Spring has sprung and the grass needs its first cutting, but a national initiative suggesting you hold off.
No Mow Month organizers said you should avoid cutting your grass throughout the entire month of April to provide food supply for pollinators. Putnam County UT Extension Agent Wayne Key said not cutting the grass allows excellent food sources for pollinators, like White Ladino Clover, grow.
“The clover will start to come up and get a bigger bloom to it and set more sugars and carbohydrates in there so as bees and butterflies, and moths, and pollinators emerge in the spring after being dormant all winter they have a food source,” Key said. “And so it’s a great way for those insects to find something after hibernation.”
Key said pollinators play a crucial role in the environment as they are a big part in plant reproduction. Key said many plants that are food sources for pollinators are short as they remain dormant.
“Those particular flowering plants have just not, we have not seen enough warm days in enough warm longevity time and length of sunlight for those flowering plants to begin to bloom and produce that pollen that those bees and those pollinators really need,” Key said.
Key said the only downside he sees to participating in No Mow Month is some people may think tall grass is unpleasant to look at. Key said some people may not be able to participate in No Mow Month due to a homeowners association or city ordinances but there are other ways to help provide food sources they need.
“Humming Bird feeders for example provide that extra supplemental source of energy and sugar to them is a great idea,” Key said. “Any kind of flowers and plants that you got in your landscape you know, they are gonna be blooming here pretty soon. Providing more of those doing a pollinator-type garden in your yard. It doesn’t have to be huge, it doesn’t even have to be a half-acre area for pollinators.”
Key said people can plant some potted plants to provide extra food sources for pollinators. Key said another benefit to letting your grass grow is it also protects the condition of the soil in your yard. Key said oftentimes people cut their grass too short and it leads to the sun drying out the soil.
