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Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

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Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#101

Post by softwaredoug »

binarymax wrote: post #10

I noticed the last couple seasons that certain parts of the lawn by the curb were really active with pollinating bees. I stopped mowing that area, much to the chagrin of the city who warned me (there’s a blue law it must be shorter than 10 inches). So now, I don’t mow that part until they warn me, then I’ll trim it with a weed trimmer but leave some clusters here and there.

I think generally I want to keep much of my lawn unmowed. But the large number of ticks and kids / pets that wander through, make me somewhat hesitant. I think I'll compromise on leaving an area unmowed and if anyone complains I will put a border around it and call it a "pollinator garden"

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#102

Post by oxfordmale »

I am based in the UK and I cut the "grass" every 6 weeks in the spring and summer. I have severe hay fever and I only mow the grass after a good bout of rain, otherwise I get quite a severe reaction. My neighbor does religiously mow every week in the spring and summer season.

I have found my green carpet to be a lot more drought resistant than my neighbours perfect lawn, and the biodiversity attracts more bees, toads and other insects. However, I appreciate many would class the biodiversity as weeds (moss, clover dandelion, daisies).

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#103

Post by tiahura »

candiddevmike wrote: post #73
nsxwolf wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I consider clover to be a weed and go to great lengths to eradicate it. People underestimate how many people just want lawns of perfect, green, undifferentiated grass.

What a waste of time, energy, and resources to maintain something so unnatural. Truly a testament to man's hubris against nature.

Do you feel the same way about body odor?

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#104

Post by worik »

cinntaile wrote: post #66
hanniabu wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would you have instead? Seeing greenery is good for mental health.

There are a lot of green alternatives that don't require the weekly maintenance and are better from a flora/fauna point of view than grass monoculture.

My lawn (that I love) is not a mono culture.

The parts I planted are dominated by the grass I planted (fescu? sp?) but the invasive flowering weeds are encroaching and I am happy to see them.

Biggest influence is foot fall. High traffic areas are very different from low traffic areas.

I imagine my lawnmower is like a herbivore eating the tops.

I have experimented with letting it grow. Gets dominated by dock and long grasses generally

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#105

Post by c0brac0bra »

happytoexplain wrote: post #13

Maybe I have slow growing grass. I mow every three weeks, and I feel like my neighbors do it every two. I thought weekly mowing was something mostly only seen in fictional portrayals of American fathers.

Perhaps they're fertilizing and you're not.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#106

Post by kache_ »

masklinn wrote: post #50
jeromegv wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many cities in canada and US have laws that force you to cut your lawn. It is pure insanity but America has a weird fixation with lawn. Good article / podcast on it https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/lawn-order/

> It is pure insanity but America has a weird fixation with lawn. It's classism. The entire point of requiring large setbacks with front lawns is to discriminate for homeowners who can afford to maintain a large completely useless surface.

Or maybe, not everything is about power, and nicely tended to lawns look nice enough to the majority of the neighborhood families, such that they want that enforcement

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#107

Post by mhh__ »

nsxwolf wrote: post #40
candiddevmike wrote: post #24

Also stop using herbicide and plant some clover. My neighbors hate me but I (and the bees, bunnies, and other critters) love my almost white lawn in July. It smells great, and the clover keeps the grass healthy.

I consider clover to be a weed and go to great lengths to eradicate it. People underestimate how many people just want lawns of perfect, green, undifferentiated grass.

But people like coldplay and voted for the Nazis!

If you don't want a weed on your garden, fair enough, but what's the point of the homogenous-lawn ideal Americans seem to have? It feels like a holdover from something like cold-war cultural propaganda.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#108

Post by worik »

softwaredoug wrote: post #101
binarymax wrote: post #10

I noticed the last couple seasons that certain parts of the lawn by the curb were really active with pollinating bees. I stopped mowing that area, much to the chagrin of the city who warned me (there’s a blue law it must be shorter than 10 inches). So now, I don’t mow that part until they warn me, then I’ll trim it with a weed trimmer but leave some clusters here and there.

I think generally I want to keep much of my lawn unmowed. But the large number of ticks and kids / pets that wander through, make me somewhat hesitant. I think I'll compromise on leaving an area unmowed and if anyone complains I will put a border around it and call it a "pollinator garden"

Less regular mowing will encourage the flowers.

In my experience (I am at 45°45′S 170°34′E in the South Pacific/Southern Ocean area) the lawn flowers do not mind being mowed. It seems to encourage them if you mow like I do (a bit irregularly, when it looks too long) they seem to thrive.

I am really pleased to see this article. (I have only read the abstract) It matches my experience.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#109

Post by zdragnar »

happytoexplain wrote: post #13

Maybe I have slow growing grass. I mow every three weeks, and I feel like my neighbors do it every two. I thought weekly mowing was something mostly only seen in fictional portrayals of American fathers.

My yard is a mix of shade, part shade and full sun. Different areas of the lawn grow at different rates, but some definitely need to be cut more than once a week during the worst of the year to avoid constantly clogging up the mowing deck.

Bear in mind this is a 5 acre lot that is 4/5 forest or water- definitely not a stereotypical suburban uniform green carpet. No pesticides or fertilizers used at all either.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#110

Post by lijogdfljk »

candiddevmike wrote: post #82
odonnellryan wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What clover? Would love to do this even though clover is really expensive. I planted some last year but it only half kinda took.

It's a mix of white and pink, mostly white though. I also planted some creeping thyme and I keep a lot unmowed with some wildflowers. I have a decent sized lawn (little over 1/2 acre), but a good chunk of it is taken up by a septic system.

Do you have tall grass too? I planted clover a while back over my existing grass and if i didn't mow i'd still have a foot tall grass, which i find really annoying.

I still love the clover, and it helps keep the grass a bit more sane - but the length of the grass is my primary fight.

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