How did NO MOW MAY really go? How did NO MOW MAY really go?
We all know about "best intentions"
5.21.22 from Daniel Mack
That Backyard faux meadow just got mowed.
After that early bloom of Dandelions, the Creeping Charlie exploded, then there was a
really nice show of Buttercups for about 10 days. Now some tall purple bloom flower is coming in.
But in general, it was just all the various grasses in the lawn going to seed.
Those pollinators I was so worried about had a great time in the Cherry trees, Dogwoods, Vinca, Wigilia, Columbine, and of course, the Forsythia, clearly amused by my misguided, naive, patronizing attempt to create more sources of nectar and pollen.
What I learned is that you don't create "meadow" by simply letting your grass grow.
Wow, Life is not as simple as we might like it! Lesson Learned, Again.
But what No Mow May has done for me is to heighten and refine my sense of the ecosystem I am an active part of.
Yes, it was a bit of a simple-minded start. But hey, it was a start. I can't go all the way back to a Mow It All mentality.
As Pogo put it: "We have met the enemy and they are Us"
5.18.22 from Daniel Mack
Maybe I'm just channeling my discouragement with The World (Ukraine, Covid, Mass Shootings, Local School Board Elections) onto my lawn, but No Mow May is alarmingly underwhelming. Oh yeah, yeah, a few extra dandelions in the back yard; lots of Creeping Charlie and just yesterday a fresh bloom of Buttercups. It isn't what I'd call a bounty of pollen or nectar. A friend sent me a sobering article on the charming folly of our No Mow May in ReWilding magazine
Oh, (and I'm burying the lead of all this): There are almost no volunteer flowers blooming in my front yard. That grass is mean, matted and tough. So I've mowed. gulp, blush. "Half-Mow May". The back yard is still a bit wilder and faux meadow.
5.12.22 from Daniel Mack
It can only be a koan: I'm in my yard No Mow Maying around, and my neighbor is in her yard spraying Round-Up on her lawn and sidewalk cracks. How can the conversation even begin? "Hi Neighbor, ah, er, um... Nice day for poison."
5.12.22 from Kate Schmidt
I think we need to target DOT and ALL the land they unnecessarily mow. Schools too. Maybe it's a 4H project..
5.11.22 from Daniel Mack
I came quickly crashing into my own deep need for Order and perhaps Conquest. "Yes, Dr Freud, OCD"
"WHAT, Let the WHOLE lawn go! I'll never be able to cut it down, I'll need a scyth, a harvester; John Deere Dealer near me
Ticks will thrive; my Neighbors will sicken and talk about me. There must be an Ordinance I'm violating..."
But the signs were in front where there was little, if no Wildness. Even in the rear, I mowed paths creating odd shaped meadow areas. Then found myself mowing, on April 31, even those areas with the mower blade set at it highest just to cut the bumper crop of Norway Maple seedlings that appeared this year. As May went on, I was spending MORE time on lawn care than even the Mr Mow-It-Alls in the neighborhood. Edging, trimming, plucking, topping grasses, but leaving flowering weeds. Mostly worrying, walking around and fussing. (Gotta Get a Life)