Kalamazoo will participate in No Mow May for the second consecutive year. This means that for the next month, city residents can let most of their lawn grow beyond the normally allowed eight inches.
The No Mow May movement began in the United Kingdom and has spread to cities around the U.S.
Ashley Cole-Wick, a conservationist with MSU Extension, lives in Kalamazoo. She said that flowers and longer grass help early pollinators like bees and butterflies.
“We have reduced a lot of their habitat with industrial agriculture, urbanization, and suburbanization,” said Cole-Wick. “Providing areas of refugia for them in our own little patches of yard is just the least we can do for them.”
Debra Miller works for the city of Kalamazoo. She said some mowing requirements will remain in place.
“If you are going to participate in No Mow May make sure you are mowing the parts of the grass that are adjacent to your neighbors and up along the street,” she said. “But the rest of the yard can grow longer, so it’s kind of a compromise.”
On June 1, the city will start enforcing its standard lawn ordinance.