{"id":1223,"date":"2023-05-27T16:35:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-27T20:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/?p=1223"},"modified":"2023-05-29T19:52:45","modified_gmt":"2023-05-29T23:52:45","slug":"no-mow-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/?p=1223","title":{"rendered":"No Mow May"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A small but growing call that’s hitting the social media-waves and even news organizations is “No Mow May,” which is trying to raise awareness about the importance of early flowering plants and grasses, like dandelions, to be available for newly active bees and other pollinator insects, for sustenance and survival. In this post, I’ll delve a little bit into this new practice and whether it can actually make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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No Mow May has it origins with an organization out of the United Kingdom called Plantlife<\/a> that has been devoted to the preservation and conservation of native plants, pollinators and fungi since about 1970. The most prominent supporter of Plantlife is the newly coronated King Charles III. As the Prince of Wales, he was a key figure and ardent patron of Plantlife since 1999. It’ll be interesting to see how the new king will influence the UK’s efforts to sustain biodiversity and combat climate change (fingers crossed!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, Plantlife is involved in lots of efforts with other environmental partner organizations, and they introduced No Mow May as a way to raise awareness of the harmful environmental impacts of manicured monoculture lawns, as well as the plight of pollinator, plant and fungal biodiversity loss. According to their website, the UK has lost 97% of its flowering meadows over the past 50 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No Mow May is catching on, albeit slowly, in the US. Beginning last year, I began seeing signs at my local plant nursery, in the local papers<\/a> and also a number of towns in the area, notably New Paltz, which passed a resolution in April 2022 supporting No Mow May. No Mow May is still but a fledgling movement, competing against the mass marketing of lawn care chemicals and equipment at area hardware stores, Target and even some grocery stores. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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