No Mow: Yes or No? | Everything You Need to Know! | No Mow May

[@niallgardens]

If you’ve enjoyed watching this video, or you like the channel it’d be amazing if you’d share it on your social media and let other people know. Let’s keep building this community of ours! Thanks everyone! ☺️

[@stevekent3991]

I ditched the thought of having a lawn about ten years ago once I started getting into improving and maintaining soil life. I have a small garden compared to yours. I use a strimmer maybe three or four times a year. I leave the grass cuttings where they land to decompose as mulch and to feed the soil. What I have found from my experiment: 1. Less time spent looking after the grass 2. Accumulation of moss (like walking on luxury carpet) 3. Drought resistance grass (when my area went through a drought/hose pipe ban one summer, my front garden was the only garden on my street with green grass, all my neighbours had brown dead looking lawns) 4. Build up of organic matter and soil life 5. I added some raised vegetable beds on top on the grass, veg grows great and water retention is fabulous, no need to water the plants except when I initially plant seedlings to help them settle in. 6. More wild flowers and beneficial insects 7. Messy looking grass but I don’t care, my focus is soil life 8. Neighbours thinking you are a lazy so and so bringing down the look of your neighbourhood 9. An understanding how agriculture has to change it’s ways, farms should never suffer from droughts if they focus on building and maintaining soil life. 10. It’s always good to experiment when it comes to gardening even if other people take a dim view of your actions, be yourself and just do it. The best lessons we learn are the ones we experience at first hand.

[@niallgardens]

Steve what can I say... thank you so much for sharing your experiences. This is brilliant, detailed information that I think will be of so much interest to other people reading the comments. It's great to hear a positive, balanced view on it all. And congrats because what you have sounds awesome!!! Thanks again! ❤️

[@cpnoboat7659]

Your comment is particularly encouraging! I'm experimenting in a similar manner with my backyard. We moved to this house 2 years ago; it has a third acre of big trees and "lawn" mostly under shade. My husband likes lawn a lot, but he doesn't want to spend money on watering, fertilizing, reseeding, etc., while thinking the lawn will keep its beauty magically. So, he hasn't done anything to keep it alive, which makes me happy, because what I want is the lawn to die, to see what grows and keep the soil alive. Under the lawn it's like a desert: no worms, no living creatures, but there are seeds of different kind, weeds and natives. The good news is that I've come to see a difference this year. Part of our backyard is pretty green now; from the distance you would think it's lawn well kept, but it's indeed clover, violet, moss, and another beautiful tiny plant I haven't been able to identify, depending on how much sun each part of the backyard receives. In between there's still grass but weak and much less abundant. When my husband traveled abroad for one month last fall, I didn't rake the leaves. After the rain and the natural decomposition, we found a beautiful moss carpet under the leaves. Hopefully, it will spread even more this year. I'm seeing the subtle changes in the quality of soil. I just hope that my husband is open this year to leave the leaves. We're planning on filling certain spot with Pennsylvania sedge, which is a native in this part of the country just to have kind of that lawn look that my husband likes; I'm chosing different native flowers and shrubs to create different pollinators sections in our lot at the same time. What I've learned in several garden classes is that when you choose natives, there's less yard workload in the sense that you need less watering, no fertilizing and even weeds get under control and you learn to accept some of them. Let's see what I think in the future, but for now I'm glad for the opportunity of doing my part for the wildlife. Thanks for you thoughts!

[@tarar6926]

Thanks so much for being really honest about the negatives. There are so many videos that are just "don't mow your lawn, it'll be fine!" and I really appreciate that you took the time to be honest to help the rest of us.

[@melanieallen8980]

my perfect lawn neighbours would hate this!!! I love this idea! Thanks.Im going to do this!😁

[@familyfruit9833]

Another option to try, is leaving the lawn until just as the grass begins to flower, then mow. It might be several weeks between mowings that way and shorter wildflower species will have time to flower in between, but you avoid the hayfever. I used to live somewhere that had stunning short wildflower lawns with such an incredible diversity and they were managed like this. Don't know if they were planted or developed naturally. I counted about 30 different flower species all intermingled, it was only about a ⅓ grass.

[@niallgardens]

That is an interesting option for sure. Thanks very much for the sharing the info - much appreciated!

[@annetnienhuis6180]

Thank you for mentioning this option. I would like to improve the biodiversity of my lawn, but my son suffers from hay fever. He is very allergic to grass pollen and also to tree pollen. At this moment my lawn is unmown and I have a lot of daisies, dandelions and cuckoo flowers, but when the grasses are coming into flower I will start mowing. I hope mowing once in 2 to 3 weeks will do the trick 🤞🏼

[@jaypeter7446]

Nice presentation. Thanks! I have 3 acres, half of it woods, and I stopped mowing between trees and near the edge of the woods. I love the way it looks.

[@niallgardens]

Sounds great! Having that margin along the edge of the woods really will look brilliant!

[@flapjackfae]

I just bought my first house, with more yard than I really need, and I'm pondering lawnternatives. This really helped. Thank you!

[@andrewwalsh1652]

Very interesting and honest comments - that have proved to be helpful. Great that you draw attention to the drawbacks and disadvantages that can be avoided. 'Negatives' are positives when we learn from your experiences !

[@King_of_carrot_flowers]

I've really grown to dislike the unnatural appearance of mown grass, clipped hedges, gravel with nothing growing in it, bare soil, etc. The less chopped a garden looks, to me, the better. I'm considering putting a boardwalk through my lawn and just never mowing it.

[@niallgardens]

Wow! I can just imagine a boardwalk floating over the top of long grass.... stunning! I totally agree with you - I think as gardeners, we're all adjusting to more natural looks and just how beautiful they really are!

[@robertyoung1777]

I mow every three weeks here in Vermont. The mower deck set high up. We have about an acre of lawn. We rake up the thatch so it doesn’t create a mat and kill the lawn. Leaves get rated up in the fall and dumped in the woods. Lower energy than mowing every week and more biodiversity in the lawn. Experiment

[@niallgardens]

Thanks for the info Robert 👍

[@jeffreyrossi5084]

Great presentation! I'm glade you took time to explain the pros and cons of this garden style, there are many. The house I sold a year ago presented another option. It was a very woodsy shady yard so it had a low PH. I encouraged the many varieties of moss and It even gave me a green yard in the winter. I would mow it only every 3-4 weeks and it always looked great (to me).

[@niallgardens]

Thanks Jeffrey! Hope you're well. Yeah I think it's a big topic and is often presented as being 'too easy' on TV... so I though it was worth discussing. The moss lawn sounds great, I heard an expert on the radio recommending that a couple of weeks ago. I was very tempted to give that a go also!

[@jeromegagnon8335]

Super informative! Thank you. I think that long grass looks good when juxtaposed to a very well trimmed grass. The contrast between the two is the key.

[@niallgardens]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks! Yeah I totally agree - it's that contrast that makes it look deliberate and managed 😃

[@lynnelane7964]

Thank you Niall i loved everything about this video including your lovely accent. I am just going to leave a circle under one of our apple trees and see how i get on with that. Our (new )garden has a lot more grass than our old one which i managed with a push and pull, this new one is in lots of sections with some up hill bits that i struggled with using an electric mower (only had one cut since moving in in Nov) I normally enjoy grass cutting but when it took me over 2 hrs i can imagine it soon becoming a chore. Thank you once again for your time and help.

[@melissamybubbles6139]

Thank you so much. I'm thinking about how to do a Colorado version of this. My lawn is much, much smaller than yours. There are a few small patches, mostly around edges, that never fully came in. Rather than trying to seed with regular grass, I'd like to try native blue gramma grass, buffalo grass, a mix, or creeping thyme. Eventually I might add a few small western wildflowers in those patches. Keeping in mind foot and hand feel and especially hay fever is such an important point.

[@niallgardens]

You're welcome! I love the sound of the different grasses and thyme - think that could be lovely. The wildflowers as well will be beautiful. Let me know how you get on!

[@InspirationSessions]

First one of your videos I’ve watched, Niall, but really useful and timely. We’re lucky to have recently moved into a house with a decent amount of lawn/meadow, not as large as your lawn but bigger than most back gardens. We’re into wildlife and have been debating how best to balance maintenance with supporting biodiversity. So this video was a godsend, and has also reminded me to invest in a strimmer before it’s too late!

[@niallgardens]

Fantastic! That's brilliant that you found my video and even better that you found it useful! Keep me posted with how you get on!

[@annecoogan5164]

Thank you Niall for your honesty!! I do want to do this and I want to know ALL the details. You have provided that info and inspired me .

[@travellerseko]

I discovered your channel yesterday and I loved you. You are brilliant, thanks for great video. Hi from Glasgow

[@lavenderlovelifeuk]

Thank you so much for this video ❤ I have a small garden, but I am still struggling with the workload. I will try no mow. Wish me luck.

[@niallgardens]

You can do it!

[@brigittebilodeau8579]

I truly liked your video !! Thank you for the advices you are giving from your experience . I agree some websites just talk about how beneficial it is for the pollinators but forget to mentioned all the work that need done at the end of the season . I am going to do the no mow May than mow every 3 weeks . I will also leave some patches like you are doing it’s a good tip ! Thanks great video

[@niallgardens]

You are so welcome! Glad you found the video worthwhile!

[@GardenDiscovery]

Very comprehensive review! I love the look of a no mow. Couldn't do it here with any great success due long periods of drought, thus reduction of water usage, etc. Ireland i perfect climate for no mow and has the most gorgeous natural landscapes with wildflowers. So glad you got the experience. Thanks for sharing.

[@melissasullivan1658]

Yup. I’m in Northern California. Our no-mow would look instantly derelict. Which is sad because his looks SO beautiful.

[@niallgardens]

Thanks Kelley! Yeah Ireland is a great place to do it and bringing that little bit of the wild into the garden looks and feels great!

[@niallgardens]

Thanks Melissa! We're so lucky with our climate here so everything is always green and lush!

[@melissamybubbles6139]

Hmm. I'm in Colorado. I've been seeing recommendations for blue gramma grass, buffalo grass, creeping thyme, and maybe some other stuff as the base lawn material, or as accents in a xeriscape. I don't know if those would work in California.

[@petervincent4461]

have you got Yellow rattle in your grass? It will reduce the grass height. Also try a lawn meadow, which you mow down to 4" almost all the time

[@Seawithinyou]

Got my lawn hippy natural Looking too but will put Wildflowers in Spring! 🌞💖

[@niallgardens]

Sounds great!

[@LorraineG123]

What a lovely and useful video,, as the saying goes,'the grass isn't always greener on the other side', nice to hear both sides of the story Niall,it looked so beautiful, and you had initial great memories that you are doing in smaller quantities, i love that. Listen re hayfever allergies, i swear by vaseline in the nose,one of my kids uses this idea and one won't, the one that does also has allergies to various animal hair, and with this method can carry on with life normally,the other stubbornly not so much,and has to take medication. Just a tip for you, as you share so many great tips. Enjoy our lovely day for ducks weather that we are instore for yet again. Thanks for sharing.

[@niallgardens]

Thanks so much Lorraine! I found it a really interesting thing to try, but it certainly had both upsides and downsides, so I though it was worth making a proper episode on it. I've never tried the vaseline idea - certainly heard of it before, but never actually given it a go! I should! Have a great weekend! ❤️

[@LorraineG123]

@@niallgardens i have seen the meadow effect,but the after effect is interesting, i do leave some things grow to let nature have it. Do try the vaseline, as i say one of ours swear by it.

[@patrice5177]

This was so funny and absolutely helpful. Thank you!

[@niallgardens]

You're so welcome!

[@claireleung5716]

👍Really informative video thanks a lot. This is exactly what I’m thinking to do this year for my front garden. And I was contemplating whether to let the whole area run wild or to try out a patch ,just few square meters. And you weighed up pro & cons perfectly for me.

[@numinous2506]

I'm gonna try Ruchia Nana, Scotch moss, and creeping thyme.

[@nauticalnovice9244]

If you won't mow, make sure you only have native plants to your area!

[@evasilvalayton758]

I appreciate your honesty

[@-Atmos1]

Good for Wildlife is a good reason , September / early October is the best time to cut a meadow .

[@FinnBjerke]

I was hoping for alternatives intead of talk talk talk. Some folks use Ruschia Nana but it dies if temperature goes under minus 6c.

[@limitlessends]

I appreciate your honesty.

[@niallmageemdbustaseedltd489]

No mow for 20% or so of the lawn. Long grass bordering short lawn looks fantastic! Long grass is super for butterflies, bumblebees, frogs, newts, hedgehogs and birds. Niall.

[@niallgardens]

Yeah I totally agree - having a mix of the two is just the best!

[@mab49696]

Why did you feel you had to cut the grass in august? Did you plant anything or let nature reseed the area? Why could you not show an ariel view of your area and paths? How wide were paths? What was ratio of natural vs mowed? Why did you feel need to discard cuttings clippings aftermowing? Is this not fertilizer? When you mow what is ideal mow height? In inches

[@lesfleurs9781]

Instead of grass plant white clover. You won’t need to cut anything because it’s low growing and the flowers bring many insects. The perfect natural one with no work.

[@ThatsTheSpiritGodCast]

Will I have to remove the grass first?

[@lesfleurs9781]

@@ThatsTheSpiritGodCast no you do not have to remove the grass, just let the clover take over. I have a combination of grass and clover, but eventually it will cover all of it. I keep seeding every spring with more clover. Just make sure it’s white clover.

[@amybailey7331]

Great advice, thank you. So good to hear honest opinions of practical experience. I will have a better idea of how to manage our first 'no mow' now. I think I might do similar to what you are doing this year, wider paths and swaths of long no mow and see how we get on.

[@niallgardens]

Glad it was helpful! Yeah I think that's a good plan - start off with a reasonable sized area rather than doing what I did!!

[@BillGrates1]

i hate the noise and noxious fumes from my neighbors weekly lawn care, (mowing and blowing leaves in fall). I run around the house slamming the windows and doors shut and stay inside until the warfare is over.

[@WackadoodleMalarkey]

Masanobu Fukuoka had a similar experience he wrote about in One Straw Revolution with orange trees and rice paddies

[@niallgardens]

I’ll have to look him up because I’m not familiar with the name!

[@zakelwe]

Thanks, love the downsides. Still going to go for it ... it's nature after all .... Thanks Niall, you did a blow by blow on it. Brilliant video. Given the current weather not had to mow my lawn at all, but that is not good for our insect friends. Amazon must do a scythe !

[@niallgardens]

Glad you enjoyed it, cheers Andrew! I could have done with an Amazon scythe! lol

[@doreenlatimer6379]

We love our lush green manicured lawn surrounded with our colourful shrub borders. We enjoy the scenery as we ride around on our ride on. Our lawn area is large. Could not live with a messy unkempt looking yard with invasive weeds. Long grass encourages hiding places for mosquitoes too. We enjoy strolling our garden year round, so lawn needs to be kept short. We fertilize and overseed once a year, so maintenance is minimal. Thanks for covering this controversial subject.

[@niallgardens]

Hi Doreen! Thanks for the comment and glad you found it interesting - I definitely think it's a big subject and worth exploring. Your lawn sounds gorgeous and I can certainly see your reasons for having it. Thankfully we don't really get mosquitos here - midges from time to time though! I think I've found the sweet spot for me and my garden - a mix of two!

[@crochetingaroundnewzealand]

I get tired of mowing but I use the grass to mulch all my gardens. In summer it all dies off and goes brown. I live on sand by the coast

[@niallgardens]

It's great to have all that grass as a resource that you can use in your own garden rather than it being disposed of - brilliant! Sounds like your soil type is very different from mine!

[@crochetingaroundnewzealand]

@@niallgardens I miss having real soil lol thinking of moving back inland

[@salviabuckwheats7434]

Check out more videos - there's some Biodiversity Ireland video - you needed to mow once more....early summer. But I am in the Midwest of the u.S. may be different. We shall see because I'l letting acres go to this. Yes, I will endeavor to have the right equipment.

[@niallgardens]

Thanks!

[@hazelmanship7516]

Loved the vid can't leave it to grow,grandchildren come and play, but next door don't do all there's so that's a bonus for the flying insects and bees,

[@niallgardens]

Yeah that's a good reason, and great that you've got some long grass next door

[@grantboucher2696]

i grew ground cover, and no mow means no mow i left a meadow and wood lot area

[@Peter-td3yk]

Neighbor has a no mow lawn..mostly native species.. One catch it takes much longer to blow out the front yard..I hear her lawn guys gas blower running forever.. Then there are the weeds that need to be removed, I see a lot of bending going on.. It seems native grasses hold stuff... All I know is I damn well know her yard is being done..

[@tecmow4399]

“Brazilian” no mow is definitely the way to go! Do you have any farmers nearby who’d cut and bale it up for hay? The footage was worth it 😉

[@niallgardens]

Brazilian 😂😂😂 We do have farmers actually, but access into our garden is extremely tight which makes getting any machinery into the back garden almost impossible unfortunately

[@mab49696]

Where is the information of what you recomend doing. All i heard in this video was how the experience made you feel. Please give details

[@jasminelouisefarrall]

Great advice Niall 🥰

[@harrypaul2718]

I have left my lawn for 5-6 weeks. It was very long then I cut it right down. Trouble is the grass doesn't look right. It looks full of stalks and is not a rich green colour like it was. Will it go back to normal, and will the stalks disappear eventually?

[@ThatsTheSpiritGodCast]

Why the hell are you here! 😂

[@sarawellhausen9943]

Hedges and edges, baby!

[@niallgardens]

😂

[@lidroryaar3379]

Tractor + A "Bush Hog" = A Cut Meadow.... Though the results will not be as soft and "suburban looking," some companies do rent them..... A sickle or "weed cutter" may also help.... Reminder: Depending on your location, if you wait too long to trim the grass, trees will eventually start to "volunteer" in the meadow.

[@niallgardens]

Thanks for all the info! Yeah I went with a petrol-powered strimmer with a metal / brushcutter blade on it.

[@sunshineimperials1600]

Unfortunately, the native soil in my area is terrible sandy soil, being home to low grasses, carnivorous plants, and ticks.

[@melissasullivan1658]

So, like anything you learned about balance. And that Mother Nature ALWAYS wins in the end. 😏

[@niallgardens]

There's no beating mother nature!

[@dustinthomlinson3859]

Yeah, i qould have a letter from the city if i even got close to this height of grass

[@niallgardens]

I’ve heard this from other viewers which is so interesting because that’s not a thing here

[@chicadelobas5495]

ima try it. more flowers AND SAVES GAS ⛽️

[@niallgardens]

Totally! Go for it!!

[@turbosupra2jzdragracingtob249]

Avoid cutting more than 1/3 total length. Avoid cutting grass around noon.

[@justacitygirl]

We haven't mowed in a month. Some parts of the grass are 2ft tall but most of it is like a little past my ankle. Definitely overdue.. is there a setting on the lawnmower to make it only mow 1/3 or do I need a strimmer? I seriously miss living in the city, I didn't have these concerns! I just want to have a low maintenance lawn. My neighbors who mow are starting to get browning in the grass, my grass is green and healthy. (Northern California)

[@myrustygarden]

I have 2 words for you 😂😂 no not swear words “riding mower”. We are in an acre and we bought a riding mower after the first year. It’s so park like when your all done, it your looks cool too ✌️🇨🇦🐝 safe

[@niallgardens]

Hi Ali! Yeah ride-ons are very cool... and very handy!! I'm loving having the mix of neat grass and no-mow this year. I think it looks really nice!

[@chkchrycla]

PLANT FLOWERS! BEES LIKE THEM!

[@niallgardens]

They certainly do!

[@mollygirl]

I wish that I had never participated in No Mow May 2023! What no one told me, and I never saw in any of the articles or literature, is that once you stop cutting your lawn you're going to get rats! So, for the benefit of a few bugs in May, I've had to get rid of all of my bird feeders (at the neighbours' insistence) and now I won't even have the birds to enjoy. I won't be participating again, ever. Maybe someday I can put up bird feeders again without the neighbours pouring petrol on my lawn.

[@LittleLoz]

This isn't true at all

[@justacitygirl]

@@LittleLoz I have outdoor roaches!! Didn't mow or spray now I gotta do both asap. Sucks so much I was living in lala land.

[@justacitygirl]

Roaches here!! My gorgeous wild lawn will be cut and my house will be sprayed. Good news is I'm fed up of suburbia and hope to sell and rent a condo in the city in the next year or two. Fuck lawns I'm out.

[@LittleLoz]

@@justacitygirl that's nothing to do with your lawn. Maybe keep things clean

[@justacitygirl]

@@LittleLoz like no dead leaves? Because we don't have any food out!

[@AndYourLittleDog]

Beechgrove Garden had a segment trying to convince us that dandelions in the lawn are wonderful. I’m American and I can tell you that would go down like a lead balloon here. Your neighbors wouldn’t thank you for it.

[@melissasullivan1658]

Preach sister. I’ve also been walking around our property and noticed that we have borage growing like weeds now. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

[@niallgardens]

Yeah I can't say I'm a big fan of them either! Though in this garden, they're a bit unstoppable! 😂

[@niallgardens]

Ha! Yeah you definitely can get too much of a good thing can't you!

[@AndYourLittleDog]

@@melissasullivan1658 can you imagine the HOA coming down on you because you decided to no mow or let dandelions and borage take over? I live in the city and don’t have a lawn but I can tell you o am on dandelions like white on rice. I do let the milkweed do whatever it wants though.

[@ThatsTheSpiritGodCast]

Your neighbours need to learn what’s what. Stop being a loser. 😂

[@hayabusa27]

My Lawn: Mow me! Me: I ain't yo ho no mo!

[@niallgardens]

😂

[@v.j.l.4073]

What about snakes? I can't imagine having to put on boots every time I go out the door of my house.

[@niallgardens]

Thankfully St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland so I'm afraid I've got no experience with them! 😂

[@ThatsTheSpiritGodCast]

Dandelion are not weeds !

[@janetdarlington7720]

Would be nice to see the tools needed and more of your yard for examples. Very informative but perhaps a bit verbose.

[@ThatsTheSpiritGodCast]

Why oh why did you not maintain your borders and hedges? Seems a no brainier.

[@11234231423423]

Someday, we'll approach our property like stewards for other species

[@crabb12008]

Your a proper decent lad ;) Go on kid happy dayz

[@niallgardens]

Thanks

[@carbonsurvival4040]

🤔

[@ThatsTheSpiritGodCast]

You said “ I just drove mysteriously onto the ground”. You look like you are in the ground. Lol 😂 you’re all elbows hands and upper body… growing out of the grass.

[@DaveG-qd6ug]

He did not mentioned the nasty snakes and rats that love to hide in the tall grass. 🤔😂

[@niallgardens]

That's because we don't have snakes in Ireland 😂

[@DaveG-qd6ug]

Lucky 😂@@niallgardens

[@ThatsTheSpiritGodCast]

You’re growing out of the grass yourself 😂

[@bluejay3945]

I always find it laughable when a European complains about grass because the whole concept of that manicured reel mower look is a product of European sensibilities especially the Brits. Almost every meadow biome in the world has fire as a means of self editing and control. Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania routinely burns their meadow to control weeds and insects and the majority of meadow species require fire for seed germination or other things. I do not think the average homeowner has the ability to establish a sustainable meadow. What you end up producing is habitat for fleas and ticks as well as an incredible amount of weed species including ragweed. An unplanned meadow is ground zero for years of weed species across your entire property. Please don’t hide behind the biodiversity excuse because whatever temporary benefit the aggressive weed species you are creating have is far outweighed by the biodiversity damage they do in the bigger picture. A true sustainable meadow requires way more work than a cut field You bought a property that obviously requires something beyond a push mower. That seems to be your big issue There are also grass species that lend a better look to no mow lawns if that’s the look you are going for but simply not cutting a large swatch of lawn and hoping for a meadow is a fools dream If you want a meadow as part of your property visit an actual curated meadow at a public garden and speak with the care takers. There are quite a few high profile European landscape designers big on meadows. I would consult their work as well. People like Dan Pearson and Andy Sturgeon are 2 that come to mind. IMO there is nothing worse than poor planning. You don’t jump into something without knowing what you are getting into then opine about how misfortunate you are because you just didn’t “know “

[@alejandroalcala3146]

to much talking

[@airplanegeorge]

a no mow lawn is not a lawn!

[@LittleLoz]

Its beautiful

[@mammusaeinki6317]

I had such hopes but thanks for nothing.

[@niallgardens]

Never mind