Washington Post: The 'no mow' movement could transform our lawns

[Botany]

Across the Lower 48 states, there are about 40 million acres of lawn, according to a 2005 NASA estimate derived from satellite imaging. These spaces could be havens for pollinating critters, many of which are facing widespread habitat loss. Having more food sources available for pollinators in the early spring is especially critical for their survival.

Transforming a traditional turf lawn into a more pollinator-friendly area is probably easier than most people might think — and it doesn’t have to look wild, says Melinda Whicher, a supervisory horticulturalist at the Smithsonian Gardens. “There are plenty of very low-growing flowers where you can still mow and the flowers will still be there.”

Still, creating a pollinator lawn will take a bit more thought than just letting grass grow freely, experts say.

“If you have a traditional lawn, letting the grass grow to a foot tall or whatever it would be at the end of May is no value whatsoever,” says Susan Carpenter, native plant garden curator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum. Grass that long could be harmful to lawn health and become a mowing nightmare.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/04/22/long-grass-helps-bees/

[Phoenix61]

1. I started several years ago when I bought my house.

The front yard was mostly a weed patch. Bit by bit I’ve planted fruit trees, berries, herbs, and flowering plants. Everything produces something that someone, me, or something, pollinators, eats. I have a drip irrigation system so I use minimal water and little fertilizer.

[Botany]

4. Worth the read

Neat great project:

[eppur_se_muova]

9. Linik to Tallamy's hub, and a short opinion piece by Tallamy ...

https://homegrownnationalpark.org/tallamys-hub-1

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e601a118f2947710b9793da/t/5f6ce1ba286a1759d6322281/1600971194581/2015_pp_1.pdf

[werdna]

2. I'm all in on no mow pollinator freindly lawn.

It appeals to my lazy nature!

[bucolic_frolic]

3. I do light mowing

I mow the high spots, until June, when they rest can't be ignored. More bushes means less mowing. Rock gardens too. I have barberry the size of SUV's.

[Botany]

5. You should replace those barberries .... they are really invasive

Birds eat the fruits and then spread the plants through their poop.

https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/terrestrial/plants/japanese-barberry

[bucolic_frolic]

6. Barberries are the only thing deer don't devour

My township is always telling us to eliminate barberries. I have hundreds of them. Impossible to eliminate. Besides they're $8.99 at Home Depot.

[Botany]

7. They really do cause ecological damage.

where do you live? I might be able to get you some ideas of other plants.

[eppur_se_muova]

11. Deer resistant plants - 17 best shrubs, perennials and annuals

http://www.homesandgardens.com/gardens/deer-resistant-plants

https://www.almanac.com/deer-resistant-plants (scroll way down)

[RainCaster]

8. I mow my back field about three times a year

It's time to mow when all I can see of the deer are their heads. I can still see over the grass while on my tractor. Occasionally a bear will come out and enjoy eating the fresh mowed grass.

[Omaha Steve]

10. Where can we buy the signs???

[Botany]

12. I support both organizations

https://homegrownnationalpark.org/

https://xerces.org/

Really rich is watching a bumble bee crawl into VA Bluebell flower as the spring sun warms your back.

[Omaha Steve]

13. Thank you for the great fast reply

[WestMichRad]

14. "A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule."

- Michael Pollan

[WestMichRad]

15. Here are species native to southern Michigan that are "deer resistant"

Plant native species! Help your local pollinators!!

I'll note that very hungry deer will eat almost anything, especially younger plants, but in general deer will shun these species.
Sources for this information include Prairie Moon Seeds https://www.prairiemoon.com/ , Feral Flora (a native plants vendor in the Ann Arbor MI area https://www.feral-flora.com/ ), the book "Growing and Propagating Wildflowers of the US and Canada" by William Cullina, and a few personal observations.

Acer spp, maples
Aesculus spp, buckeyes
Achillea millefolium, milfoil yarrow
Actea spp, baneberry
Agastache spp., hyssop
Ageratina altissima, white snakeroot
Allium spp., wild onion
Amorpha canescens, leadplant
Anaphalis margaritacea, pearly everlasting
Antennaria plantaginifolia, pussytoes
Apocynum androsaenifolium, spreading dogbane
Apocynum cannibinum, Indian hemp
Aquilegia canadensis, columbine
Aralia spp., e.g. A. racemosa, spikenard, and A. nudicaulis, wild sarsaparilla…. And in general anything from the Araliacae family
Artemisia ludoviciana, prairie sage
Asarum canadense, wild ginger
Arisaema dracontium, green dragon
Arisaema triphyllum, jack in the pulpit
Aruncus dioicus, goat’s beard
Asclepias spp., milkweeds (Although I’ve observed that flowerheads of some milkweeds are occasionally eaten by deer)
Asimina triloba, paw paw
Astilbe biternata, false goat’s beard
Astragalus spp, milkvetch
Baptisia spp., wild indigo
Campanula species, harebell
Caulophyllum thalictroides, blue cohosh
Cephalanthus occidentalis, buttonbush
Chamaenerion angustifolium, fireweed
Chelone spp, turtlehead
Chimaphila maculata, spotted wintergreen
Chimaphila umbellata, pipsisswea
Clematis spp., (per Feral Flora), altho I call BS on this, deer certainly do eat the blossoms on ours!!
Colchicum spp, crocus (non-native)
Conoclinium coelestinum, mistflower or ageratum
Conopholis americana, cancer root (formerly called squaw root)
Coreopsis spp.
Dalea purpurea, purple prairie clover and other Dalea spp.
Delphinium spp, larkspur
Dicentra spp: bleeding heart, squirrel corn and Dutchman’s breeches
Echinacea spp., coneflower
Equisetum spp, horsetails and rushes
Eryngium yuccifolium, rattlesnake master
Eupatorium perfoliatum, common boneset and others
Euphorbia corollata, flowering spurge. (Note other Euphorbias are problematic invasive species!)
Eutrochium spp., Joe pyeweeds
Fragaria virginiana, wild strawberry
Geum triflorum, prairie smoke
Geranium spp, wild geranium
Helenium spp, sneezeweeds
Helianthus occidentalis, western sunflower
Hibiscus laevis, rose mallow
Hypericum prolificum, shrubby St. Johnswort
Hypericum spp, esp. the perennial St. Johnsworts
Hydrophyllum virginianum, Virginia waterleaf
Iris spp.
Jeffersonia diphylla, twinleaf
Juniperus spp, junipers
Lamium spp (Feral Flora: "deer avoid pretty much everything in mint family&quot
Liatris ligulistylis, meadow blazingstar (but not other Liatris spp)
Lindera benzoin, spicebush
Lobelia spp., cardinal flower and great blue lobelia
Lupinus spp, lupines
Maianthemum canadense, Canada mayflower
Maianthemum stellatum, starry false Solomon’s seal
Mertensia virginica bluebells
Mimulus species, monkeyflower
Mitchella repens, partridgeberry
Monarda spp., beebalm or bergamot
Myrica spp (sweet gale, M. gale, and the native wax myrtle or bayberry, M. pensylvanica)
Narcissus pseudonarcissus, daffodil (non-native)
Oenothera spp, evening primrose
Oligoneuron rigidum, stiff goldenrod
Optunia humifosa, prickly pear
Packera spp (eg. Packera aurea, golden ragwort)
Penstemon spp., beardtongues
Picea spp, spruces
Podophyllum peltatum, mayapple
Polemonium reptans, Jacob's ladder
Polygonatum spp., Solomon’s seal (nee Smilacina)
Ptelea trifoliata, hop tree
Pycnanthemum spp., mountain mint
Ratibida pinnata, yellow coneflower
Rhus aromatica, fragrant sumac
Rhus typhina, staghorn sumac
Ribes spp, currant and gooseberry species
Rudbeckia spp., black eyed Susan
Salvia azurea, blue sage and other Salvia spp.
Sanguinaria canadensis, bloodroot
Scrophularia lanceolata, early figwort
Senna hebecarpa, wild senna
Silphium spp, rosinweed, cupplant et al
Solidago spp., goldenrod
Stylophorum diphyllum, wood poppy
Symphyotrichum spp, asters
Symplocarpus foetidus, skunk cabbage
Tephrosia virginiana, goat’s rue or rabbit pea
Verbena spp., vervains
Verbesina alternifolia, wingstem
Vernonia spp., ironweeds
Veronicastrum virgincum, Culvers root
Viburnum spp.
Viola sororia, common violet (and possibly other Viola species)
Zizia aurea, golden Alexanders
Ferns, in general.

Graminoids (grasses, sedges)
Feral Flora says "almost all grasses and sedges (are deer resistant), esp. when well established, although are sometimes browsed by bunnies"
Andropogon gerardii, big bluestem
Bouteloua curtipendula side oats grama
Carex spp, sedges (some of them, at least: C. blanda, common wood sedge, and C. sprengelii, long beaked sedge are specifically noted as deer resistant in Prairie Moon catalog)
Chasmanthium latifolium, river oats
Erograstis spectabilis, purple love grass
Hierochloe adorata, sweet grass
Koeleria macrantha, junegrass
Panicum virgatum, switch grass
Schizachyrium scoparium, little bluestem
Sisyrinchiuim spp, blue-eyed grass
Sorghastrum nutans Indian grass
Sporobolus heterolepis prairie dropseed

[Botany]

16. Rhus glabra too ... smooth sumac

kind of rough looking but a great plant of interest and brings in the pollinators big time

[Marthe48]

17. Wish it would happen here

The guy with the golf course sized yard across the street from me starting mowing in mid-March, and because his stupid lawn is over 2 acres, he now mows 2 times a week, over 2 hours each time. And by God, no one around me can mow at the same time, so there is always noise.

I notice the yard services, who are getting paid for the work get the yards mowed FAST, compared to the guys who own a tractor and must be getting extreme pleasure out of the noise/vibration.

I'm happy because the other guy who mowed for over an hour every week moved and put the house up for sale. His lawn care get the whole yard and weedwhip done in 30 minutes.

But there are no proponents of no mow around here, except me. I asked my lawn care to put me last on their list, and don't worry if it rains, get me another day when they can fit me in.