To mow or not to mow: the dilemma facing lawn lovers

So how did No Mow May go for you? Were you beguiled by the rich diversity of plant species that emerged in your lawn and charmed by the bees, butterflies and hoverflies that visited it? Or did it feel akin to the horticultural version of Movember, so that by the time June 1st rolled around, you were just itching to shear down all that wildly messy growth? Or perhaps you just regarded it as yet another, hyped-up social media fad, to be steadfastly ignored.

It’s no secret that we gardeners are divided when it comes to our lawns. In one camp are those who thrill to the sweet whiff of a lawn that’s been freshly sheared, and who just love the sight and feel of a tightly mown, sharply-edged sward in all its neatly-clipped, cool-to-the-feet, velvety greenness. In the other are those who delight in the sight of a lawn unbound, a once-dull, flat monocrop left unscathed by mowers or garden chemicals and transformed instead into a biodiverse, environmentally-sustainable, mini-meadow humming with life.

Never the twain shall meet, you might think. Yet the truth is that there is a middle ground, which is that instead of “no-mow” or “almost-never-mow”, you just mow much less frequently as well as being more selective in the areas that you mow. For example, mowing once every four to six weeks rather than weekly. Or deliberately leaving generous swathes unmown throughout the summer months but with paths cut gently through them for ease of access.

Or alternating the areas that you do mow, to allow them to grow and flower between cuts, thereby offering food and shelter for pollinating insects as well as a place for hedgehogs, frogs, lizards and garden beetles to forage. Even just raising your mower’s blades to maximum height to allow low-growing species of wildflowers – for example, daisies, dandelions and clover – to grow and bloom will make a significant difference.

Mary Hannigan: Ireland are competing but they’re nowhere close thus far to pointing

---

Ken Early: Effortlessly elegant Ancelotti deservedly considered among the world’s best

---

Dublin constituency: Left-wing candidates face dog fight for the last seat

---

Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+: 10 of the best new shows to watch in June

---

Spared the chop and just as importantly, not sprayed with selective lawn weedkillers or overfed with synthetic fertilisers, you’ll be amazed by how quickly the natural seedbank of native wildflowers hidden in the ground will start to germinate and flourish. And how intrigued by them you’ll become.

I’ve seen tightly-mown garden lawns transformed this way into native wild flower meadows filled with fat clumps of oxeye daisies, ragged robin, clover, hawksbit, orchids, violet self-heal, meadow vetchling, lady’s bedstraw and knapweed. Similarly, in the OPW-managed gardens of Kilmacurragh in west Wicklow, its impressively biodiverse wild flower meadows are a result of head gardener Seamus O’Brien following a minimum-mow regime (just once a year in early September, with the cuttings removed a few days later to allow their ripe seed to spill while keeping fertility levels low).

Visit this Wicklow garden in the coming weeks while their meadows are at their flowery peak and you’ll find a wealth of annual and perennial wildflowers including yellow rattle, cat’s-ear, sorrel, red clover, pignut or “fairy potatoes”, wild heath spotted-orchids, tiny pink-flowered lousewort, bird’s-foot-trefoil, ribwort and meadow vetchling growing happily alongside native grasses.

This is not to say that native wild flower meadows are for everyone. Not all of us want a flowery, wafty, wildy patch of grass and there are good reasons as to why this isn’t always practical, from problems of access to the aggravation it can cause hay fever sufferers.

But, by tending your traditional lawn organically, you can still play a valuable role in supporting biodiversity. How? First and foremost, ditch the lawn weedkiller, which not only kills all broadleaf species but also harms and disrupts the soil’s delicate ecosystem and makes it more vulnerable to drought and compaction.

For the very same reasons, ditch traditional chemical-based moss killers. If you really can’t bear the sight of a mossy lawn (which is bamboozling to me, what’s not to love?), then use a product like Mo-Bacter, which relies on natural bacteria to kill moss while simultaneously naturally boosting grass growth so that there’s no space for it to re-establish. Alternatively, use a spring-tined rake or a scarifier in autumn to thoroughly rake it out.

But be realistic. Persistent problems with moss in a lawn are almost always signs of a combination of underlying factors including poor drainage, deep shade, very low fertility and a very acidic or compacted soil as well as repeatedly mowing too tightly, so take appropriate steps to remedy these where possible.

No lawn will grow well in deep shade, for example, no matter how often you reseed and feed it. Far better to instead consider alternative planting in the shape of shade-tolerant perennials, ornamental grasses and shrubs or to perhaps turn this area over to ornamental gravel. If the problem of moss in your lawn is caused by compaction as a result of repeated heavy footfall, then consider installing a permeable garden path. If that compaction is as a result of recent building work and/or poor drainage, then use a garden fork to aerate the ground by repeatedly pressing its sharp tines deeply into the soil and then gently rocking it back and forth before lightly top dressing with a mix of John Innes compost/top soil and horticultural grit.

Moss growth as a result of high acidity in a soil (often found in areas with high rainfall) can be temporarily corrected with a top-dressing of garden lime (no more than 50g per sq m or 1½oz per sq yd), but this needs to be carefully judged. So do a soil test first and seek the advice of your local garden centre as regards timing the application.

Lawns can also grow poorly and become overwhelmed with moss when the soil is lacking in organic matter and available nutrients, a problem often seen in new gardens where the original layer of fertile top soil has been compromised by building work. In this case a top-dressing of compost and a light sprinkle of organic lawn feed will help. Leaving fresh clippings on the surface of the lawn to gently rot down and support soil health will also gradually boost fertility levels. But only do this with short clippings (longer clippings can be composted or used as an organic mulch on flower and vegetable beds) as otherwise you run the risk of smothering grass growth.

Increasingly, gardeners are also weighing up the financial and environmental costs of a conventional lawn-cutting regime. As a result, rather than using fossil-fuel-guzzling conventional lawnmowers, eco-minded lawn-lovers are turning to push mowers or to rechargeable, time-saving robotic mowers which, although they’re not cheap, will do the hard work for you (see robotmower.ie and tossbryan.ie)

For obvious environmental reasons, watering your lawn during a dry spell is also a thing of the past. But be reassured that an organically managed lawn will survive even prolonged periods of drought and that its temporary shade of yellow-gold is now seen as a badge of honour, rather than one of shame.

Last but not least, no matter how poorly your lawn grows, please don’t consider using a plastic alternative. Few things are less sustainable or crueler to garden wildlife and soil health than artificial grass, which contributes significantly to the problems of soil pollution, soil compaction, urban flooding and landfill. Plus, that sad, sterile patch of green polythene couldn’t be further from a living lawn if it tried.

This week in the garden…

In the kitchen garden or allotment, sow seed of carrots, beetroot, parsnips, annual spinach, chard, radishes, turnip, peas and runner beans. It’s also time to get young vegetable transplants in the ground so that they can make rapid, healthy growth in the weeks and months ahead. If conditions are cool and windy, a layer of fleece will help protect them. Good site preparation is key to success. As a rule, most vegetables like a sunny, sheltered spot and a friable, fertile, weed-free soil.

Early June is the ideal time to sow seed of hardy biennials such as sweet William (Dianthus barbatus), Canterbury bells (Campanula medium), honesty (Lunaria annua), foxgloves (Digitalis) and forget-me-nots (Myosotis). Sow into pots/trays of compost or outdoors into a well-prepared seedbed for transplanting into their final positions later in the year.

Dates for your diary

Continuing until Monday, June 6th, Ireland’s biggest annual garden show Bloom is at Phoenix Park this weekend with a wide variety of show gardens, a new outdoor nursery village and many other attractions. Tickets from €25, see bordbiabloom.com for details.

Sunday, June 12th, (2pm-6 pm), the Rathmines Open Gardens 2022, will take place in six private gardens and the Trinity College Botanic Garden will open as part of it. For detail see rathminesinitiative.com or contact Michael Kelly on 087 6697722.

Also on Sunday, June 12th, at Spink Community Grounds, Abbeyleix, Co Laois, “Buds and Blossoms Laois Garden Festival’ with plant sales by specialist nurseries, and talks and demonstrations by guest speakers Mary Keenan, editor of The Irish Garden magazine and owner of Gash Gardens & Nursery; Hester Forde, owner of Coosheen Gardens & Nursery; and Fionnuala Fallon, see laoisgardenfestival.com for details.