My lawn doesn't grow very quickly because it's on sandy soil and gets only morning sun. Leaving it without mowing for four weeks in May won't really make any difference! I have noticed that as soon as the grass gets long enough to flower and set seed the pigeons appear - that's why I'll keep mowing!
I do grow pollinator friendly flowers though to attract bees, butterflies, etc and have a couple of less well tended areas (scruffy!) plus some dry stone walling in the garden for wildlife.
Like @Skandi, some areas are never cut, one meadow area is cut once a year and the other bits are cut if they need it and I have time to do them. I vary the height according to the plants that grow there and the time of year.
One bank has bedstraw and other flowers that need shortish grass but don't tolerate close grazing like daisies and dandelions do. Some parts have bulbs that need to die back. Other bits would be overwhelmed with docks and rushes if not kept more closely mown.
If I see something flowering that I want to preserve I mow round it and move it somewhere safer when I can. The cardamines often get this treatment, as new ones pop up along the edges and in damp spots and I need to keep as many as I can for the orange tips, that were dancing all around the garden yesterday. In the same way I leave things in borders until a suitable home can be found, so there are bits of yellow vetchling and toadflax here and there at the moment. My definition of 'weed' is rather fluid
No I hate to think how long my grass would be if I left it a month at this time of year. Then I'd have a real problem trying to cut it because it would take ages to dry well, so I'd have to do it wet and I wouldn't be able to set the blades high enough. It wouldn't be great.
I have plenty of plants for wildlife/insects/pollinators etc, and as already said - there's tons of hedgerows, field, woodland round here as well.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
No. We did it last year for the first time, and everything got totally out of control. It was almost impossible to cut afterwards, and when we did, each section had to be checked carefully in advance to ensure that no wildlife were damaged. Luckily the rest of our very big garden is very wildlife friendly, lots of ‘wild’ areas where things can live and nest to their hearts content. So OH will mow the lawn areas as usual this year.
Ours did no mow july, august & september last year thanks to the seller, still no wildlife in it despite that and being empty. I’ve got lots of birds in now but struggling with the bees, hoping they’ll come as the garden gets more established! I do keep the grass on the longer side so the daisies and violets don’t get chopped!
I don't do no-mow any time unless it's not growing due to it being too dry or it being winter. I have fairly densely planted borders with lots of insect-friendly plants and no bare soil gaps unless I'm rejuvenating an area, and there's plenty of long grass in the verges, field boundaries and other gardens around here.
It’s an engagement campaign. If 10% of participants decide to keep it long then that’s xHa of new naturalised grass/meadow created than may otherwise have been. I’m sure there are other ecologists on this forum but I am surprised by the level of expertise apparently on show. Far in excess of our top plant conservation organisation.
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I do grow pollinator friendly flowers though to attract bees, butterflies, etc and have a couple of less well tended areas (scruffy!) plus some dry stone walling in the garden for wildlife.
I hate to think how long my grass would be if I left it a month at this time of year. Then I'd have a real problem trying to cut it because it would take ages to dry well, so I'd have to do it wet and I wouldn't be able to set the blades high enough. It wouldn't be great.
I have plenty of plants for wildlife/insects/pollinators etc, and as already said - there's tons of hedgerows, field, woodland round here as well.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
have a christening celebration with visitors at the house on May 28th so something tells me I won’t make it to June!