Becky Masterman led the UMN Bee Squad from 2013-2019. Bridget Mendel joined the Bee Squad in 2013 and has led the program since 2020. Photos of Becky (left) and Bridget (right) looking for their respective hives. If you would like to contact the authors with grass stories or thoughts, please send an email to
mindingyourbeesandcues@gmail.com.
Leaves of Grass
By: Becky Masterman & Bridget Mendel
Commonly referred to by their nickname “grass,” leaves of grass have not been so controversial since Walt Whitman shocked the public in 1855 with the provocative publication of his book, “Leaves of Grass.” Confusingly, that book was not about grass; it was about sensual pleasure.
But in modern times, grass itself has moved from the realm of metaphor to become literally controversial. All over America, a turf war is raging. It’s a turf war about whether turf is good or evil. Turf is actually neutral; it’s just a bunch of innocent leaves of grass poking up out of the ground.
A pro-pollinator yard option is to replace turf with flowers and embracing the lawn-free lifestyle. Photo credit: Bridget Mendel
But the history of turf is charged with all sorts of social, political and ecological issues: land ownership, indigeneity, migration, the relationship between pesticides and war, gender politics, the role of government, morality and the ethics of environmental stewardship. This is all fun stuff that our outer word-count limit doesn’t allow us to dwell on, so we recommend the book The Lawn, by historian Virginia Scott, (which, while lacking narrative thrill, really digs into the shocking origins of America’s obsession with green lawns. It might be out of print, but your collective interest, dear readers, could change that).
Parks and Recreation in Saint Paul, Minnesota embracing a slow mow Summer and allowing the dandelions to bloom prior to mowing. Photo credit: Bridget Mendel
The small corner of the turf war that we want to engage in today is personal to our careers at the U of MN Bee Lab, that is, the bees’ perspective on lawns. We are proud of our Bee Lab research colleagues who are responsible for the incredible science behind the Bee Lawn movement, and we are proud of ourselves for casually coining the slogan “Slow Mow Summer.”
Yes, we are engaged in a semantic competition with the concept “No Mow May.” While impressed with the impact this alliterative slogan has had on us all, leading many bee advocates to try mowing less and experiment with a more riotous and flower-friendly lawn aesthetic, we have science backed reasons to move beyond it, because people: the No Mow May movement got too literal. Many folks misinterpreted (understandably) the spirit of the movement, which was about letting important early May flowers in lawns bloom for bees, and took it to mean instead that somehow not mowing at all from May 1st to June 1st was specifically necessary to help the bees.
The focus on May is good, because early pollen and nectar for bees is particularly important as the majority of bee species are emerging at this time, at least in our temperate climate. But, scientists and bee nerds like ourselves began to worry that the effort folks were going to change city ordinances to support “No Mow May’’ missed the bigger, better picture, which is that mowing less and leaving grass higher all season is better than an arbitrary marathon of not mowing at all for 31 days. Turf nerds worried that not mowing in May at all would end up damaging lawns, which would have a negative environmental impact, as leaves of grass actually serve an important role in sequestering carbon and mitigating erosion. If you let your lawn grow a foot high, then chop it all the way down, it actually damages the plants, not to mention your mower.
Slow mow Summer is about really considering the overall sustainability of lawn care practices. Letting flowers bloom in your lawns is key. But it’s also key to set yourself up for mowing less by choosing the right turf. Fine fescues are wonderfully drought tolerant and don’t require much irrigation. And they require less mowing. Planting fine fescues along with flowers ensures low climate impact, and high pollinator impact.
“Slow Mow Summer” is trying to build on and slightly redirect the “No Mow May” movement. First, your lawn won’t help many bees if it doesn’t have flowers in it. Let clover or dandelions bloom before mowing, or add in self-heal or creeping thyme (we will share a link to learn more about installing “bee lawns”).
If revamping your lawn to be more florally fecund, remember that the grass variety itself is hugely important to ensure your lawn can be sustainably managed; look for deep-rooted, slow growing and drought resistant fine fescues to plant. Keep your lawn chemical free of course, because we’re talking bees here. Or go for a lawn-free lifestyle with gardens and blossoming trees. Or better still, do a little of everything, and add in “messy corners” of leaves, sticks and stumps to make sure the bees have somewhere to go home to after foraging on those unmowed flowers. Slow Mow Summer promotes flexible, long-term focus on supporting bees, and invites everyone to participate at whatever level they want, from just waiting to mow until lawn flowers bloom, to converting your whole property into a prairie and selling your mower on Craigslist.
Slow Mow Summer certainly could get misinterpreted too. People may start mowing very slowly—possibly even breaking for bees. Teens paid by the hour could really take advantage of this viral trend, and blame the bees for increased wages. But we think that’s okay, and we hope the slow mowers will also be stopping to smell the roses this Summer.
Resources:
Pollinator Lawn – Blue Thumb
Planting and maintaining a bee lawn | UMN Extension
Acknowledgments and suggestions:
The authors would like to thank Dr. Marla Spivak for helpful edits and suggestions.
