mow it like a meadow

Changing weather patterns and the need to encourage greater diversity in the garden have led a major UK lawnmower company to advise gardeners to revise their lawn mowing regime – even if it means reducing the number of times they cut the grass.

Earlier this year, John Deere launched National Gardens Park – a campaign to protect domestic garden lawns from the ravages of car parking, building and hard landscaping.

"We recognise that the traditional British lawn of low-cut stripes is not particularly valuable to wildlife. We want to encourage greater bio-diversity among lawn owners. Our changing weather patterns now urgently demand that we revise the way we mow," says John Deere's David Hart.

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The conservation charity, RSPB, agrees and has some useful advice for gardeners.

Its urban adviser, John Day, says: "We believe that the humble lawn is a hugely undervalued wildlife resource. By raising the height of cut and setting aside a long area of grass, people can make an important contribution to their local wildlife."

And leaving a specific area of the lawn uncut so that the wild flowers bloom and seed heads develop on the grasses will help bees, butterflies and some garden birds, says Paul Wilkinson, head of Living Landscape at the Wildlife Trust.

"With the steady disappearance of traditional pastures, garden lawns are turned to as vital refuelling stations for birds and insects in the search for food." Many gardeners already work with their lawns in alternative ways moving away from a mono-culture lawn with intense close cutting, to more eco-friendly methods.

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Speaking about its 3,500 strong open gardens, Julia Grant, CEO of NGS Gardens Open for Charity (The National Gardens Scheme), said: "Many of the NGS gardens open to the public across the country offer wonderful examples of ingenious alternatives to the traditional lawn: chamomile, moss, bog gardens or flower meadows as well, of course, as grass.

"Many of our garden owners are committed to preserving and attracting wildlife, and John Deere's National Gardens Park is a valuable contribution to the debate," added Julia.

The key John Deere National Gardens Park gardeners' checklist:

Raise the height of cut of your lawn mower throughout the season.

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Leave a specific area of the lawn uncut so that the wild flowers bloom and seed heads develop on the grasses to help bees, butterflies and some garden birds.

Develop a lawn care regime that relies on autumn and spring scarifying to create healthy grass.

"It does not matter where you live in the UK, the lawn will have been affected by this year's weather. We have had torrential rain in some areas and sub-Saharan drought in others. We have to deal with the consequences of this, and not changing the way we mow our lawns is simply no longer an option," adds John Deere's David Hart.

For more information or to sign up, visit www.johndeere.co.uk/nationalgardenspark

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