WHAT THE GARDENERS SAY

Cut less,
grow more.

How often you mow decides what can flower.

A lawn cut every week stays neat but rarely blooms. Plantlife, the RHS and a field study of suburban lawns all point the same way: mow less often, and leave more than one length of grass.

MOW-SAIC two or three lengths

Check your mowing

A back garden lawn with a neatly mown path running through a patch of longer grass dotted with daisies, clover and buttercups in summer light — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Mow less often
Raise the blades
Leave a long patch
Less effort, more flowers

THE SHORT ANSWER

Fewer cuts,
more flowers.

You do not have to give up a tidy lawn.
Changing how often and how short you cut is enough to start.

FREQUENCY

Every few weeks

In a Massachusetts study, lawns mowed every three weeks had as much as 2.5 times more lawn flowers than lawns mowed every one or two weeks.

Check your mowing

MOW-SAIC

Two or three lengths

Plantlife says keeping 2 to 3 different grass lengths through the summer gives the most variety of flowers and nectar.

How to do it

LONG GRASS

Leave a wild strip

Unmown areas let taller flowers such as oxeye daisy bloom and give shelter to hedgehogs and toads, Plantlife says.

Mowing safely

A QUICK MOWING CHECK

How often
do you cut?

Pick the way you mow most of the summer. The bar shows how much room it leaves for lawn flowers, going by Plantlife, RHS and research guidance.

Mowing check

Choose a routineEvery week, cut shortEvery two weeksEvery three weeksOnce a month, 2.5 to 5 cmA patch left uncut all year

Every week, cut shortNeat, few flowers

The RHS says a conventional lawn is mown about once a week in summer. It stays neat, but low-growing flowers get little time to bloom.

Every two weeksSome flowers

In the Massachusetts study, two-weekly lawns had the most bees overall, but fewer kinds of bee than lawns cut every three weeks.

Every three weeksUp to 2.5× flowers

Lawns mowed every three weeks had as much as 2.5 times more lawn flowers than those cut every one or two weeks.

Once a month, 2.5 to 5 cmDaisies and trefoil

Plantlife suggests mowing short areas once a month to 1 to 2 inches so daisies and bird's-foot-trefoil can flower freely.

A patch left uncut all yearTall flowers, shelter

Long patches let oxeye daisy and field scabious bloom and give food, shelter and nesting spots to wildlife such as hedgehogs and toads.

Sources: Lerman, Contosta, Milam and Bang (2018), Biological Conservation 221; Plantlife, No Mow May; RHS, Lawn mowing guide.

Based on Plantlife's No Mow May guidance, the RHS lawn mowing guide and Lerman and colleagues (2018). Every lawn and soil is different.

TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

Lawns can fill
a meadow-sized gap.

One figure on what mowing less does,
one on how much flower-rich grassland has gone.

2.5× more

More lawn flowers when mowed every three weeks

Researchers mowed 16 suburban yards in western Massachusetts every one, two or three weeks. Three-weekly lawns had as much as 2.5 times more lawn flowers, a 'lazy lawnmower' approach to bee habitat.

MOWING STUDY · BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION

≈ 97%

Flower-rich meadows lost since the 1930s

Plantlife says approximately 97% of flower-rich meadows have been lost since the 1930s, and with them food and habitat for wildlife. It counts more than 20 million gardens in the UK.

LOST MEADOWS · PLANTLIFE

Plantlife launched No Mow May in 2018. Its aim, in its own words, is to get people cutting less, for longer.

FOUR STEPS TO TRY

A wilder lawn,
still a usable one.

None of these needs new kit. They are about when, how short and where you cut.

Skip May
Stop mowing in early May, all of the lawn or just a section. The RHS says it is even better to leave it until August.
Raise the blades
Never take off more than a third of the grass height. A higher cut also lets smaller wildflowers thrive, the RHS says.
Keep a mow-saic
Keep a short area cut monthly, a meadow area cut 2 to 3 times a year outside April to August, and a patch left long.
Take the cuttings away
Plantlife advises removing grass cuttings so nutrients do not build up, which can hold back many wild plants.

A push lawnmower parked on the edge of a lawn beside an uncut strip of tall grass and oxeye daisies along a fence — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

A bumblebee feeding on white clover flowers among short lawn grass, seen close up — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

MOWING LONG GRASS

Check first,
cut towards safety.

Before cutting long grass, Plantlife says to check it for wildlife and never to mow from the edges towards the centre, which leaves animals no escape. Work gradually towards uncut strips instead.

Set the blades as high as possible and cut strips half the mower's width, then go over again lower. The RHS advises checking long grass for hedgehogs before strimming and wearing sturdy footwear when mowing.

Questions

Questions people ask

How often should I mow for wildlife?

Plantlife suggests mowing short areas about once a month to 1 to 2 inches, and leaving other areas longer. The RHS says flower-rich lawns can be mown every four to six weeks in summer.

What is No Mow May?

Plantlife's annual campaign, launched in 2018, asking people to stop mowing all or part of their lawn from May so wildflowers can grow and feed pollinators.

Will a longer lawn look untidy?

Plantlife recommends a 'mow-saic' of 2 to 3 lengths, so you can keep short paths and areas for use while longer patches flower. The RHS notes lawns always left too long can become weak for sport and foot traffic.

What height should I cut my lawn?

The RHS suggests 13 to 25 mm in summer and up to 40 mm in spring and autumn for ordinary lawns, and never removing more than a third of the height at once.

What about ticks in long grass?

Plantlife says ticks in gardens are increasing. It advises long trousers, checking yourself after being in long grass, and, where ticks are common, a shorter lawn mown once every four weeks.

Cut less,
grow more.