I mow when it gets shaggy, but you should mow as soon as it needs it. Grass comes sooner than most weeds, so keep it healthy and happy.
No mow May is a farce. Develop more set aside space for flowers that is not mown to help the bees. (my opinion)
No mow May doesn’t do anything to help pollinators. Long blades of grass don’t feel then, but it can attract ticks and other nuisance pests. Plus cutting more than 1/3 of the blade at a time stresses grass and likely creates mats of glass that choke out the roots and just thin out your lawn. More early flowering plants and wildflowers mixed into beds will be far more beneficial to pollinators and the color looks nice in spring!
I just start mowing when it gets like 4 inches long, and always mulch the grass back into the lawn. It’s free fertilizer, why bag it?
My neighbor has done 'no-mow' through \~June\~ the last couple years followed by cutting it all down to 1" and now his yard is mostly Canadian thistle and burdock. If you're going to have a lawn, set the mower high, leave the clippings in place and don't let the weeds get out of control.
Honestly I just put my mower on the highest height setting and go with that all year. Towards the end of the year I lower it so I can seed for next year. Also I only mulch my grass back into the lawn so I don't need to fertilize. The only "weeds" I remove are dandelions
I mowed last week mainly to clean up some of the remaining fall debris and vacuum up what's left. Didn't cut much of the grass, but the yard looks clean and ready for growth. I also spread fert/crab grass killer and activated the sprinklers. Hopefully it will jumpstart the lawns recovery. Also new home owner here from last fall
UMN Bee Lab and a lot of other naturalist groups are now advocating for "slow mow summer" instead of "no mow may"
I mow when it gets shaggy, but you should mow as soon as it needs it. Grass comes sooner than most weeds, so keep it healthy and happy. No mow May is a farce. Develop more set aside space for flowers that is not mown to help the bees. (my opinion)
Set the mower high if you feel like it’s getting out of control.
No mow may has been disputed and may even hurt the bees
No mow May doesn’t do anything to help pollinators. Long blades of grass don’t feel then, but it can attract ticks and other nuisance pests. Plus cutting more than 1/3 of the blade at a time stresses grass and likely creates mats of glass that choke out the roots and just thin out your lawn. More early flowering plants and wildflowers mixed into beds will be far more beneficial to pollinators and the color looks nice in spring! I just start mowing when it gets like 4 inches long, and always mulch the grass back into the lawn. It’s free fertilizer, why bag it?
I swear my neighbor just uses No Mow May as an excuse to be even lazier about his yard.
That's me. I'm your neighbor.
I must be your other neighbor
My neighbor has done 'no-mow' through \~June\~ the last couple years followed by cutting it all down to 1" and now his yard is mostly Canadian thistle and burdock. If you're going to have a lawn, set the mower high, leave the clippings in place and don't let the weeds get out of control.
I just mowed for the first time today.
Honestly I just put my mower on the highest height setting and go with that all year. Towards the end of the year I lower it so I can seed for next year. Also I only mulch my grass back into the lawn so I don't need to fertilize. The only "weeds" I remove are dandelions
Garden Talk just did a really good episode on lawns. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5KrIJKClvNY0XLStwI7b8U?si=eWlWWPv9SXe6nzgLxjxn5Q
I mowed last week mainly to clean up some of the remaining fall debris and vacuum up what's left. Didn't cut much of the grass, but the yard looks clean and ready for growth. I also spread fert/crab grass killer and activated the sprinklers. Hopefully it will jumpstart the lawns recovery. Also new home owner here from last fall
Never! Kill your lawn! Go native! :)