out that the three feet of dead moss, which had probably released more carbon than it had sequestered, did not somehow cancel out his family’s flight to New Zealand planned for later in the year. I am not against people flying or traveling, but we live in a weird world where an educated man can defend his entire family carbon output by keeping some dead moss on his lawn, killed due to a lack of sensible management.

My day job means I know more about moss than the average person – perhaps not something I would like to be put on my gravestone, but it does come in handy sometimes. The delicate balance between carbon and methane, plus the potential benefits for climate change are all very complicated. In fact, even the world-leading specialists can’t agree on this matter. Yet, this pension lawyer claimed to know all the facts and was ready to stand his ground and defend his rather sorry looking front garden.   

Time of reflection

We drove to Lincolnshire last weekend from North Yorkshire. My wife Lisa gets travel sick so to make life easier for both of us, she drove. This gave me ample time to look at the verges and the varying interpretations of No Mow May by at least three councils. Some dared to cut around junctions for safety (a very sensible approach) and trim narrow lanes. Others gave wildlife a helping hand by chucking in some wildflower seeds to improve diversity. And some obviously found a way to save money by hiding behind conservation goals and allowed huge banks of monocultures to grow unchecked, hiding the usuals crips bags and fast food wrappers.

My guru Mr Ian Coghill pointed out that, over the next few years, we will likely see a decline in bird species which use short-cut grass areas for foraging thanks to the no mow lemmings. This seemed like a logical argument and demonstrates why a blanket approach to management never works.

My mowing continued.

While, no doubt, my village will be awoken to the sound of lawn mowers on 1 June, scalping lawns to the bone, just in time for the summer heat to kill it, I will keep on mowing the grass where we eat, BBQ, and play football and cricket throughout May. I will continue to leave the grass around the pond, borders, hedges, as well as the riverbank and field margins untouched, which provides a healthy habitat mosaic without the virtue signalling or seeking applause from my friends.

I have a work meeting with the National Park coming up and I will find a subtle way to mention my lawn May mowing, as I know it will infuriate their conservation director. Those of us who see the cult of No Mow May for what it is probably won’t be able to change the opinion of those with a blinkered view. However, our plucky resistance might make a dent in those willing to think, we can strive to stimulate people to consider their options and deploy their mowers if and when required.