No Mow May: Bleasby resident calls on Newark Town Council to join campaign

Don’t mow your lawn in May. That is the plea made by environmentalist Kevin Thompson, who wants residents to cut down on gardening to help save bees.

Mr Thompson, of Bleasby, is a member of Plantlife, the group behind No Mow May, a campaign that aims to help bees and other pollinators.

Research by people across the UK, who have taken part in Plantlife’s Every Flower Counts, revealed leaving lawns unmowed improved the diversity of wild flowers growing on lawns and could result in enough nectar for ten times more bees and other pollinators.

Mr Thompson said: “A lot of people have an addiction to it. People are addicted to mowing their lawns.

“They go into a state of panic once they see their lawn is an inch higher than what it was.

“If people were to drop that mindset it would help the environment tremendously.”

Plantlife said the highest production of flowers and nectar sugar was on lawns cut once every four weeks.

According to the organisation’s research, it gives short-grass plants, such as daisies and white clover, a chance to flower in profusion, boosting nectar production.

Areas of longer unmown grass were, however, more diverse in their range of flowers, with other nectar-rich plants, like oxeye daisy, field scabious and knapweed, increasing the range of nectar sources for different pollinators and extending nectar availability into late summer.

Mr Thompson appealed to Newark and Sherwood District Council and Newark Town Council to join the no-mow campaign.

“If you look at Newark Castle’s gardens there should be areas that are longer,” he said.

“The buttercups and daisies look fantastic but they mow the whole thing.

“It is the same with Devon Park. They would save money and the environment if they left sections of it to grow.

“On top of this, when you are in the park, you want to see butterflies, you want to hear the birds sing, but all of these things go together.

“If you don’t have the flowers, you don’t have the insects or the birds, and you don’t have what we enjoy when it comes to being in a park.

“I am not talking about letting it grow up to your knees, but it doesn’t have to be kept like a billiard table.”