No Mow May

I’ve always liked mowing the lawn. Perhaps it’s a childhood nostalgia thing, having watched my dad do it seemingly every weekend in summer. The smell, the neat intermittent stripes, the angry roar as the mower lifted for each turn. When I (jointly) bought my first house with a garden and a shed, one of my first trips was to B&Q, returning with both a Flymo lawn mower (the brand my dad always used) and a garden hose on one of those retractable reel thingies. That was under ten years ago. My sustainability journey ever since has led to the realisation that I no longer need either of those items. Or at least, very rarely.

Approximately 97% of wild meadows have been lost since the 1930s, and with them, vital food and habitat needed by wildlife. But with more than 20 million gardens in the UK, we can all play our part in making a space for nature to return.

No Mow May was begun by the wild plant charity Plantlife in 2018 with a simple message: don’t mow your lawn throughout the month of May. It’s now a much-anticipated annual event – and I’m one of thousands of people who have signed up for 2025.

Some go the whole hog and put up No Mow May signs in their windows, front lawns, or even on roundabouts (you can download the resources for free). And it’s easy to see why it’s so popular. Plantlife’s research finds that reducing mowing can result in 10 times more bees and other pollinators, with over 200 wildflower species reported popping up on participants lawns including rarities such as meadow saxifrage and eyebright – even orchids.

But what’s the water link? It turns out that not mowing also greatly reduces the need for watering, as longer grasses and wildflowers put down deeper roots. That tightly mowed lawn beloved of my childhood is incredibly shallow, needing water every dry spell; a wilder space acts much like a wild meadow, able to cope with far drier periods. This is good news for both water efficiency and climate resilience. 

Mark Schofield, Plantlife’s Green Space Advisor, confirms to me that “Less frequently mown, wildflower-richer lawns are much better at coping with dry periods… Our native grasses typically concentrate the bulk of their roots into only the first few centimetres of soil. By contrast, the roots of our perennial wildflowers reach well below this depth often to a metre deep”. Mowing less often, then, encourages “a greater ratio of herbs to grasses, meaning that, come the driest months, our turf will continue to be green and full of life, not depressingly desiccated.”

Schofield also makes the direct link from the water saved to the nation’s water supply. “With less of a need perceived by gardeners to water turf, dwindling reserves of water can be conserved and abstraction rates will be lower in times of drought reducing the number of fish kills in our watercourses that are now a more frequent occurrence with climate change.” Hosepipes and sprinklers can use up to 1,000 litres of water an hour, equal to the average water supply for a family of four for two days. At peak demand, up to 70% of our water supply is used in the garden.

The message also seems to have reached some of the more, shall we say, ‘traditional’ outlets too. “Never, ever water your lawn — it’s a complete waste of time, energy, money and everything,” Stefan Buczacki, former Gardeners’ Question Time panellist, told Mail Online. “As I look out of my study, the lawn has gone from green to cornfield brown. But I know it will return, and in the meantime I don’t need to bother mowing every week.” Saga also advise that, "even well-kept lawns tend to go brown in hot summers. If this does occur, fear not; your lawn is just resting and will green up once autumn rains arrive." While the official advice from the Royal Horticultural Society now reads: “…resist the temptation to water your parched lawn – it will recover without wasting precious mains water… mow less often and raise the cutting height to let the grass get longer, which should encourage deeper rooting.” 

If the urge becomes too great, then leave the garden hose alone and reach for the water butt instead, says the RHS: “Rainwater is better for your plants as it often has a lower pH. The minerals that are sometimes found in mains water, especially in hard water areas, can raise the pH of your root zone, which can affect the nutrient availability.”

But this isn’t just a message for individual gardeners and homeowners. Schofield’s other job title is Road Verge Advisor, and his focus is the local authorities who collectively manage a vast area of green space. A total of 56 councils signed up to No Mow May last year; a number Schofield hopes to surpass this year. He tells me that if just a quarter of the space in public parks, gardens and road verges were to follow No Mow May, this would rewild “over 200,000 hectares – which is about the size of Nottinghamshire.”

The same deep root benefits for gardens apply for road verges and municipal land, but across a much greater water catchment. This makes them “more permeable”, says Schofield. “Increased rates of percolation provide a suite of benefits relating to safety improvement, pollution reduction and reduction of public costs. The probability of surface flooding and run-off resulting from peak precipitation events is reduced.... Less surface run-off and fewer flood events mean that less pollution from road surfaces reach our water courses”.

Not only are wildflower verges far prettier to look at and better for pollinators and the wider food web, they act to “slow the flow” as a nutrient buffer at the margins of fields and roads “thereby reducing the occurrence of toxic algal blooms”.

Human-driven climate change means that droughts like 2018 and 2022, with drier summers and higher temperatures, will happen with much greater frequency. Within 20 years England will not have enough water to meet demand, the Environment Agency has warned, with the EA’s former chief Sir James Bevan having memorably said back in 2019 that he wants to see wasting water become "as socially unacceptable as blowing smoke in the face of a baby". No Mow May, in its own small way, is helping to spread that message.

“Garden, by garden, if we light up the landscape with more flowering lawns, these constellations of colour will provide connectivity for nature”, say Plantlife. “These nature networks can make our intensively cultivated rural and densely developed urban environments more permeable”.

One question remains, however: what happens after May? Should I reach for the old Flymo? Nope – it’s straight into Let it Bloom June, followed by the joys of Knee-High July! By mowing only twice a year outside of April to July you can truly recreate the effect of a traditional hay meadow. This allows taller growing flowers and native meadow grasses to ripple in a summer breeze, perhaps beside a mown strip for recreation. “Picture this as a perennial, herbaceous border you never need to weed, feed or water”, says Schofield. Now wouldn’t that be something.