Gardeners urged to let lawns run wild to find out how many bees they support

Now, as a national nectar score quantifies for the first time how much gardens can produce, a picture can be painted of what works in creating pollen-rich lawns.

And with the findings could come new ways, say botanists and beekeepers, that careful lawn tendering could lend a huge boost to all the nation’s pollinators.

Charity Plantlife is now advising a two-tone lawn as it launches ‘No Mow May’, trimming the grass just once a month while leaving a ‘Mohican’ stripe to let taller flowers bloom.

“The sheer quantity of flowers and nectar production on lawns mown once a month can be astonishing,” said Dr Trevor Dines, Plantlife’s botanical specialist.

“Between 1980 and 2013, every square kilometre in the UK lost an average of 11 species of bee and hoverfly, so the dense patchwork of lawns provided by British gardens really can throw our pollinators a lifeline. We just have to let the flowers bloom.”

Chairman of the Selby Beekeepers’ Association, Chriss Line, says that since taking up the hobby, his awareness of nature has dramatically changed.

“I must be one of the few who gets excited to see dandelions on my lawn,” he says. “I know they are such a rich source of nectar.

“When I became a beekeeper, I started to recognise all these flowers, and watch out for them. Sometimes we don’t realise just what’s growing on our lawns.”

Mr Line, who has five hives in his own garden, says interaction with these “gentle” creatures can be wonderful, in a boost to wellbeing and a oneness with nature.

“We are learning so much from bees,” he said. “There’s not a university in this land that’s not doing at least one project on honey bees. They enrich a part of your life, because of that interaction we have with nature.

“We are being encouraged to let the grass go wild, in sections,” he adds. “It’s quite amazing what people can find in their gardens.”

Nectar counting

One lawn creates enough nectar sugar in a single day to support 1,088 honeybees, charity Plantlife has found, following its Every Flower Counts survey.

Citizen scientists, asked to count the flowers in a square metre of their lawns, had found more than 200 species of plant including rare meadow saxifrage.

The best production of lawn flowers was found on grass cut every four weeks, the charity found, boosting nectar ten-fold as short grass plants bloomed.

Launching ‘No Mow May’ today, it is calling on gardeners to let lawns grow, in readiness for a count at the end of the month.

Ian Dunn, Plantlife’s chief executive, said: “After a mild winter, spring has been superb for flowers like dandelions and daisies and, as tempting as it might be to get the mower out while on lockdown, these results highlight in bold the botanical jewels that reward patience.”

How to 'No Mow May'

Plantlife’s ‘No Mow May’ begins today, with communities urged to let the flowers grow ahead of the Every Flower Counts survey.

Then, in the final week of May, people can count the flowers in a square metre of their lawn to get their own personal nectar score, and find out how many bees it supports.

Last year’s survey found the most abundant lawn flowers are daisy, white clover and selfheal, with 191,200 daisies counted in 2019.

All lawn flowers in the survey produced 23kg of nectar sugar per day, enough to support over two million honeybees.

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