No mow may is an original initiative British people are asking citizens not to mow their lawns in May. In the United Kingdom, the organization Plantlife is asking garden owners to put away their lawnmowers for a month. A way to protect bees, bumblebees and other pollinators.
The Dandelion Challenge, created by Miel&Co., invites Quebecers to also delay mowing their lawns in order to offer the dandelion blooms to the bees.
The media have wrongly confused the two initiatives and we understand why, the objective of protecting pollinators is the same and the achievement similar. However, the difference lies in the duration and we explain why.
A question of duration
Both initiatives challenge us to delay mowing our lawns in order to feed bees with the wildflowers naturally present in our lawns, including dandelions. However, the Dandelion Challenge does not recommend a duration. It is not a question of extending the mowing throughout the month of May, it is rather suggested to let the dandelions flower before mowing them!
All participants are encouraged to use their "common sense". In northern Quebec, the Dandelion Challenge could well stretch into late May and even June since lawns grow later there. Further south, for example, in Montérégie, mowing will probably be necessary around mid-May.
You have to keep in mind the objective, which is not a competition by the way: "Delay the mowing of dandelions in order to offer their pollen and nectar to pollinating insects." If your comfort zone allows you to delay mowing by 2 days, that's already two more days of food for the bees. On the contrary, if you are comfortable delaying mowing by 20 days, go for it!
Dandelions have a second emergence After mowing, you can even take up the challenge twice. The Dandelion Challenge invites you to be flexible. We firmly believe that small, gradual, lasting changes are preferable to a short-lived drastic revolution.
After the Dandelion Challenge
It is important to realize that pollinating insects will need to feed themselves for the rest of the summer. To do this, we need to help them, and we offer several easy ways to do so:
