Anyone else letting their lawns grow?

[Rob_D]

The last two summers I've allowed the grass in my small back garden to grow to attract more wildlife. I have a hard time convincing people that it's for a good reason, and not just because I am lazy. The social pressure to mow lawns seems quite strong! The main successes so far seem to be with several frogs and plenty of slugs! There are probably loads more insects, but I can't really judge.

Anyone else letting their lawn grow? Have you had any good results? I'd like to think the idea might catch on - better habitats for wildlife, less noise from lawnmowers, and less energy wasted too!

[village wench]

Originally Posted by Rob_D

The last two summers I've allowed the grass in my small back garden to grow to attract more wildlife. I have a hard time convincing people that it's for a good reason, and not just because I am lazy. The social pressure to mow lawns seems quite strong! The main successes so far seem to be with several frogs and plenty of slugs! There are probably loads more insects, but I can't really judge.

Anyone else letting their lawn grow? Have you had any good results? I'd like to think the idea might catch on - better habitats for wildlife, less noise from lawnmowers, and less energy wasted too!

Last year I developed a really nasty allergic asthma ,everything pollen producing from march to mid June makes me really quite ill,bit of a blow to someone who has spent every spare minute of their life walking about the countryside,a side effect has been a very neglected lawn,I now have a mini meadow full of all sorts of interesting bugs and spiders etc as well as field mice and voles............

[seamusagleann]

interesting thread!!...this year our forest has adopted a non"bowling green" policy on grass cutting ,with remakable results, wild flowers and sedges abound, increasing butterfly and inscect life...less is deffinately more!!

[cat72uk]

i have had a wild bit fot a year now
get lots of bees & butterflies

[djackso]

My two small wild areas harbour froglets and grasshoppers - I am under the impression that long grass is important for some of the brown butterflies - but I need to check this.

I keep larger mown areas for starlings, blackbirds etc - there is plenty of insect life here too - leatherjackets being a speciality.

[nutmeg]

I've been letting my lawns grow for a few years now. Unfortunately, they're not the wonderful wildflower meadows I'd really like because they're way too fertile and the grasses are rather vigorous - but they certainly attract many insects and other things... including grass snakes, which terrify me because I have a snake phobia

I expect passers by look at the front garden and despair, thinking it neglected! I, however, am enjoying watching the many ringlets, gatekeepers and other butterflies making use of it at the moment

[Dillibags]

I've just this year started leaving parts of the back lawn unmown - not an enormous amount as only have a small garden to start with! But am looking forward with great interest to see how it works, especially as baby frogs are starting to leave the pond which is what made me try it

[Blackdogjnr]

I left a portion of the lawn to grow and with the wind and cats, after getting to knee height the grass just ended up looking all flat and looked pretty naff to be honest.

I was actually thinking of setting up 2 raised boxes next year, one for vegetables and one for a mini-meadow, I feel this might be a bit more of a controlled way of managing and enjoying a wild patch. Also cats are less likely to poo in it I reckon.

Anyone have any tips on mini meadows?
I have no idea when to seed and how to nurture this sort of thing.
Does it have to be a case of starting from scratch every spring or will the box have a life cycle?

thanks

[shei111]

Hello I let the area around the pond do its own thing usually gets about 1 foot tall grows between the logs etc. The main lawn gets cut every 2 to 3 weeks the grass dont seem to grow so much this time of year espeically when we dont get much rain and I water the trees and shrubs every night,but dont water the grass, when I was watering some shrubs tonight a good 30 feet away from the pond out jumped 3 frogs from beneath. They say if you have a wildlife lawn dont cut it from early may to end of july. shei

[Meta menardi]

I have never cut all my grass (Water-voles have lawns). I have even had other people cut what I wanted to leave (just helping, are you busy?). I can extend this to over manicured villages, Street lights on old village greens, concrete kerbs where grass used to just end, becks on village greens fenced off and so on.

Death to britain in bloom and best kept villages. Often petty minded people who just want it all to look nice. Nice is so nice