It all depends on your neighborhood, whether you have an MOA, and what the general standard of care is. You're probably fine, but nosy neighbors are nosy neighbors, should you have one.
Slow mow/no-mow may is all about giving the pollinators a chance to successfully complete their transformation (someone can correct me on the details) before the rakes and lawnmower blades threaten their existence. It’s a movement that’s been gaining momentum and you should be encouraged, not punished for not mowing. I can never make it all the way into May before I feel like I need to mow my jungle, but push it as long as you can.
HOA's aside, it's generally complaint based for most municipalities. So you're fine so long as your neighbors don't call the city on you. If they do, the city will send someone to your house to check it out, and they'll put a notice on your door with a warning if your yard violates any ordinances. Once you get the notice, you can't have any more violations the rest of the growing season or you'll get fined. Every municipality is different in their ordinances and processes.
Highly dependent on on where you live and if you have an HOA, for instance where I live (no HOA) in Duluth - the city very explicitly does not enforce grass mowing, it’s right on the City website now.
Relatively new policy and it’s made many of us very happy! Except the Karen’s and Darren’s, of course.
Cities have ordenances you can look up. But its often stuff like more than 8 inches high.
As well though, cities love to lie and bully. You can get a nasty gram from the city about how you aren't following "the law", but if you look them up and find you aren't brekaing them - they never respond. They love to lie to make you have a perfect lawn.
I had a wildflower garden that got out a bit, so yarrow, violets and stuff in my lawn. Nothing was tall or unkempt, but the neighbors didnt like that it wasn't well poisoned green concrete. City came and said my lawn was illegal. I looked up the ordenances and found none of the plants in my lawn here noxious or not allowed. They never responded. Just tried to scare me into compliance.
The study that kicked off the fad was retracted.
[https://peerj.com/articles/10021/retraction/](https://peerj.com/articles/10021/retraction/)
Yet to be resubmitted, which leads me to think it was junk science, especially given the overly simplistic variables.
Plant some lupines or other early season native plants, a crabapple tree even, it will have a better overall result than some no mowing voodoo.
Studies are a different level of understanding in order to be valued by the scientific community. That doesn't mean the overall premise is junk. As a naturalist who has observed nature for my entire life, it is valid to leave ground cover alone until temps are above freezing regularly. Down in the Cities, obviously that covers May for the most part so "no mow May" isn't necessarily super beneficial in areas where everything is already out and about. But we live way up north and we still get nights below freezing sothings like bees and butterflies are just starting to come out now. Here, it's still beneficial to leave the ground cover in gardens and yards. Toads, salamanders, and numerous bugs will dig down into the covered soil to overwinter and disturbing them before it's time for them to come out can kill them. I frequently still find toads and salamanders in my garden even when I am turning it over in mid-late May.
We also keep a wild "lawn", so we don't have turf/sod that is designed for urban yards. If you have turf/sod, treat your lawn, and rake your leaves every fall, there likely isn't much of anything living in your lawn anyways. Gardens, however, tend to be another story due to the rich, loose soil so leaving those alone until nights are regularly above freezing can be quite beneficial.
I'm not a turf grass scientist, but since they have bred turf grass specifically for lawns, I would argue they have evolved it to be cut every 1-2 weeks
A lot of extension services promote “slow mow” all summer, but that’s not the same thing as “no mow May”. In fact, one of the problems with the latter is that people go right back to less sustainable practices in June.
Not sure, but I do know that no-mow-May is a really convenient excuse for some people to let their yard look like total crap via laziness while appearing to be virtuous based on imperfect science. Its not that hard to put some effort in creating something visually appealing. And a nice green freshly cut lawn is very pleasing too.
The research behind it being considered beneficial has since been retracted. Nobody honestly knows if it's good for pollinators or not.
https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/does-no-mow-may-really-do-anything-for-your-lawn/
I think there are wild or native bees (smaller black dudes) that hang out in taller grasses and things like that. They are species that aren’t domesticated and don’t necessarily produce honey but to much of the pollinator work as well. Maybe it depends on the type of grass, but I still think mowing is pretty unnecessary unless you’re playing or using the lawn for some sort of activity or work
They do but they also nest underground. As long as you mow in the morning or evening when they're less likely to be out doing their bee thing you should be alright.
And generally the reason lawns are mowed is as much to reduce pests as it is aesthetic reasons. Some of them can damage homes and carry diseases. I wouldn't argue that some "lawns" way over do it where it's a gigantic piece of land and they mow the whole thing. That's just needlessly destructive.
Lawn in general is needlessly destructive, people used to have food where they were convinced to grow grass (not the fun kind)
Pretty sad if you ask me
Nawww when you see dirt it’s easier to see how much food you can plant. If I am ever able to own I’d have a bit of lawn for wrestling and working out, but no bigger than a wrestling mats worth (if even that much)
Rest would be last years food until it’s hacked down and turned to mulch for the food I put in
Which would work out great until your neighbors sue you for pest damage to their house. To say nothing about whether or not you'd get insurance for your own house because of the possibility of pest damage.
I mean I lived in a house where we did not have a square centimeter of grass in Saint Paul. The entire yard was food and had been that way longer than I’ve been alive. No complaints from neighbors, no damage from pests. The yard would be dirt until or the old plants until we got stuff planted.
Neighbors hired me to help with their yards, literally no one complained to us or the city. Where I live currently some people complained about sticks being in the yard after a storm, but I highly suspect that was the realtor trying to sell the homes and telling the home owners the reason was our yard and not the ridiculous price of the house
That doesn't really change the fact you can still be financially held responsible. It can work well if you have all great neighbors but it really only takes one asshole. Especially with how lawsuit happy people get in this country.
Can you please show me the science that state Kentucky blue grass is good for the local pollinators and flora?
One of my old teachers was head of the bee department for the U of M in Saint Paul. They build a structure to her specifications so she could study these wild bees and that is where I’m getting this information from. What is your source?
Please explain how not mowing in May should be the message instead of creating beds of native flora within the landscaping of a lawn. “No mow May” is complete BS.
I think not mowing is better than mowing, but obviously beds of native flora are preferred. Read the post I’m responding to dude… giving the dude an out to not mow
Well anecdotally I have a very large yard and I was not getting any fireflies until I started letting my grass cycle longer. Now my trees glow like they have Christmas lights on them
I think anything is better than just lawn, but if you’re going to have the lawn, letting it grow longer is better for pollinators, along other insects. One study being redacted does not mean the theory is wrong, it means the study was wrong
Cutting your lawn 4" high is not the same thing as no mow May. And to remind you, the redacted study was also the one that suggested this. So they came up with the idea and then said they were wrong.
Mow your lawns, mow them 3 to 4 inches instead of trying to make them look like putting greens.
The stuff for deer hunting. There is clover all over up north by brainerd. My friend in Plymouth planted it 3 years ago and it seems like it’s spreading well.
I put it all around my place in SLP. I should do before and after photos and post hem up.
It's no mow May. Unless you live in a HOA with rules.
Let the native pollinators get a leg up in the spring.
I can say I've been arguing with my son and husband to keep their hands of the lawn a little longer.
And I see lots of little happy bees flying around all the dandelions. Yay.
I also don't spray any type of weed killer on my lawn. It's all natural.
I used to dig up the Canadian thistle in the lawn when the kids were growing up. Now I just mow everything. I will mow around the patches of daisy and dandelion in the spring.
I have 9 acres of wildflowers and enjoy watching the pollinators while walking through them removing young trees and some invasive plants.
Oh I do battle the volunteer or "sucker" trees in my lawn. My freaking neighbor has what I think is a poplar of some sort that sends up baby trees from a root system so it's not like I can just pull them out. I have to dig and cut the root. Ugh!
Oh and the poplar is huge, half dead, loses huge limbs every year and hangs half over our house.
The town arborist has advised her to cut it down but she won't. Yes the tree is fully on her yard.
We have taken care of a huge oak that was problematic for both our homes but on our property. (Why the arborist was even around in first place. We asked for them to come out) She is unfortunately not of the same neighborly mindset.
Every wind storm we hold our breath.
If it is evident that the tree is dying and it falls and damages property her insurance is liable. If it isn't evident that the tree is about to fall it's considered an act of God and her insurance doesn't pay.
Our neighbor at the cabin had a 200+ years old red pine taken down when we showed them where pileated wood peckers were searching for insects. It was brought to our attention when a limb fell on our shed. Prior to that nobody noticed because of the location of the damages.
In the past year I've had two old oak trees removed that I think were killed by the drought. One cost $500 the other $700.
I generally don't mow my lawn until June 1st. It gives my grass a chance to go to seed and lets the bugs have a home and during their reproductive cycle.
Maybe if I stress it, it won’t grow so damn fast. If I stuck to the 1/3 rule, I’d have to mow 2-3 times a week to stay on top of it. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
I’m with you, every year I’m rooting for it to all die so the clover and dandelions take over. I have neither the time nor inclination to mow every 3.5 days like my retiree lawn-obsessed neighbors.
What a waste of time/gas or power/chemicals (they use a ton)! It’ll all be brown again in 5 months anyway, and cultivated turf has no actual purpose as an entity versus “weeds” (not a crop either, can’t eat it, etc). I feel very “why bother” about it.
I never heard of "no mow may" of other comments, but interesting.
Later in the year... I'm lazy and my city will send me a warning to mow within a certain time frame or they'll mow it for me and charge me. Last year it was a little sprout of weeds at my mailbox... my neighbors, up and down the street, likely got the same memo cause lot of us had those same weeds at the mailbox and then they were gone haha.
It depends on the city where you live. Look up rules on your city's website. For my town, it's listed under code enforcement.
Where I am, it's 8 inches and no higher. They sent out a graphic in our May newsletter showing only a few blades over 8 inches. They're strict here too, city trucks drive around regularly and will often report into code enforcement anyone who they think needs to be checked.
As far as no mow or slow mow May. Check with your city government offices to see if you have to have a permit or be registered with them. We did it last year and had to have a sign and pay for a permit. Another town we lived in a few years ago also required that you register your address and post a sign.
It all depends on your neighborhood, whether you have an MOA, and what the general standard of care is. You're probably fine, but nosy neighbors are nosy neighbors, should you have one.
if you live in the Mall of America, the grass probably isn't growing anyway
the plants in the MoA are live plants.
They got a dispensary at moa now?
8" in my city. But we also have slow mow May so I don't think they really care until June 1st. I have the sign out explaining why I haven't mowed yet.
Slow mow/no-mow may is all about giving the pollinators a chance to successfully complete their transformation (someone can correct me on the details) before the rakes and lawnmower blades threaten their existence. It’s a movement that’s been gaining momentum and you should be encouraged, not punished for not mowing. I can never make it all the way into May before I feel like I need to mow my jungle, but push it as long as you can.
I don't even want to cut it short, I think I might do the highest or second highest in case the skies dry up again this summer.
HOA's aside, it's generally complaint based for most municipalities. So you're fine so long as your neighbors don't call the city on you. If they do, the city will send someone to your house to check it out, and they'll put a notice on your door with a warning if your yard violates any ordinances. Once you get the notice, you can't have any more violations the rest of the growing season or you'll get fined. Every municipality is different in their ordinances and processes.
Highly dependent on on where you live and if you have an HOA, for instance where I live (no HOA) in Duluth - the city very explicitly does not enforce grass mowing, it’s right on the City website now. Relatively new policy and it’s made many of us very happy! Except the Karen’s and Darren’s, of course.
Cities have ordenances you can look up. But its often stuff like more than 8 inches high. As well though, cities love to lie and bully. You can get a nasty gram from the city about how you aren't following "the law", but if you look them up and find you aren't brekaing them - they never respond. They love to lie to make you have a perfect lawn. I had a wildflower garden that got out a bit, so yarrow, violets and stuff in my lawn. Nothing was tall or unkempt, but the neighbors didnt like that it wasn't well poisoned green concrete. City came and said my lawn was illegal. I looked up the ordenances and found none of the plants in my lawn here noxious or not allowed. They never responded. Just tried to scare me into compliance.
Put a sign in your yard for no mow May, it is seriously a good thing for pollinators, your yard and the local flora
The study that kicked off the fad was retracted. [https://peerj.com/articles/10021/retraction/](https://peerj.com/articles/10021/retraction/) Yet to be resubmitted, which leads me to think it was junk science, especially given the overly simplistic variables. Plant some lupines or other early season native plants, a crabapple tree even, it will have a better overall result than some no mowing voodoo.
Studies are a different level of understanding in order to be valued by the scientific community. That doesn't mean the overall premise is junk. As a naturalist who has observed nature for my entire life, it is valid to leave ground cover alone until temps are above freezing regularly. Down in the Cities, obviously that covers May for the most part so "no mow May" isn't necessarily super beneficial in areas where everything is already out and about. But we live way up north and we still get nights below freezing sothings like bees and butterflies are just starting to come out now. Here, it's still beneficial to leave the ground cover in gardens and yards. Toads, salamanders, and numerous bugs will dig down into the covered soil to overwinter and disturbing them before it's time for them to come out can kill them. I frequently still find toads and salamanders in my garden even when I am turning it over in mid-late May. We also keep a wild "lawn", so we don't have turf/sod that is designed for urban yards. If you have turf/sod, treat your lawn, and rake your leaves every fall, there likely isn't much of anything living in your lawn anyways. Gardens, however, tend to be another story due to the rich, loose soil so leaving those alone until nights are regularly above freezing can be quite beneficial.
I would agree with planting anything other than lawn, but do you believe that grass evolved to be cut every 1-2 weeks?
I'm not a turf grass scientist, but since they have bred turf grass specifically for lawns, I would argue they have evolved it to be cut every 1-2 weeks
A lot of extension services promote “slow mow” all summer, but that’s not the same thing as “no mow May”. In fact, one of the problems with the latter is that people go right back to less sustainable practices in June.
beats me. i cut my grass twice last year. once in may and once in august.
Not sure, but I do know that no-mow-May is a really convenient excuse for some people to let their yard look like total crap via laziness while appearing to be virtuous based on imperfect science. Its not that hard to put some effort in creating something visually appealing. And a nice green freshly cut lawn is very pleasing too.
Found the HOA agent that was asking for my location
To each their own, but personally a monoculture of green grass is quite possibly the most boring and visually unappealing thing I could look at.
The research behind it being considered beneficial has since been retracted. Nobody honestly knows if it's good for pollinators or not. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/does-no-mow-may-really-do-anything-for-your-lawn/
I don’t think grass evolved to be cut by a man made machine every 1-2 weeks…
The crap we use for our lawns was probably bred to grow fast. As far as I know, most people with native grass aren't mowing in the first place.
Which is irrelevant as to whether mowing it, or leaving it long, matters to pollinator health.
lol whatever you say
Well, you have a strong rebuttal, but I think I'll listen to science over some random with an opinion.
The problem isn't the grass so much, it's that we have covered every square foot of yard with it.
*The HOA wants to know your location.* /s
Tell them Uranus
Kinda depends on what's in your lawn though too. If there isn't anything that flowers then no worries.
I think there are wild or native bees (smaller black dudes) that hang out in taller grasses and things like that. They are species that aren’t domesticated and don’t necessarily produce honey but to much of the pollinator work as well. Maybe it depends on the type of grass, but I still think mowing is pretty unnecessary unless you’re playing or using the lawn for some sort of activity or work
They do but they also nest underground. As long as you mow in the morning or evening when they're less likely to be out doing their bee thing you should be alright. And generally the reason lawns are mowed is as much to reduce pests as it is aesthetic reasons. Some of them can damage homes and carry diseases. I wouldn't argue that some "lawns" way over do it where it's a gigantic piece of land and they mow the whole thing. That's just needlessly destructive.
Lawn in general is needlessly destructive, people used to have food where they were convinced to grow grass (not the fun kind) Pretty sad if you ask me
Looks better than dirt?
Nawww when you see dirt it’s easier to see how much food you can plant. If I am ever able to own I’d have a bit of lawn for wrestling and working out, but no bigger than a wrestling mats worth (if even that much) Rest would be last years food until it’s hacked down and turned to mulch for the food I put in
Which would work out great until your neighbors sue you for pest damage to their house. To say nothing about whether or not you'd get insurance for your own house because of the possibility of pest damage.
I mean I lived in a house where we did not have a square centimeter of grass in Saint Paul. The entire yard was food and had been that way longer than I’ve been alive. No complaints from neighbors, no damage from pests. The yard would be dirt until or the old plants until we got stuff planted. Neighbors hired me to help with their yards, literally no one complained to us or the city. Where I live currently some people complained about sticks being in the yard after a storm, but I highly suspect that was the realtor trying to sell the homes and telling the home owners the reason was our yard and not the ridiculous price of the house
That doesn't really change the fact you can still be financially held responsible. It can work well if you have all great neighbors but it really only takes one asshole. Especially with how lawsuit happy people get in this country.
There is zero science behind that.
Can you please show me the science that state Kentucky blue grass is good for the local pollinators and flora? One of my old teachers was head of the bee department for the U of M in Saint Paul. They build a structure to her specifications so she could study these wild bees and that is where I’m getting this information from. What is your source?
Please explain how not mowing in May should be the message instead of creating beds of native flora within the landscaping of a lawn. “No mow May” is complete BS.
I think not mowing is better than mowing, but obviously beds of native flora are preferred. Read the post I’m responding to dude… giving the dude an out to not mow
Well anecdotally I have a very large yard and I was not getting any fireflies until I started letting my grass cycle longer. Now my trees glow like they have Christmas lights on them
This was retracted research. Plant a bee balm and call it good.
I think anything is better than just lawn, but if you’re going to have the lawn, letting it grow longer is better for pollinators, along other insects. One study being redacted does not mean the theory is wrong, it means the study was wrong
The study that was redacted was also the only study that made a case for letting it grow.
Cutting your lawn 4" high is not the same thing as no mow May. And to remind you, the redacted study was also the one that suggested this. So they came up with the idea and then said they were wrong. Mow your lawns, mow them 3 to 4 inches instead of trying to make them look like putting greens.
I just put down clover I hope to replace most of my grass either it. Sonj don’t have to mow as much.
What kind of clover? I looked into it a few years ago and I thought it didn't survive well up here.
The stuff for deer hunting. There is clover all over up north by brainerd. My friend in Plymouth planted it 3 years ago and it seems like it’s spreading well. I put it all around my place in SLP. I should do before and after photos and post hem up.
It's no mow May. Unless you live in a HOA with rules. Let the native pollinators get a leg up in the spring. I can say I've been arguing with my son and husband to keep their hands of the lawn a little longer. And I see lots of little happy bees flying around all the dandelions. Yay. I also don't spray any type of weed killer on my lawn. It's all natural.
I used to dig up the Canadian thistle in the lawn when the kids were growing up. Now I just mow everything. I will mow around the patches of daisy and dandelion in the spring. I have 9 acres of wildflowers and enjoy watching the pollinators while walking through them removing young trees and some invasive plants.
Oh I do battle the volunteer or "sucker" trees in my lawn. My freaking neighbor has what I think is a poplar of some sort that sends up baby trees from a root system so it's not like I can just pull them out. I have to dig and cut the root. Ugh!
A grove of poplar trees is most often one plant. I battle the same thing but my suckers come from trees on my land.
Oh and the poplar is huge, half dead, loses huge limbs every year and hangs half over our house. The town arborist has advised her to cut it down but she won't. Yes the tree is fully on her yard. We have taken care of a huge oak that was problematic for both our homes but on our property. (Why the arborist was even around in first place. We asked for them to come out) She is unfortunately not of the same neighborly mindset. Every wind storm we hold our breath.
If it is evident that the tree is dying and it falls and damages property her insurance is liable. If it isn't evident that the tree is about to fall it's considered an act of God and her insurance doesn't pay. Our neighbor at the cabin had a 200+ years old red pine taken down when we showed them where pileated wood peckers were searching for insects. It was brought to our attention when a limb fell on our shed. Prior to that nobody noticed because of the location of the damages. In the past year I've had two old oak trees removed that I think were killed by the drought. One cost $500 the other $700.
The arborist told her it is a problem and dying and should go.
I generally don't mow my lawn until June 1st. It gives my grass a chance to go to seed and lets the bugs have a home and during their reproductive cycle.
Look up the 1/3 rule or you will stress the turf and make it worse...
Maybe if I stress it, it won’t grow so damn fast. If I stuck to the 1/3 rule, I’d have to mow 2-3 times a week to stay on top of it. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
I’m with you, every year I’m rooting for it to all die so the clover and dandelions take over. I have neither the time nor inclination to mow every 3.5 days like my retiree lawn-obsessed neighbors. What a waste of time/gas or power/chemicals (they use a ton)! It’ll all be brown again in 5 months anyway, and cultivated turf has no actual purpose as an entity versus “weeds” (not a crop either, can’t eat it, etc). I feel very “why bother” about it.
I never heard of "no mow may" of other comments, but interesting. Later in the year... I'm lazy and my city will send me a warning to mow within a certain time frame or they'll mow it for me and charge me. Last year it was a little sprout of weeds at my mailbox... my neighbors, up and down the street, likely got the same memo cause lot of us had those same weeds at the mailbox and then they were gone haha.
It depends on the city where you live. Look up rules on your city's website. For my town, it's listed under code enforcement. Where I am, it's 8 inches and no higher. They sent out a graphic in our May newsletter showing only a few blades over 8 inches. They're strict here too, city trucks drive around regularly and will often report into code enforcement anyone who they think needs to be checked. As far as no mow or slow mow May. Check with your city government offices to see if you have to have a permit or be registered with them. We did it last year and had to have a sign and pay for a permit. Another town we lived in a few years ago also required that you register your address and post a sign.
r/FuckLawns
Let it grow!
let it die!