@geodougp01 It's not the idea to create a great chore; the idea is to experiment with stepping away from the monoculture wildlife desert that short lawns usually area. Maybe there are other ways to increase bioversity where you are - creating tapestry lawns of plants other than grass, or taking out areas of lawn altogether and replacing it with more useful habitat, put in a pond etc. It''s a chance to experiment with creative ideas.
I am in two minds about all this...I can see that it”s great to see birds eating dandelion seeds - but if you let them seed they completely take over! The house next door was empty one summer and turned into a dandelion meadow, and all the neighbours around had dandelions springing up everywhere for years.
I remember a tv series a few years ago featuring Chris Packham I think, counting and comparing wildlife life in the back gardens in one road. Everyone expected that the tidy gardens would have fewer creatures than an old lady’s garden which had run wild. But to everyone’s surprise the most well-tended garden had by far more wildlife. The experts concluded that the great variety of cultivated plants were very beneficial to wildlife.
It partly depends on whether you have anyone walking/running/lying on your lawn...I have started off letting the grass grow and at first it looks lovely and very natural but eventually just all gets trampled down and looks terrible, plus can’t be very good for any wild flowers. I love the idea of a wildflower lawn but not everyone can get that by just not mowing their lawn. It seems to work for some people but others might have go to a lot of effort and plant wildflowers - and not walk on it too much!
It does depend what you use your lawn for, for sure. If you have kids, then having distinct areas of low grass towards the edges might be a better. If you don't want dandelions take them out.
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