42
"No Mow May" won't fix our biodiversity problems
(www.motherjones.com)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 18 May 2024
42 points (92.0% liked)
Earth, Environment, and Geosciences
1798 readers
1 users here now
Welcome to c/EarthScience @ Mander.xyz!
Notice Board
This is a work in progress, please don't mind the mess.
- 2023-06-13: We are looking for mods. Send a dm to @fossilesque@mander.xyz if interested!
What is geoscience?
Geoscience (also called Earth Science) is the study of Earth. Geoscience includes so much more than rocks and volcanoes, it studies the processes that form and shape Earth's surface, the natural resources we use, and how water and ecosystems are interconnected. Geoscience uses tools and techniques from other science fields as well, such as chemistry, physics, biology, and math! Read more...
Quick Facts
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Be kind and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
Jobs
Teaching Resources
Tools
- GitHub - RichardScottOZ/mineral-exploration-machine-learning: List of resources for mineral exploration and machine learning, generally with useful code and examples.
Climate
Similar Communities
- !openscience@lemmy.ml
- !reclamation@slrpnk.net
- !geology@lemmy.ca
- !geophysics@lemmy.ca
- !geologycareers@lemmy.ca
- !mining@lemmy.ca
Sister Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !microbiology@mander.xyz
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
Plants & Gardening
Physical Sciences
Humanities and Social Sciences
- !archaeology@mander.xyz
- !cooking@mander.xyz
- !folklore@mander.xyz
- !history@mander.xyz
- !old_maps@mander.xyz
Memes
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Nowhere in the article was there a link for an actual multi year study.
We stopped mowing when we moved two years ago. I'm currently outside in my hammock, surrounded by butterflies and birds everywhere, which weren't here when we moved. Fuck lawns.
We grow a lot of plants and live in an area that has an excessive volume of invasive species. No mow may is wonderful but please be aware of invasives and act to control them. No now may is leading to invasives getting very out of control here and impacting local biodiversity a lot.
You can do both. You can keep the yard under control and still have butterflies, bees, birds, etc. I don't fertilize, bug spray, etc and not only is my yard a bitch and a half to mow if I let it go or can't get to it, the wildlife that is making the yard home is awesome.
Invasive species you say? Like the lawn?
Most lawn if left to nature will resestablish. Invasives actively repel an areas natural species and take space from them forcing them out.
Listen I agree with the sentiment, but certain grasses are much more invasive than others. Like I would have to rip out KR bluestem on sight if I saw a seed head coming up, whereas St. Augustine is also invasive but dies away in a flash without artificial irrigation so not as big of a problem. If I were to let my yard go without easing into controlled reintroduction of native grasses, herbs, and wildflowers, I would just get overwhelmed by KR getting blown in and self sowing into the dead patches of bare topsoil.
I'm not sure if I have KR bluestem, but I do seem to have at least 6 types of different grass. This is the second year of no-mow:
I have a huge yard and do my best to keep it under control, I still have a ton of birds, butterflies, fireflies, etc in my yard all the time. I even saw a groundhog or similar the other day.
Did you just stop entirely and do nothing else? Or did you do some sort of zeriscaping or something?
I hate our lawn, but I don't know how to transition it to something else. I don't really have time to figure it all out myself and do all the physical labor of changing the lawn to something more manageable. So I just kinda mow here and there.
For the backyard, I did nothing (for the front yard, I did get a ton of wood chips to try to kill off the grass). This is second year of no-mow: