Wildlife garden
A flowering lawn: mow less, enjoy more flowers
A lawn becomes rich in flowers if you mow less often and higher (every three to four weeks, at 5–6 cm), stop feeding it and leave the daisies, white clover, dandelions, ground ivy and selfheal.
What to do
- Take part in No Mow May and let your lawn grow and flower in May.
- Then set the mower to 5–6 cm and mow every three to four weeks instead of every week.
- Stop using fertiliser and products against moss or weeds: clover takes nitrogen from the air itself.
- Keep a path or the edges short and leave the rest longer: the garden looks cared for and still has flowers.
- Don’t use a robotic mower in the evening or at night, and check during the day that there is no hedgehog or toad in the grass.
Why it helps
- A short, fertilised lawn is almost a green desert. With a few flowers in it, bees, bumblebees and hoverflies find food, even close to the house.
- A longer lawn dries out less quickly in summer and stays green when a closely cut lawn has already turned brown.
Which plants?
- Daisy Bellis perennis annual · flowers March–June Native
- White clover Trifolium repens herbaceous plant Native
- Dandelion Taraxacum officinale herbaceous plant Native
- Ground-ivy Glechoma hederacea herbaceous plant Native
- Self-heal Prunella vulgaris perennial · flowers June–September Native
- Germander speedwell Veronica chamaedrys herbaceous plant Native
- Cat’s-ear Hypochaeris radicata herbaceous plant Native
- Black medick Medicago lupulina herbaceous plant Native
- Bird's-foot trefoil Lotus corniculatus perennial · flowers May–September Native
- Creeping buttercup Ranunculus repens herbaceous plant Native
When?
April–September.
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Take up the challenge
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No Mow May (May)
Let your lawn grow and flower in May: daisies, clover and dandelions feed bees and butterflies.
Did you know? In dry summers white clover often stays green for longer than grass, and with the bacteria in its root nodules it takes its own nitrogen from the air.