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A No Mow Movement Case Study

How a Village Can Take Part in the No Mow Movement

The No Mow Movement isn’t just about gardens, you can create biodiverse havens for wildlife in your local village, town or city. That’s exactly what’s been happening in Bradwell in the Peak District, Derbyshire.

Wildflowers growing in a community area such as Celandines, with trees in the background

A small village in the Hope Valley, Derbyshire has been creating some wonderful wildflower areas in community spaces, showing how you can transform local green spaces for the benefit of nature.

By letting areas grow naturally and planting native wildflower seeds, the Bradwell Wildflower Group has transformed some of its local green spaces. Melanie from the Bradwell Wildflower Group has shared their story.

How Did the No Mow Movement All Begin?

Melanie moved to Bradwell in 2019. When the Covid pandemic hit, pausing all mowing in the village, she began to notice the potential of these uncut areas. Wildflowers were being allowed to bloom, especially Cuckooflowers, and wildlife was enjoying the freedom.

Wanting to stop future mowing, she started to recruit like-minded volunteers from around the village to help pick possible No Mow sites.

Fast forward 2 years to 2021, the Bradwell Wildflower Project was born. With support from the local parish and district councils, the Bradwell Wildflower group started work on 6 small areas round the village that could be left unmown to help local biodiversity.

 

A No Mow Movement area with colourful wildflowers and long grasses. A small sign is at the front.

In the first year of letting these areas grow, they saw mixed results. Cuckooflower thrived in some places but strong plants, like docks dominated other areas. From experience, the Bradwell Wildflower group knew that it would take at least 3 years of careful management for all sites to become attractive wildflower areas.

They believed this long term project was well worth it. For the Bradwell Wildflower Group it is very important that they can leave these areas growing and blooming for longer than May. This is all part of the No Mow Movement, letting it grow from spring into summer for the benefit of nature.

“No Mow May is a great starter, but we are trying to get across to people in the village that flowers and grasses need to be left longer, in order to set seed and for the benefit of wildlife and future health of the sites,” added Melanie.

Why Take Part in the No Mow Movement?

The Bradwell Wildflower Group advocated a No Mow approach because they believed:

  • The wildflowers would bring colour to the village
  • Not mowing boosts biodiversity and raises awareness of its importance to our environment
  • It would help teach people about wildflowers, how to identify them and about the wildlife that depends on them.
  • People would be encouraged to support wildlife in their own gardens by not mowing in the summer months.

They have also been working closely alongside other local environmental groups such as the Swift Group, the Hedgehog Project and Bradwell Community Orchard.

How Can You Do the No Mow Movement in a Village?

This is the group’s sixth season now and they are very pleased with the results. However it is important to acknowledge that each site varies from month to month, season to season and year to year. For instance, March brings the snowdrops and April the cuckooflowers and celandines. Other areas come to their peak later with Oxeye Daisies.

Late in the summer when grasses and flowers set seed, the group are aware that the areas can look ‘untidy’ to some people. However, they try to emphasise that leaving the mowing to the end of the summer helps plants set seed and protects insects, butterfly eggs and larvae.

Core members Sally, Joanna and Melanie note that their careful and persistent management is already having an impact. They have been conducting monthly surveys and have been lucky enough to have observed a wide variety of insects including  Orange Tip Butterfly eggs on the cuckooflowers.

Where Are the No Mow Sites?

The Wildflower Project’s 6 sites are spaced throughout the village so that everyone can regularly walk past at least one of them on their way to the shops, post office or church.

  • Sites 1 and 2: At the north end of the village there are 2 areas on the edge of a large playing field called Beggar’s Plot. These sites have lots of snowdrops in March and a lovely show of naturally occurring cuckooflowers and celandines in April. These areas are mown in July (except for a narrow strip) in readiness for the village carnival. No additional seeds or plants have been introduced here.
  • Site 3: In the middle of the village, there is a green in between a pub and a Methodist Church Hall. Yellow Rattle seeds, donated by a local farmer with 3 ancient meadows, have been sown here and Cowslips, Primroses, Meadow Saxifrage, Scabious planted to augment existing Crosswort, Oxeye Daisies and Red Campion. Crocus and Daffodil bulbs line the path in the early spring.
  • Site 4: Here under 2 trees, is a very small woodland bed, opposite the church and next to a pub. It has been planted with Bluebells, Green Alkanet, Honesty, Red Campion, Sweet Woodruff, Primroses and various spring bulbs.
  • Site 5: On the other side of the main road, moving southwards, the next site is on a wide grass verge on either side of a large fir tree. Here, cuckooflowers bloom in April and later Yellow Rattle, Cowslip, Ribwort Plantain and Selfheal are at their best in May and early June.
  • Site 6: The last site, known as Dale End, is at the south end of the village. This is arguably the most thriving of all the sites. It has Snowdrops, Wild Daffodils and Crocus in March, and then lots of dandelions. In May and June, the Yellow Rattle which was sown in 2021, starts blooming and in June and early July, there are Oxeye Daisies, Vetches, Red Campion, Yarrow, Meadow Cranesbill, Bird’s-foot-trefoil, Common Knapweed and Rough Hawkbit.

How Does it Work in the Village?

All the work is done by volunteers, including controlling problem plants, raking up cuttings, and introducing seeds and plants.

To make the No Mow areas obvious the volunteers have roped off their sites and put up signs to communicate what the project is doing. This also helps council staff know where (and where not) to mow. Then,either in July, or in late summer, volunteers remove the posts to allow cutting to start. Raking up and removing the cuttings is key to the management of their wildflower areas.

There are lots of opportunities for the local village to get involved besides volunteering. The group has organised tours of their No Mow areas and has taught children from local schools about the importance of nature and they run special public wildflower walks.

Melanie, Joanna and Sally believe it is essential to have the village on board as much as possible and to make sure they talk to people whenever the opportunity arises. This has been a priority for their project. The Bradwell Wildflower Project has had great support from the local Parish Council as well as from Derbyshire District Mowing Team.

A butterfly on some yellow flowers

A small Tortoiseshell Butterfly on celandines

Wildflowers and grasses in a No Mow Movement area including Yellow Rattle

Yellow Rattle starts blooming in the village from May

A Dark-edged Bee-fly

A Dark-edged Bee-fly spotted in one of the No Mow sites

The Wildflower Group always welcome new members, so if you would like to join them you can email Melanie at braddawildflowers@gmail.com

Photograph shows a lawn with longer grasses and wildflowers through the No Mow Movement. There is one tree at the ride side of the lawn and 2 houses in the background.

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It’s one of the easiest ways to connect with wildlife and the perfect way to start supporting nature in your garden (in May and beyond!).

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