Monty Don is a source of inspiration when it comes to enriching your gardens through his expert tips and tricks.
One topic the gardening guru has taken to his monthly gardening blog to speak about is when lawns should be mowed.
Despite many gardeners already putting their lawnmowers to use on their overgrown grass, Monty Don records that they wait until June 21.
He explained that at Longmeadow he restricts mowing to paths and tries and let as much grass as possible grow long and planted up with spring bulbs and wildflowers.
He said: “This looks beautiful and is so much better for insects and all forms of wildlife than a neatly mown lawn.”
Despite putting off moving for the beauty of spring plants and wildlife, the 68-year-old claimed that “it is important” to to time the cutting of this long grass to “maximise the performance of the bulbs next spring and of the grasses themselves”.
He urged: “Nothing should be cut at all until after the longest day on June 21.
“This gives the foliage of the bulbs time to die back and feed next year’s bulb and subsequent flowering.
“The grass can then be cut if it has been hot and dry although sometimes I leave this as late as mid-August.”
Traditionally, May is the time when the soils are warm enough for grasses to really start shooting up.
Most gardeners are keen to get the mower out and transform that scraggly patch of grass into a thriving lawn. In fact, Plantlife’s 2019 survey revealed that most of them cut their grass every two weeks.
But hold off from cutting it a little while longer and join the No Mow May campaign, and you can give UK pollinators – and the birds and animals who eat them – a much-needed boost.
The No Mow May movement was started in 2019 by conservation charity Plantlife, who is once again urging people to keep the mower locked up for another month to allow spring plants a chance to set seed before the first cutting, making for healthier, more diverse lawns.
Additionally, this gives wild plants to get a foothold in May, to feed bees, butterflies and other pollinators through summer.
Whenever you do decide to make this first cut of the long grass, Monty urged: “You must collect it all up and take it to the compost heap to stop it adding nutrition to the ground which would encourage lusher, coarser grasses at the expense of the flowers.”
Between June and August, it’s best to mow the lawn once per week as growth will be more steady as soil moisture drops.
If there is a drought and things go very dry it may be best to stop mowing and leave the grass long until the rain returns.
