Discussion on ways to help pollinators in the community of Mount Vernon went before the council on items that weren’t on the agenda last week, and it’s a discussion that’s getting buzz in other communities.
No Mow May is a campaign that’s championed by Bee City USA, as a way, like Karen Mills stated, to help early pollinators get a bigger foothold.
According to Bee City USA, “The start of the growing season is a critical time for hungry, newly emerging native bees. Floral resources may be hard to find, especially in urban and suburban landscapes. By allowing lawns to grow longer, and not applying pesticides to flowering plants in your lawn, you can provide nectar and pollen to help your bee neighbors thrive.”
The measure of No Mow Mays has sprung up within the past few years, getting support in Appleton, Wis., who made the decision not to enforce the city’s weed ordinance for the month of May.
Last year, Mills was one of a handful of citizens in Mount Vernon who took part in the sustainability effort. She was encouraging the City of Mount Vernon to adopt a stance similar to Appleton – do not enforce the ordinance on weeds in the community until after the first weekend in June to help give bees and other pollinators more help in the area.
The city ordinance on Grass, Weeds, Vines and Brush (Chapter 54) currently does not have any enforcement dates. It notes that “All owners of residential property shall maintain their property and the abutting boulevard by cutting or destroying all grasses, weeds, vines and brush when said growth exceeds twelve (12) inches in height.”
If a property owner doesn’t comply, city staff mow the property themselves and the bill for doing so is given to the property owner.
We get the goal of the city’s ordinance is to make sure that the city has an aesthetic look and to curb the number of nuisances, and that not enforcing the ordinance for the month of May will lead to discontent from people used to things being done in a certain way.
But studies have shown that bees are more abundant with reduced mowing. Susannah Lerman, a research ecologist with the USDA Forest Service, and her collaborators explored how frequently lawns mowed impacted bee abundance and diversity.
They found the sweet spot for bees and biodiversity came from a mowing every other week approach. Mowing every week reduced too many flowering species, and every three weeks while the flowering of items like clover and dandelions increased, it became harder for pollinators to find the flowers because there were too many to choose from.
Mount Vernon has prided itself on being at the forefront of other sustainability procedures in the past, like the recycling program that was started in the 1980s here.
It’s time to give No Mow May a try and live up to the Bee City designation by helping pollinators in our communities.