In a new campaign 'No Mow May', Plantlife is urging Britain’s lawn lovers to leave their mowers in the shed for May and let their grass grow.
The campaign aims to transform our green lawns into an urban patchwork of mini meadows of daisies, dandelions and buttercups buzzing with nature.
Then at the end of the month between May 25 - 27 the charity will hold a national bank holiday weekend count, inviting everyone to count the flowers in a random square in their lawn.
Plantlife’s botanical expert Dr Trevor Dines said: “This is citizen science at its most exciting. We’re calling on gardeners all over the UK to help us take the pulse of our nation’s lawns.
"By leaving our mowers in the shed for 'No Mow May', we’ll give billions of plants a chance to flower. Then during the late May Bank Holiday weekend (May 25-27) our brand new Every Flower Counts activity will tell us which flowers take poll position on our lawns and how much nectar they’re producing.
"You’ll receive your own Personal Nectar Score showing you how many bees your lawn can support, and we’ll combine the results to show just how important the UKs lawns are for our beleaguered pollinators”
How to take part
- From the Early May bank holiday (May 4-6) onwards, leave your mower in the shed and resist the temptation to cut your lawn.
• Then do nothing...
• On the spring bank holiday weekend count the number of daisies, dandelions, buttercups and other wild flowers following a simple survey (guidelines on website).
• Submit your results to Plantlife
• Instantly receive your own Personal Nectar Score showing how many bees your lawn can support.
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