“No Mow May” is an initiative that has grown in popularity in recent years. In very simple terms, it encourages individuals and public spaces not to cut their lawns during the month of May to support biodiversity and pollinators.
Over the coming month, however, you will see the lawns at the Community Garden being cut as usual — and we thought it would be a good idea to explain our approach to biodiversity.
First of all, by our very nature, the Community Garden is a place for the community. So we like to extend our concept of biodiversity to include humans too (after all, we are biological as well!). For us, having lawns that can be used for social gatherings, picnics, and activities is a crucial part of our mission.
Of course, we are also a garden — and we have biodiversity at our heart. Very selfishly, nature helps us do our job: pollinators help our plants flourish, little crawlers and bacteria break down our leftovers to create amazing compost, and the infinite shades of colour from flowers make our jaws drop.
Our approach to biodiversity and supporting pollinators is more of a year-round commitment than a one-month gesture.
Letting everything grow wild for a month, creating lush ecosystems, only to chop it all down on 1st June, is probably not the best long-term strategy.
Instead, we aim to create year-round opportunities for wildlife of all sizes to be permanent residents or welcome visitors to the Community Garden.
From flower borders that support pollinators from the early days of January, to large grass areas left undisturbed, to our pond encouraging amphibians — there are full-time opportunities for life to thrive in our community.
So don’t be surprised if, in May, you still see our volunteers happily mowing the grass in one of the best-kept public green spaces in Trumpington.
We are making sure that all forms of life — from the 2-metre-tall father to the single-celled bacterium — have their space in our community.