The goal of No Mow May is to pause mowing during the month of May, allowing flowers to bloom in your lawn to help early season pollinators. Late winter and early spring is a time when floral resources are often limited.
Research has shown the benefits of No Mow May: Several studies have found reducing the frequency of mowing is good for bees, grasshoppers and others. In central Kentucky, for example, more than 25 species of bees were recorded visiting dandelion and white clover in both urban and suburban lawns.
The idea behind No Mow May was to encourage property owners to delay mowing for the month of May in order to provide “yard weed” flowers for pollinators at a time when there were few other floral resources available. However, in many parts of the country, there are LOTS of flowers in bloom during the month of May.
If you must mow your lawn after a frost, the best practices are to ensure that your lawn does not have a lot of moisture from snow or ice and make sure to not mow the lawn when the temperatures are below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mowing too soon, before the turf grass has begun to grow and thicken up, exposes the soil and over-wintering weed seeds to sunlight. Warmed by the sun, weeds germinate and grow rapidly, invading otherwise weed-free turf and resulting in a what can be a weed control problem for months.
'When it comes to mowing your lawn, to minimize disturbance and maximize efficiency, the best time is in the morning, around 8am to 10am,' says Jeremy Yamaguchi, CEO of Lawn Love. 'This way, it's not too hot for physical exertion and not too early to wake everyone up.
Early Morning (6–8 AM)
Your mower deck will clog faster, leave tracks, make clumps and cause the grass to mat. All of these issues leave your lawn ripe for mold and fungus growth.
Mowing every two weeks — instead of weekly — and not dousing grass with chemical herbicides and fertilizers, helps the environment and supports the health of bees, which are among the world's most important pollinators.
A mowing height between 2.5 to 3 inches is best for most of the season, except during summer stresses when the lawn mowing height should be raised one-half inch to mow at 3 to 3.5 inches. Raising the mowing height provides more insulation from summer heat and reduces water loss from your soil.
Is it bad to cut grass in a heat wave? Yes, it can be. The heat leaves your grass 'stressed' and cutting it too often or too short can make this worse. If you do mow, try doing so a day or so after it rains, when your grass is likely to be happier.
What Is No Mow May? The idea behind No Mow May is to leave your lawn alone in May. This allows lawn flowers to bloom and feed hungry native bees emerging from hibernation when other flowers are scarce.
Cool-season grasses may turn brown and look dead in summer if they're forced into dormancy due to heat and drought. When they're brown in spring, that can signal a tough winter just passed, especially if low snowfall left grass without much insulation.
Grass growth reaches its maximum at a temperature of 50°F, which mainly occur during the spring months from March to May. Rising warmth beyond this temperature has no major effect on grass.
While participating in “No Mow May” won't provide a quality food source to pollinators, it will provide cover for unwanted pests, such as rodents, ticks, and mosquitoes, all of which are known to carry harmful diseases that can be transmitted to humans and pets.
There's some science behind leaving the lawn alone in May. Research by Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, where the No Mow May movement started in 2020, found five times the number of bees and three times the number of bee species in lawns that weren't mowed compared with city parks that were mowed.
Apply fertilizer, pre-emergent and weed killer.
Early in spring, use a combination of fertilizer, which feeds your grass, and pre-emergent, an herbicide used to prevent crabgrass. Then, six to eight weeks later, apply both products again, along with a broadleaf weed killer.
When you're ready to give that first mowing in the spring, lower your mower height 1 or 2 notches so you're mowing your grass about 3 inches tall. Be careful not to scalp your lawn. This low mow will cut off the brown winter grass blades and open up the soil to the warm spring sunlight.
60% of weeds in any lawn can be controlled with proper, weekly mowing. 60%!! You cannot rely on herbicide applications completely, weekly mowing HAS to be part of your plan to control weeds. So, let me reiterate…the presence of weeds in your lawn is NEVER a good reason to skip a mow.
When grass is too dry. There's nothing wrong with mowing your turf in a drought, but there are some changes that need to be made to minimize the chance of damage. Raise your mower's deck height by a half of an inch when grass is drought stressed, as thirsty grass will grow at a slower rate.
You can take care of a brown lawn by limiting further stress on grass plants. Mow less often, or not at all, during a drought. If you do mow, set the mower height higher than normal at about 3 ½ inches.
6 To 8 A.M.
All these lead to further problems like leaving your lawn out for the reaping by mold and fungus. For your neighbors, lawn, and mower, before 8 a.m. is probably not the most preferred time for lawn mowing.
It's best to wait for wet grass to dry before mowing. Wet grass clippings can clog your mower, causing it to choke and spit out clumps of wet grass that could smother and kill your lawn if left unraked. It's best to wait for wet grass to dry before mowing.