Mowing your lawn less allows flowering plants to bloom, providing bees and other pollinators with nectar and pollen. Yards that have some clover, dandelions, or violets will provide more benefit to bees than yards that are a monoculture of standard turf grass. 

While letting yard without understory flowering plants grow long doesn’t provided immense benefit to bees, it does provide more habitat. Consider incorporating native plants from the list below in your landscaping to increase pollinator availability for bees. 

Taking the phrase No Mow May literally is not necessarily the best way to help bee populations. For example, if you give dandelions a chance to flower, but mow before they go to seed, you can provide resources for pollinators and not increase the spread of weeds. Mowing to prevent seed spread may need to happen during May. For white clover, you may need to mow in May to encourage them to flower again if the flowers are going to seed.  

When you start regular mowing again in June, learn from the UMN about mowing best practices for a healthy lawn. Best practices for bringing your grass back down to a reasonable height while keeping it healthy include: 

• Mow late in the day or when grass is dry 
• Mow down in small increments (never more than 1/3 of grass blade’s height at one time) 
• Rake up excessive clippings to prevent them from going into streets. This protects your local water quality and keeps storm drains clear

Learn more about lawn mowing best practices.

Register for No Mow May in Blaine

Register today to participate in Blaine's No Mow May program! 

Residential properties that are owner-occupied or occupied by renters who receive landlord consent can participate. All other properties must comply with Blaine's City Code related to turf and weed management. The program allows residents of owner-occupied or rented homes to avoid mowing their lawns for the month of May, to support pollinators in the community.

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