No Mow May

Lawn Wildflowers

Stitchwort

Wasp Beetle

Common Vetch

Snail Shells

Local Wildlife Musings

from our Nature and Wildlife correspondent, Sally Worby

Why No-Mow May?

Flowers feed insects and insects make the world go round; well not quite!
But insects form the basis of most of our local foodwebs. Simply by not cutting down the flowers in our lawns, we leave the nectar and pollen for myriad insect species from bees, butterflies and moths, bugs, beetles and flies.

One Swallow...
Summer migratory birds such as swifts, house martins and swallows, reed and willow warblers, whitethroats and nightingales are utterly dependent on insects as are most of our familiar garden birds. So, while you enjoy looking down at all the flowers in your No-Mow lawn, remember to look up at the birds hoovering up the insects you're feeding.

Gardeners' Friend
Song thrushes have collapsed in numbers since the 1970s, they are now on the Red List. Not using slug pellets and other garden pesticides could help them recover. Smashed snail shells are evidence of a thrush at work, breaking them open on an anvil stone to reach the soft body inside.

For more information ... ...
Plantlife, the Wild Plant Conservation Charity, is also encouraging us to be sparing with our lawnmowers this month, and to admire the wonders of nature on our doorsteps. For more information on their national campaign click here

You can also take part in Plantlife's "Every Flower Counts" survey at the end of May and again in July to see what a difference you can make to your lawn by counting the number of wildflowers in a square metre patch. For details on how you can join in, click here