Gardeners 'banned' from mowing lawns or cutting grass until July date
Gardeners are being told not to cut the grass or mow the lawn until a date in July with advice backed by Sir David Attenborough
Gardeners are being warned not to cut their lawn this month until a specific date.
Every year the subject of mowing the lawn surfaces again, causing much debate among green fingered experts about exactly how and when to give the grass a trim.
In May, gardeners were warned not to cut the lawn at all.
That’s because long grass helps to sustain many hundreds if not thousands of wildlife populations, from vital pollinators like bees and butterflies to beetles, moths and the birds which rely on the insects to eat and prop up the entire food chain.
But gardeners are now being urged not to cut lawns until July 15, according to Sir David Attenborough, who asks people to refrain until ‘mid July’, although Gardeners’ World star Monty Don elects for June 21 as his chosen date.
The warning has been backed by renowned naturalist Sir David Attenborough, who has called on Britain to ‘delay mowing’ in the summer in a call backed by wildlife experts.
It's because insects like bees, butterflies and even wasps use lawns and in particular, the daisies, weeds and wildflowers among them, to breed, pollinate and otherwise maintain a healthy ecosystem at this time of year.
Shredding the grass down interferes with all that, killing off lots of insects that are an essential - and increasingly threatened - part of our ecosystem.
If those insects die off, we all die off eventually.
UK wildlife organisation Plantlife said: “We’ve lost approximately 97% of flower-rich meadows since the 1930s and with them gone are vital food needed by pollinators, like bees and butterflies.
“But your lawn can help! A healthy lawn with some long grass and wildflowers benefits wildlife, tackles pollution and can even lock away carbon below ground. With over 20 million gardens in the UK, even the smallest grassy patches add up to a significant proportion of our land which, if managed properly, can deliver enormous gains for nature, communities and the climate.”
Sir David Attenborough said on BBC's Wild Isles nature documentary about the UK: "Nowhere here is richer in wildflowers and insect pollinators than our traditional hay meadows. Sadly, in the last 60 years, we've lost 97% of this precious habitat.
"But with nature friendly farming, meadows can be restored to provide a haven for wildlife.
"It's all about the timing. Delaying mowing until mid-July allows birds and insects to complete their breeding and flowers to set their seed."
