Plantlife, the British charity working to save threatened plants, are asking us all to be splendidly idle in May, and leave the lawnmower in the shed.

The No Mow May campaign started last year, and the results show what a great bonus for wildlife lawns can be – as long as we neglect them a little!

I’m a great believer in not mowing. Just think of how much time you waste every summer, walking to and fro behind a smelly little machine. Here’s a grand excuse to use the time sitting in a deckchair with a cup of tea instead. Plantlife conducts a citizen science survey, Every Flower Counts, in conjunction with NMM, and has made some amazing discoveries.

The best way to produce maximum nectar (and maximum bees!) is to cut some of your lawn every four weeks, allowing flowers such as daisies, selfheal, germander, bird’s foot trefoil and white clover to bloom. 

You’ll be amazed what pops up. My long grass patch has dog violets this year, among the primroses, cowslips and wild daffodils – the first I’ve seen there in the eight years it’s been kept like that! Long grass also provides cover for small mammals and amphibians, and a good foraging place for garden birds. Cut once, in late summer and remove the ‘hay’, and in just a few years you’ll have a garden meadow.

A ‘Mohican’ lawn doesn’t need to look unkempt. You can mow a path through it to make it look deliberate, and give you somewhere drier to walk while you check what’s growing. Let the neighbours know why you’re doing it and they’ll all want to join in.

At the end of May you can take part in the Every Flower Counts survey and get your personal nectar score to show how many pollinators you’ve helped just by doing nothing, as well as helping Plantlife to learn more about the welfare of our wildflowers. All that feel-good from doing nothing – count me in!

Dr Cath Price

Shropshire Wildlife Trust