WHO KNEW Simple Changes In Lawn Care Produce Fascinating Results?
We know that in the US roughly 80% of us live in urban areas, and our lawns take up a lot of space. Typical lawn care can contribute to greenhouse gasses and pollute runoff from rain or snow. We also know that because of pesticide and herbicide use on lawns native bees are in decline in urban areas, and few flowering plants are found. However, a few simple changes in the way we care for lawns can bring back pollinators and contribute to biodiversity in your own lawn!
A few years ago, Susanne Lerner, a researcher at U Mass, visited the Upper Valley to share her fascinating research on lawns. In 2014 and 2015, 17 volunteer homeowners in Springfield MA agreed not to water, weed, feed or mow their lawns for two years.
The researchers mowed the lawns between May and September, using push mowers, and mowed at various time-intervals with a mower height of 2.5”. Grass clippings were left on the ground to decompose and feed the grass. No lawns were watered, fertilized or fed. They counted the flowering plant varieties that appeared within the grass, and the bee varieties that visited these plants.
They discovered 111 species of bees, and the majority of bee species were native to North America (94.6%), nested in soil (73%), and were solitary (48.6%). They found 63 plant species in the lawns; the majority were not intentionally planted. The most abundant lawn flowers were dandelion and clover. Nearly 30% of the spontaneous plant species growing in the lawns were native to North America.
They also learned that compared to lawns mowed once a week, lawns that were mowed every three weeks had as much as 2.5 times more lawn flowers than other mowing frequencies. Similarly, lawns mowed every two weeks had high bee abundance but fewer bee species.
These results suggest that a ‘lazy lawnmower’ approach to lawns results in the greatly improved bee numbers and increased flowers. Mowing less often is more economical, practical and timesaving than lawn replacement.