Why people in New Jersey should avoid mowing their lawns in May

Well, this is a new one. You’ve probably heard of No Shave November to raise money to go toward Cancer awareness. What about “No Mow May?”

When I first read about this, I thought it was maybe something about noise complaints. Though that may just be my personal beef with lawn equipment? (I mean, it’s 2022, how have we not created quieter technology? But I digress..)

It’s actually a much more practical reason: to save the dwindling bee population.

That’s right, to quote "Arrested Development’s" GOB Bluth… “BEES?!”

Yes, GOB, bees.

Experts are suggesting not mowing your lawn to help grow weeds that bees coming out of hibernation would use as a food source.

For anyone doubtful of how much this would actually have an impact on the Garden State’s environment: a town in Wisconsin already tried this a few years ago and the results were promising.

Lawns of residents who participated in “No Mow May” were compared to parks that kept up with the landscaping. According to BeeCityUSA.org:

“Participating yards had three-times higher bee species richness and five-times higher bee abundance than nearby parks that had been mowed.“

Those numbers are nothing to stick your nose up at, this could greatly benefit New Jersey’s bees. U.K. environmentalists tried it before the U.S. did and their numbers were even better! Towns that participated there increased their numbers by up to five times.

Bee City USA also provided ideas for lawn sign promoting “No Mow May” for those who may be embarrassed by the act of letting their lawn go un-mowed for a whole month.

So would you be willing to let your lawn grow out during the month of May in order to help New Jersey’s bee population? Let us know in our poll below.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5's Kylie Moore. Any opinions expressed are Kylie's own. You can follow Kylie on Instagram.