“Where flowers bloom so does hope” Lady Bird Johnson
In the UK tidying up our fields, gardens and verges has not only removed flowers, but has contributed to a 60 per cent drop in insects over the last 20 years. These insects, while sometimes annoying to us, are essential to pollinate our crops.
Even if you don't own a field or have a garden you can help to bring hope back by getting your local community to embrace "No Mow May".
This is an initiative developed by conservation charity, Plantlife, which aims to encourage people, councils and other organisations to keep the mower off the grass on public open spaces and lawns for at least the month of May. They encourage everyone gardening for nature to cut less for longer.
Results from their previous No Mow May surveys show that keeping two to three different lengths of grass throughout the summer will maximise the diversity and quantity of flowers and the nectar they produce. Allowing flowers and grasses to grow provides insects, butterflies and a myriad of other invertebrates a window of opportunity by providing food and shelter.
Britain has seen a 97 per cent decline in the number of wildflower meadows since the 1930s. Once a common sight, these meadows are now very rare and the flowers, insects and butterflies that relied on these distinct habitats have also suffered significant declines. Other organisms have seen significant declines such as wax caps. For example, the pink wax cap is now a vulnerable species because of the loss of unimproved grasslands.
In many cases verges and gardens are the only habitats left to much of Britain’s wildlife. Now, even those are under threat as due to our desire for neatness we mow lawns too often to allow any ecosystems to develop. Verges and open spaces are regularly mown regardless of their use or otherwise.
"No Mow May" is also an initiative to publicise the dire state of biodiversity in this country. Many of us believe that the countryside contains a wealth of plant and animal life. The reality is that most fields are a monoculture and hedgerows contain little of value when they are annually flailed. An example is hawthorn, a very common hedgerow tree. Hawthorn will only develop flowers on last year's growth. When flailing is done annually, hawthorns will not be able to blossom. Without the flowers there is no pollen for the insects to feed on, and there are no berries for the birds to eat.
A healthy lawn or open space with some long grass and wildflowers benefits wildlife, helps tackle pollution, the root system helps absorb heavy rainfall and locks away carbon below ground. There are over 20 million gardens making more than 521k hectares in the UK. This is more than all the nature reserves combined. The smallest of grassy patches could add up to a significant proportion of our land and deliver enormous gains for nature, communities and the climate.
Under the recent Environment Act towns and villages have been tasked with delivering biodiversity net gain. Councils could consider using some or all of their open spaces for No Mow May as a starting point.
More information is available at Plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/NoMowMay. Why not register your participation on their website!
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