While it may seem like a really good excuse to sit back in a chair with your feet up and ignore the garden for a bit, there is a serious point behind the ‘No Mow May’ campaign. If you leave the grass on lawns, hedgerows and churchyards to grow for just this one month, it helps save our wildlife. In particular, insects, bees, butterflies, moths, hedgehogs, frogs, toads, newts, dragonflies, damselflies, and birds, because they all need longer grass to thrive.
Not mowing your grass for just this one month can result in enough nectar for ten times more bees and other pollinators.
Care of our wildlife matters “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1)
The earth does not belong to us - it belongs to God! It is a gift from God, a home that we share with the rest of creation. With this gift comes responsibility, we haven’t free licence to exploit God’s earth simply for our own pleasure and advantage. We have been given responsibility to act as stewards of his creation; to care for, manage, oversee and protect all that God owns.
Our earth, God’s earth, can no longer cope with the demands humans place on our natural resources. If we continue to exploit and abuse God’s earth, what will be left for future generations to inherit?
If all of us can leave the grass to grow (even if only part of a lawn) for this one month, together, we can make a difference. Maybe even allow a rare species to survive!