No Mow May

[ardcarp]

Has anyone grasped the nettle (so to speak) and allowed their lawns to run riot this month?

[Dave2002]

Has anyone grasped the nettle (so to speak) and allowed their lawns to run riot this month?

Not round here, unfortunately. The lovely quiet is often disrupted by people so bored that all they have to do is to mow their lawns most days. Part of our lawns is not mown, and I now have the robot mower going over the rest. At least it is relatively quiet.

[Sir Velo]

Has anyone grasped the nettle (so to speak) and allowed their lawns to run riot this month?

A far better course of action is to turn the lawn into a meadow (assuming that's the idea) is to stop feeding the lawn but continue to mow while allowing the grass to weaken. This will then allow some wild flower species to establish themselves before gradually introducing other species from seed. Moreover, yellow rattle seed should be added in order to further weaken the lawn.

[gurnemanz]

I've always thought people overdo mowing - both frequency and shortness of cut. I have mown twice this year both April and will now certainly try to get away with not mowing in May. It's supposed to be getting colder which will slow growth. I have a Flymo hover for a not huge area and my first cut is always set to the longest cut possible and I am surprised when I see people doing the first cut as a real razing. Most ordinary lawns contain quite lot of meadow grass which doesn't lend itself to really short cutting and it can end up damaged and not looking good. I also leave cuttings on which seems more natural - except for first cut when it also gets a decent raking.

[LMcD]

Perhaps the chap at Brecon Rugby Club has a few sheep to spare.

[Bryn]

A far better course of action is to turn the lawn into a meadow (assuming that's the idea) is to stop feeding the lawn but continue to mow while allowing the grass to weaken. This will then allow some wild flower species to establish themselves before gradually introducing other species from seed. Moreover, yellow rattle seed should be added in order to further weaken the lawn.

Quite agree. However, the lawn in front of my residence is contiguous with that of my next-door neighbour and he simply mows both. I don't want to upset him by suggesting he stop at the boundary.

The back garden is a very different matter. Littered with pruned branches, brambles et al. Still, at least I can now cast a clout or two:



The rescued Hornbeam is nearly as tall as my runaway Hawthorn, now.

[gradus]

No Mow May - Hard Work June.

[Old Grumpy]

I let some of our lawn grow for a year or two with the idea of creating a meadow. The grass grew long, but there were very few flowers. I was informed by Mrs G that it was not a meadow, but a mess!

OG

[ardcarp]

The grass grew long, but there were very few flowers.

I think a genuine wild-flower meadow needs to be grazed by animals...but at the right time. Not sure what that time is. But definitely no artificial fertiliser.

Our experience in the SW was that after a first cut (not a close one) at the start of April, the rainfall was so low that the grass did not grow much. Several species of wild flower (including a pretty low-growing speedwell) have now appeared. What we've decided to do is to mow the bit in front of our house (shamefully, for cosmetic reasons) but to let the rest of it go hang throughout May and see what happens. I have to add that none of our 'lawns' has ever been manicured, fertilised or selectively weed-killed.

[Dave2002]

How does one manage a lawn which at best doesn’t actually have much grass, contains a fair number of weeds and moss? The robot is out cutting it back, but if the cut isn’t quite low, then dandelions will run riot. I don’t really mind the dandelions so much, but I suspect that social “pressures” will move me to cut those back, or apply weed killer, or take other measures.

[Old Grumpy]

I have to add that none of our 'lawns' has ever been manicured, fertilised or selectively weed-killed.

Ours neither! Lawns now cut for cosmetic reasons as the house is on the market (or what remains of it at the present time).

OG

[oddoneout]

How does one manage a lawn which at best doesn’t actually have much grass, contains a fair number of weeds and moss? The robot is out cutting it back, but if the cut isn’t quite low, then dandelions will run riot. I don’t really mind the dandelions so much, but I suspect that social “pressures” will move me to cut those back, or apply weed killer, or take other measures.

Use a daisy grubber or similar to take out the dandelions and other weeds, reseed the patches left. Rake out moss, improve drainage(if that's the cause), overseed, and consider a feeding regime for lawn as a whole, which may also help to reduce the moss. Taking the cut height down to deal with the dandelions might be counter-productive, as the grass may struggle to maintain a decent thick sward if the grass variety isn't designed to cope with close cutting.
I don't have lawn, I have 3 patches of grass. The one at the bottom of the garden is a mix of what grew and what I seeded once I'd cleared the rubbish from the patch. It's shady and I chose a suitable grass mix which is doing pretty well, so I'll continue overseeding to improve it further. The middle patch has a reasonable amount of proper grass varieties in it and once I've sorted out the stuff stored to one side and the neighbour has finished dealing with his overhanging trees so the light can get in I think it will make a reasonable sward. The biggest patch, by the house, is a disaster. Tidying and reshaping flower beds and trying to use a fork to relieve compaction has shown that there there seems to be a great deal of rubble and flint under it, there are large dips and bumps(4" difference in levels at one point - a trip hazard at times) which make mowing difficult, and the strip alongside the neighbour's shrub border is mostly moss(so damp not a cause! - quite the reverse given the root competition and southerly aspect) which is proving hard to remedy as it's so dry for overseeding and any feeding goes to the shrubs a much as the grass. There are large quantities of mat forming weeds - dandelion, daisy, fox and cubs. Trying to seed the patches left on their removal has had very limited success, largely due to drying out I think. Much of the problem is that the grass varieties are not predominantly cultivated lawn sorts over much of the area and don't respond well to foot traffic and cutting(even though I don't cut it short, to help cope with lack of rain). The first year I was here I left the grass to grow, with paths cut through for access, and it was rather attractive as the grass did make a decent approximation to a meadow, being such a mix, and there were quite a lot of flowers. If the garden was wider(it's scarcely 14') I would consider a mix of closecut and tall(meadow style) to manage the patch but as it's only about 10' wide and has to allow enough space for access to the borders and the clothes dryer it wouldn't really work - I'd end up with a grass Mohican with a bald patch in the middle!

[Dave2002]

Use a daisy grubber or similar to take out the dandelions and other weeds, reseed the patches left. Rake out moss, improve drainage(if that's the cause), overseed, and consider a feeding regime for lawn as a whole, which may also help to reduce the moss. Taking the cut height down to deal with the dandelions might be counter-productive, as the grass may struggle to maintain a decent thick sward if the grass variety isn't designed to cope with close cutting.

Life’s too short to be worrying about the wretched lawn. I spoke to our neighbour a while back and he said he’d given up on trying to fix his lawn a few years ago, so had it all ripped up and replanted. Despite this, he says he still gets moss, though in terms of a green patch it’s better than ours.

I’ve left some patches where I deliberately planted bulbs. Now I’m waiting for the remaining daffodils to die off, before letting the robot deal with those areas. The grass is doing a bit better there, but so are the dandelions. The relative timings of grass growing season and bulbs dying down just don’t seem to work well up here in the frozen north. In the south these problems would have been replaced by different ones. Of course water is a problem. There’s either far too much, or far too little, and having massive oak tress (with TPOs) doesn’t help.

[gurnemanz]

Life’s too short to be worrying about the wretched lawn.

I have steadily reduced grassed area over the decades in favour of shrubs and bedding and a bit more patio - especially since not needed as play area for long-gone kids - but wouldn't want to eliminate it completely.

[ardcarp]

...grandchilren?