There is a lot of media and social media chatter about the value of not cutting lawns for the benefit of the birds and wild flowers. So far as the birds are concerned all I can say is – not in my garden.
Each year I leave an area of lawn uncut as my wife loves the harebells. We live in the
countryside and have a wide variety of birds that visit us and our feeders. Interestingly, the harebell numbers this year are very low compared to the usual.
But what has not changed is the birds who visit this area of no-mow lawn. The answer –
none. They constantly peck around and feast on the cut areas and are particularly
interested after mowing. Apart from pigeons and corvids, we have wagtails, sparrows,
blackbirds, robins and several other different species – but they all totally ignore the patch of longer grass.
I don’t scalp the grass and leave it reasonably long, but it is mown weekly. The bees love
the flowers of the clover but I don’t see them in the uncut area.
Each year I leave the same area uncut until about September, by which time flowers will
have seeded. As I say, the harebells – the object of not cuttings – are significantly reduced this year and there is no profusion of other wild flowers in the patch. Hence, No Mow May – it’s for the birds!
Apparently this phrase describes a worthless statement or comment that is not to be taken seriously. Apparently, it derives from the days of horse drawn vehicles when the birds were seen pecking around the droppings for seeds. Need I say more?
Happy Gardening!
Graham the Grumpy Gardener
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