Middletown Pollinator Pathway says "No Mow May!"

Middletown's Pollinator Pathway Recommends:
Don't Mow! Let your lawn grow
for the whole month of May. 

WHAT IS A POLLINATOR PATHWAY? 

~     A pollinator pathway is a pesticide-free corridor
of native plants that provide nutrition and habitat for pollinators. 

These include birds, bees, butterflies and other insects, and mammals, rodents, & amphibians.

 ~   The Pollinator Pathway movement seeks to reconnect our fragmented landscape by creating and connecting pollinator habitat right in our own communities, starting in our yards or neighborhood parks.

 ​~   If we begin to manage our own yards organically &
with native plantings, they will connect parks and preserves, creating crucial corridors for wildlife.

~   That's the idea behind the Pollinator Pathway.
                 
Middletown Pollinator Pathway & Pollinator Pathway for more info.

   The Pollinator Pathway wants you to take the challenge: let your lawn grow for the whole month of May. That’s right—Do Nothing!  Leave your mower in the garage until June.  Let your green lawn turn into a riot of color with buttercups, clover, dandelions and daisies that will offer much needed food for our beleaguered bees and butterflies who are starving after a long winter. Every flower counts when it comes to providing a meal for our pollinators, so it makes sense that cutting your lawn in early spring is not the best thing to do. 

   Understandably, if this is your first time it may be hard to get comfortable with a bit of messiness.  Here’s a suggestion: don’t go “all the way”. Start small if changing in one fell swoop is too much. Give your lawn a partial haircut instead of a full buzz cut by leaving islands or streams of lawn untouched by the mower where the wildflowers can bloom.  

   Try mowing wide paths so you can walk around, watch the activity and enjoy the changing shapes and colors. Have these paths lead to a bench, a bird bath, a statue or a big pot of flowers.  If you’re worried about what the neighbors will say, mow a buffer along the edges and along your driveway and walkways. 

   Then ask your neighbors to stop working so hard and join the fun; after all, No Mow May saves your time and money, provides for quiet relaxation, and eliminates noise and air pollution (the EPA attributes 5% of U.S. air pollution to mowers). 

   Natural landscapes attract more bird species providing a chance for birdwatching, and they offer opportunities for photography, painting or simply observing our native wildflowers. May will come again in 11 months, so take your time, see what happens, and by all means have fun!

More information at Middletown Pollinator Pathway--Take Action! 

Submitted by Middletown Pollinator Pathway

 

middletown.pollinator.pathway@gmail.com