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Plantlife’s No Mow May Movement is back for 2026 – help nature and let your lawn grow this May and beyond!
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There are so many benefits to taking part in the No Mow Movement.
From helping wildflowers and grasses to grow freely, providing food for pollinators, habitat for wildlife and helping to tackle the changing climate. Read on to find out how your wilder patch is helping.
The No Mow May campaign started, primarily because of the significant loss of species-rich grassland across the UK in the last century. With more than 23 million gardens in the UK, we saw an opportunity. If lawns and green spaces could be left to grow they could recreate pockets of mini meadows.
We’ve seen wildlife thriving in No Mow areas – from bees feeding on pollen, amphibians sheltering in the longer grass, mammals thriving in the new habitat and stunning wildflowers being allowed to bloom freely.
Also, it’s super easy to take part – sign up, stop mowing, sit back and let it grow!
Did you know a No Mow patch where the wildflowers and grasses have been allowed to grow in May and beyond can help combat climate change? Not to mention, these spaces can provide vital refuge for wildlife during our changing climate.
By mowing less, the number of grass and wildflower species gradually increase over time. This creates a more varied soil structure and more biomass in and above the soil. This helps to lock away more carbon than a plain grass lawn, that might only have a few species in total.
Many studies have also shown that an increase in plant diversity may greatly increase the amount of carbon that can be stored and the rate at which this happens. [1]
In fact, species-rich grasslands are very important carbon sinks. It’s not just peat bogs and woodlands that need protection for their role in tackling climate change.
Plantlife’s No Mow Movement is here – let’s let it grow for nature! Pledge to take part today and get a FREE No Mow May guide.
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!).
It’s also important to remember that by simply mowing yes, you are also helping to do your bit for the environment. Now that you’re caring for your garden with nature in mind, you might only need to mow paths or play areas on a regular basis – rather than your whole garden.
This also saves time, so you can sit and admire the gently swaying grass and hear the hum of busy insects instead!
At the end of the summer, you can continue to mow your lawn as normal. However, you might find that the grass grows less vigorously year on year, requiring less time mowing in the long run too.
Leaving longer grass in your garden or green space can also help to cool larger urban areas. Grassy areas left to grow are crucial in an urban environment – not only for our wellbeing, but also for regulating local environmental temperatures.
Urban green spaces can help to cool cities and are also able to influence the surrounding area. This phenomenon is called the urban green space cooling effect [2]
If grasslands within green spaces (lawns, parks, playing fields etc) can also be managed to have more vegetation and a mix of grass lengths, these benefits can be increased.
A study in 2021 showed that increasing plant structural complexity and/or diversity (meadow areas, hedges etc) increases heat mitigation and habitat for invertebrate biodiversity compared with regularly mown lawns management. [3]
So, whilst you sit and relax amid your No Mow area, take a moment to think about the increased resilience your lawn now has when faced with our increasingly dry and hot summers.
The summer of 2025 was extremely hot and dry for most parts of the UK, particularly the east of England. Many lawns turned yellow-brown early in the season and were slow to recover.
However, anyone doing No Mow May into June and July would have found their grass was much healthier and still green at the base. These areas were noticeably cooler too, providing much needed shelter from the sun for many creatures, pets and humans alike!
To help tackle climate change from your garden or green space, pledge to take part in the No Mow Movement.
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