Columbus Garden School Founder Explains Why You Should Say No to ‘No Mow May’

In 2019, UK conservation nonprofit Plantlife launched an annual campaign called No Mow May, urging gardeners to leave their lawnmowers in the shed after turning the calendar from April. The goal is to allow ample growing time for wildflowers and other plants that serve as vital food sources and places of shelter for pollinators like bees, moths and butterflies. In theory, every May, these wild lawns will teem with biodiversity and sequester carbon while also reducing pollution from greenhouse-gas-spewing mowers.  

The idea has caught on in the United States, with homeowners and entire communities embracing No Mow May. While the goal of the campaign is a noble one, some gardening experts have begun voicing concerns, including Tisa Watts, who runs the Columbus Garden School on East Cooke Road in North Linden. “No Mow May in Ohio is the worst possible time to have a campaign like that,” Watts says. “By May, absolutely everything is blooming. So to say, ‘We need to leave the dandelions for the pollinators,’ is hogwash.” 

Plus, letting grass go unchecked during Ohio’s peak growing season can wreak havoc on your lawn. “You are talking about absolutely destroying your grass at the time of year when it probably needs to be mowed every week,” Watts says. “You are damaging the way grass grows when you let it grow super tall and then cut it really short. That's not how it works. It works better if it has regular maintenance.” 

Still, it’s worth supporting the main ideas behind No Mow May. “It shows people that dandelions are not the enemy. The enemy is the idea of a perfect lawn that requires ridiculous amounts of fertilizers and pesticides,” Watts says. “You can have a patch of perfect green carpet around your house, or you can use that area to support the critical needs of wildlife like pollinators, songbirds, caterpillars and on and on.” 

In the short term, homeowners who want wild violets and dandelions around can raise their mower blades and keep the grass taller. And to help reduce pollution, Watts also recommends replacing gas lawnmowers with electric models. The long-term solution, though, is to reduce the lawn’s size. Chip away at corners and edges—easy spots to plant native trees, shrubs and perennials that are readily available at local native plant nurseries like Scioto Gardens, Leaves for Wildlife and Natives in Harmony.  

When Watts first opened the Columbus Garden School in January 2019, turf grass dominated her East Cooke Road property. Since then, she has increased biodiversity by adding hundreds of native plants where grass once grew. “We're already seeing the changes,” she says. “We're seeing an amazing variety of birds and butterflies and insects coming through.” 

Native Trees and Plants to Try

If you’re looking to reduce your lawn and add some plants, the Columbus Garden School’s Tisa Watts recommends starting with these easy-to-grow natives. 

Trees: Flowering dogwood, Ohio buckeye, red maple, sweetbay magnolia, white pine 

Shrubs: Bush honeysuckle (not invasive Amur honeysuckle), buttonbush, chokeberry, ninebark, shrub dogwood 

Perennials: Aster, bee balm, black-eyed Susan, milkweed, purple coneflower, smooth penstemon 

This story is from the May 2024 issue of Columbus Monthly.