Plantlife: one man went to mow … but maybe he should wait

Lawns that are only cut once a month can give low-growing plants a chance to flower, letting insects thrive

Lawn mowers are back in action now that June is wet and the grass is growing again after the spring drought, but it's worth mowing less often to let wildflowers and their insect pollinators thrive.

A survey by volunteers for the charity Plantlife found that 80% of lawns supported the equivalent of about 400 bees a day, attracted to nectar-rich flowers. But lawns cut only once a month gave low-growing plants a chance to flower in profusion, boosting nectar production 10-fold and attracting up to about 4,000 bees a day.

Plants such as the daisy, white clover and bird's-foot trefoil are superbly adapted to growing in short grass, with stems well out of the way of mower blades, but carry on producing lots of flowers every few weeks. If these flowers are cut off, the plants produce more flowers, boosting nectar production. Lawns left completely uncut for several months had an even greater variety of wild flowers, with taller plants like oxeye daisy, red clover, field scabious and knapweed.

The advice from Plantlife is to try a mix of both mowing regimes - cut lawns every four weeks but ideally leaving some parts set aside for longer grass where a wider range of flowers can thrive.