{"id":244,"date":"2023-08-15T12:37:23","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T12:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wilpfdsm.org\/staging\/7108\/?page_id=244"},"modified":"2024-04-18T01:10:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T01:10:21","slug":"no-mow-mow-less-may","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wilpfdsm.org\/staging\/7108\/no-mow-mow-less-may\/","title":{"rendered":"No Mow \/ Less Mow May"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Why Less Mow May?<\/h2>\n

Pollinators are keystone elements in growing human food crops and their numbers have dropped by half in the last 50 years.\n

Mowing less and higher and holding back on pesticide and fertilizer use, especially in spring, helps pollinators get a foothold on the year when pollen and nectar can be scarce.<\/p> \u00a0

Pollinators thrive on clover, violets and other low-growing lawn plants of early spring.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Less Mow May–A Home-Grown Solution to Pollinator Habitat Loss, Storm Water Runoff<\/h4>\n

Without leaving home, participants in Less Mow May can be a part of bringing back native pollinators by:\u00a0<\/p>\n

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  • Mowing less and applying fewer pesticides<\/u>, especially in the early spring. \u00a0By doing so, LMM participants pro-vide early-season foraging and nesting sites.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
  • \u00a0Replacing non-native turf, shrubs, flowers with native ones that pollinators have evolved to depend on for food and shelter<\/u>.\u00a0 Even a small garden plot of native flowers, grasses or shrubs can make a difference.\u00a0 And, when native plantings are found throughout a neighborhood, pollinators thrive as they spend less energy searching for food and shelter.\u00a0 Many pollinators rely exclusively on one plant species for nurseries, e.g.,, the monarch butterfly will only its eggs on milkweed plants.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>

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    As a bonus,\u00a0 native garden beds require less watering than traditional turfgrass and annual flower beds and are better at absorbing water during thunderstorms and winter snow melt, helping to prevent flooding.<\/p>\n

    Note on Turfgrass Height and\u00a0Less Mow May<\/em>:\u00a0<\/h4>

    The City of Des Moines and suburbs have not suspended maximum turfgrass height limits during\u00a0Less Mow May<\/em>. \u00a0For Des Moines, that means a turfgrass limit of 10 inches, which the City may enforce among participants.\u00a0 (Flowers, shrubs and native grasses in a kempt garden bed can be higher.)\u00a0 Since enforcement is primarily complaint driven, let your neighbors know what you are up to with\u00a0Less Mow May<\/em>\u00a0and why it is important and consider mowing\u00a0at the highest setting<\/em>\u00a0if your grass has grown to your city\u2019s height limit.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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    Less Mow May 2024 Sign-up Info<\/h1>\n

    Use the sign-up form below or call Joann Muldoon (515 771-9160) or Carolyn Uhlenhake-Walker (515 779-1680) or email the Less Mow May team here: \nNMMDesMoines2023@gmail.com \n<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    Sign up here to participate in No Mow\/Less Mow May!<\/b><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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