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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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If you want to see a kaleidoscope of colour and life across the country this summer, then make sure you join Plantlife’s No Mow May movement!
As well as bringing back the blooms to our lawns, there are many ways you can get involved, even if you don’t have a garden.
Here are 6 ways you can spread the No Mow May love to your community and beyond, to make this year more vibrant than ever!
Creating a meadow is a really simple way to bring the local community together, whilst doing something positive for nature. So, what are community meadows? They are areas, predominantly of grassland, that are owned and managed by the community, such as parks, road verges, school grounds, village greens, church land or fields.
You don’t need to be an expert to start one – we’ve shared our tips for how to begin, what to plant, how to manage your green space year-round and how to engage the community.
Take a look at out guide
You may not have your own lawn or green space, but your neighbour or community might! If the 23 million garden owners of the UK joined forces for nature, it could transform the fortunes for our wild plants and the much-loved wildlife that depend on them.
Why not share our No Mow May resources with your neighbours and community? We’ve got posters, signs, pictures and social media cards which are a fantastic conversation starter – it could even be the start of a No Mow May street!
As well as a place to grow our curiosity, our educational spaces can be home to playing fields, verges and gardens which are ready to burst with life each spring. If your school isn’t taking part already, consider having a chat with staff to see if a space can be left for nature this year. As well as being a bonus for wildlife, why not use this as a fun learning opportunity to discover how many species you can spot?
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!).
Whether it’s parish, town or district council, reaching out to your local decision makers to promote wildlife-friendly management can make a big difference. Local support can really help to bring about change, whether that’s through a volunteer group or social media page. Check out our Good Meadows Guide for some convincing talking points or the Flowers on Roadside Verges Facebook group for some inspiration.
Our councils manage some of our most widely-used green spaces, no matter where you live. Ask your local councillor about your councils plans to provide a home for wildflowers and wildlife in May and beyond, and share their good work on social media.
If you have outdoor space but no lawn, don’t write off No Mow May just yet! Encourage wildlife to your garden with a pot or window box – what happens if you leave one with bare soil, perhaps local wild plants seed will find their way in. There are also native seed mixes you can sprinkle into pots which pollinators like bees and butterflies will go wild for!
Often the cornerstone of our communities, our places of worship can be a sanctuary for people and wildlife alike. See if your local church, mosque or other place of worship has a green space they can pledge for nature this No Mow May. Churchyards for example, are often excellent places for wildflower and wildlife that enjoy the undisturbed grasslands.
No Mow May is the perfect starting point to get your greenspace on track for a wild summer. You’ve taken the first step – now learn more about how to manage your wild lawn all year round!
It’s not just wildflowers which benefit from not mowing our lawns this May. Pollinators and other wildlife bring our gardens to life!
Not as many wildflowers in your lawn as you expected this year? Here are some tips from Plantlife’s wildflower experts to help you create a blooming bonanza!
You’ve heard all about the No Mow Movement – but you’re not sure where to start?
Join us for a deep dive into your spring lawn and learn everything you need to know about how to prep for the best No Mo May!
Plantlife’s No Mow May gears up in spring, and every year it’s gaining more and more momentum – but if you’ve never taken part before, where do you start?
The journey is all up to you and it can be as simple or as green-fingered as you like.
So if you’re looking for some ideas to get you started, here’s some of our top tips to get you on your No Mow way.
Starting a new journey with your precious garden can be daunting, and we know that many people have lots of questions – from what happens when you stop mowing, to which flowers might pop-up.
So to help kick-start your journey, we’ve put together a handy guide with everything you need to know about the No Mow Movement – it’s the perfect place to get started.
The important thing is not to be intimidated and to give it a go – every wild patch can add up to huge gains for nature. And the aim is simple: to get people cutting less, for longer. So, whether you join us just for May or stick with it all season, it all makes a real difference.
Take part
It’s completely up to you how you prepare – you could just get to the first of the month and pack the mower away.
But there are a couple of things you could try to give your lawn the best chance of beautiful biodiversity:
That’s up to you – but we’d recommend pledging for No Mow May, flicking through your FREE guide (complete with wildflower ID), grabbing a cup of tea and basking in nature!
When May starts, the easy bit begins: sign up, stop mowing, sit back and let it grow.
May is a great month to get started, because that’s when most of our wonderful wild plants are getting going for the season. Giving them time to grow during this period gives them a good head start.
At this time of year, your garden can also become a haven for wildlife at a time when it is greatly needed.
We think of May as the starting point, a springboard for managing your lawn for nature year-round. If you can make a start in May, that’s brilliant.
But really, this is part of a much bigger movement of caring for your garden to help nature. The goal is to mow less for longer, and to manage our lawns like mini hay meadows.
By pledging to take part in the No Mow Movement, you’re joining a community of people all caring for their gardens and greenspaces with nature in mind. And the more grassy spaces helping wildlife, the better.
It’s very easy and takes just 2 minutes to pledge and get your FREE No Mow May guide.
Please pledge today (you can join at any time from March to June) and help us see how many people are helping nature by letting it grow.
You can just stop mowing and see what comes up – in fact, the plants growing in your garden can even give you a bit of a history lesson on what your garden might have been in a former life.
But if you want to give biodiversity a bit of a boost, there’s a simple trick – variety!
If you keep 2 to 3 different grass lengths throughout the summer, it can help maximise flower variety as well as the nectar they produce for our precious pollinators:
If you leave your lawn to do its thing, it’s going to look stunning no matter what comes through – nature is great like that.
Wildflowers are stunning and they’re certainly a favourite for our pollinators – but our gorgeous grasses often get left out of the spotlight.
When your grass is getting longer, take some time to sit out, watch the sun shining through the blades and the wind whisper through it.
Also, did you know that our native grasses are great for nature? Keep an eye out for the incredible Cock’s-foot Grass for example. It’s one of our tallest lawn grasses and can reach more than 1 metre. It provides pollen that honeybees love, caterpillars eat its leaves, finches feed on its seed and its tussocks provide safe places for nesting mammals and bees.
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.
We're not the only ones who love all the benefits of No Mow May! Here, the Butterfly Conservation joins us to give their top 5 species to look out for in your No Mow Movement area.
As well as bringing back the bloom to our lawns, there are many ways you can get involved with No Mow May, even if you don’t have a garden.
A rainbow of wildflowers in your lawn doesn’t just bring garden owners joy, but is also the sign of a healthy and thriving garden.
Yellow Rattle, is the single most important plant you need when creating a wildflower meadow. Here’s everything you need to know.
Join us to delve into the secrets of creating a bright, blooming, buzzing lawn, from when to sow, to how to prep the land.
Spring sees gardens in bloom, bursting with colourful blossoms!
By the time we reach the later summer months, some of those wildflowers will have faded – but it’s the perfect time to start prepping for next year!
In fact, the best time of year to sow wildflower seeds in the UK, is between August and October. So here we delve into the secrets of creating a bright, blooming, buzzing lawn, from when to sow, to how to prep the land.
However, before we jump in, it’s always advisable to see what you already have growing in your lawn. You might be surprised to find that there are some wildflowers already there and it’s always exciting to see what comes up on its own.
As we mentioned above, the best time to sow wildflower seeds in the UK, is between August and October. In other areas of the world it will depend on the local climate and the needs of the native wildflowers.
The seeds of many wildflowers, including Yellow Rattle, need to be exposed to colder temperatures for a certain time period, to signal to them to get ready for germinating in the spring.
Yellow Rattle in particular, needs to be sown so it has around 4 months underground at below 5C to start this process and allow the seeds to germinate.
We always advise that people buy seeds from a supplier that provides native seeds from the country you plan on sowing them.
It’s not just the country that’s important though, local areas all have their own unique flora. So where possible, it’s always best to buy seed that is sourced locally as this will ensure that your flowers will grow happily in your area and be suitable for local wildlife.
It’s always a good idea to think about your specific space too, including the soil type, PH, whether your site is dry or damp, shady or sunny. For species to flourish it depends on whether they are suited to these conditions.
Why not read our full seed guide to find out more. Or visit our shop here to look through the seeds we have available.
There are many different mixes to choose from, and there’s a few things to consider. Firstly take in mind the local flora, and what you see naturally appearing in your area. You also should consider whether you want a tall mini meadow with flowers like Oxeye Daisy, or a lower flowering lawn with plants like Self-heal.
One wildflower we would recommend, especially if you are seeding into a lawn that only has grass, or one that has more vigorous grasses, is Yellow Rattle often referred to as ‘The Meadow Maker’. This semi-parasitic plant helps limit the growth of competing grasses, to allow more wildflowers to come through naturally. Find out more about growing Yellow Rattle here.
You could also add flowers like Poppies and Cornflowers to give some pops of different colours. These are both annual species, so will not necessarily reappear in future years.
There was a growing trend of ‘seed bombing’ which saw small balls of seeds and compost dropped onto bare ground to create mini areas of blooms.
While this can certainly work, and is how some wildflowers successfully seed themselves, there are better ways.
Read on below to find our top tips of how to prepare the ground to see the best success
The older and ‘wilder’ your lawn the better! If your lawn is like a bowling green, with fertile soil and no ‘weeds’, then you might first want to lower the nutrients in the soil. You can do this by regularly mowing your lawn and removing the cuttings for the first year or so. It could take a year or 2 to get your soil to the right nutrient level.
When you’re ready you can add wildflower seeds to your lawn to increase biodiversity. The best way to do this is to cut your lawn very short in the autumn and scarify it by going over it with a rake to create patches of bare soil to scatter your seeds on. Keep going until around 50% of the area is bare ground.
When it comes to actually sowing the seeds – less is more. You actually only need 1 or 2 teaspoons of seed per square metre.
Spread the seed across the ground evenly and pick a nice still day so the seeds don’t blow away before they land. The seeds can be mixed with sand for easier spreading. After this, gently trample the seeds in. It’s a good idea to water the ground lightly if the weather is drier, but be careful not to wash away the seeds.
There is another option to get wildflowers into your lawn, which some people do see better results with, which is to sow seeds into pots and then plant them outdoors.
To do this, sow the wildflower seeds in the autumn and leave the pots outside, to allow them to be exposed to the cold. Many wildflowers need a cold spell before they can germinate.
Once the plants have germinated and started to grow you can move the little seedlings into individual pots. The best time to do this is when the plants have 3 or 4 leaves on them. You can encourage the growth of healthy roots by cutting off any flower stems.
The following autumn, the plants can then be moved into your lawn. Once the plants are established, it’s worth keeping an eye on them for the first year or 2, to make sure they take properly and are not shaded out. You can do this by gently cutting the surrounding vegetation back to give them more space.
Join us on a journey to discover the Daisy – from fun facts to folklore!
The sun is shining, the days are longer and our green fingers are ready to get stuck back in to some spring gardening.
Our gardens have the ability to become havens for nature. Increasing biodiversity, encouraging native wildflowers, letting our lawns grow wild and even planting mini meadows are all excellent ways to have a more nature-friendly garden.
As we enter spring, our minds are definitely turning to the jobs we can get stuck into in the garden, to get ready for a blooming good season.
Our Specialist Botanical Advisor Sarah Shuttleworth is on hand with expert advice for jobs you can do now.
Mow – sounds counter intuitive but actually if you can get the mower going over your lawn or No Mow May areas a couple of times before April/end of March then you will give the other species hiding amongst the grass more of a chance. This is particularly important if you have sown Yellow Rattle seed, although once you start finding the Yellow Rattle seedlings appear and are tall enough to be affected by a mow, then that’s the time to leave the mowing to allow them to grow.
No this doesn’t have anything to do with roofs. Sometimes our lawns and other grasslands can get a bit clogged up with dead plant material (known as thatch), like dead grass or old cuttings that didn’t all get picked up by the mower.
This thatch can reduce light levels to seeds waiting to germinate or other plants wanting to get growing in the spring, plus it can add nutrients to the soil, which might sound great, but not for native wildflowers trying to compete with the vigorous grasses.
Therefore during February and again next winter from autumn (although check for grassland fungi first, you don’t want to disturb them if you are lucky enough to have them in your green space) you want to rake out the thatch.
Maybe this will be your first year doing No Mow May, in which case you might want to spend a bit of time planning where you want to leave long all summer long, where you maybe want to mow monthly and where you want to have short or paths for walking around. You could draw up some designs even for creating wild and wonderful shapes. Or you could simply devote your entire lawn or green space to the way of the meadow!
If you don’t have a lawn, what about creating some meadow planters? Tubs, pots or deep trays could be sown in April with a meadow mix. This will ideally be one that is a mix of grasses and wildflower seeds, which will avoid gaps for weeds to arrive.
Remember our native meadows are mostly full of native perennial species (plants that live more than one year) rather than Cornflowers, Poppies and similar, which are annual species associated with disturbed soil like that of farmed fields.
* You can find a range of seeds at our shop here.
Leave the untidy corners and wild areas – it might be tempting to start tidying up the garden before the growing season starts, but these areas of leaf litter, twigs and longer grass along fences or hedges are perfect spots for insects, reptiles and amphibians to have been sheltering over winter. If you start to tidy it up too early you could be disturbing a slumbering creature that isn’t ready to spring into action until the weather starts warming up.
This also goes for the remnants of last years plants in your borders or pots. Sometimes these dead stems and leaves are perfect for insects to hide in whilst it’s cold and damp. Therefore leave these up all winter if you can and only ‘tidy’ up when the spring days are warm enough.
Often gardening tips to get your garden ready for spring, include prepping your lawn. The main focus of this is usually to feed your lawn, but this will only promote the vigorous grasses to out compete everything else, leaving the tiny speedwells, mouse-ears, and medicks getting crowded out!
Hopefully our top tips have given you some inspiration to get out and enjoy the spring sunshine while sprucing up your lawn or garden.
If you’re looking for more ways to move towards a more nature-friendly garden, why not join our No Mow May movement?
Plantlife’s No Mow May Movement is here – let’s let it grow for nature.
It’s is one of the easiest ways to help the environment from your garden, in May and beyond.
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