Let the Lawn Grow

Those who mow less frequently attract wild bees and butterflies.

Millions of garden owners can sit back and relax, leaving the lawnmower in the shed more often. Mowing less frequently helps insects.

«That neatly trimmed green lawns are out of fashion is shown by the latest scientific study from the USDA Forest Service in Washington», says Eva Goris, press spokesperson for the Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung. The American research institute confirms what many conservationists have long been bemoaning: a well-manicured lawn weakens biodiversity in the garden. So say goodbye to your English lawn!

Gardens as refuges for wildlife

There are fewer butterflies in our landscape, fewer bees, bumblebees and other insects — their decline is alarming. Many people have had this impression for some time. They wonder why even on long car journeys the windscreens stay clean, and why hardly a fluttering butterfly is to be seen in meadows.

Gardens could be small refuges for wildlife such as insects, birds, and hedgehogs. Many owners, however, prefer closely trimmed lawns, exotic ornamental plants, or plant nothing at all, instead turning flower beds into gravel wastelands. Yet even small measures could dramatically increase the diversity and number of, for example, wild bees.

«If the lawn is allowed to grow, the area attracts wild bees and butterflies almost magically within a short time», says Goris. Plants such as bird's-foot trefoil or dandelion are, for example, a vital food source for pollinators. «Once insect diversity has increased thanks to the lawn growth, other welcome visitors soon follow. In addition to birds that feed on larvae, beetles, and worms, wildlife such as hedgehogs and ladybirds also come into the garden.»

A bonus tip: Anyone who wants to enhance the visual appeal of their green space and provide pollinators with a tasty food source throughout the year can create a wildflower meadow. To find out which visitors it will attract, see our Wild Bee Guide.

Insect decline: It's already midnight

The honey bee is just one indicator of a worldwide phenomenon: the mass dying of insects. «For our flying insects, it is no longer five to midnight — it is already midnight», says Michael Strauch, head of species conservation projects in the nature conservation department of the state of Upper Austria.

People need to be made aware that an English lawn is about as nutritious for a bee as a concrete surface!

This is illustrated by the loss of «biomass» — something anyone who drives through the countryside today will notice. Unlike 20 years ago, even after a long journey you will barely find any squashed insects on the windscreen. The decline in biomass is documented by an example from Krefeld (North Rhine-Westphalia). In 1989, entomologists set up an insect trap in a meadow there, catching insects with a total mass of 1’400 grams. When they repeated the experiment in 2013, the figure had dropped to just 300 grams.

Many wild bee species, like other insects, have seen their populations decline sharply in recent years. Alongside intensified agriculture, pesticides, nitrogen pollution, habitat change, and light pollution, disappearing food sources in gardens are considered a potential cause.

«Over the past 20 years, the total quantity of flying insects has declined by 80 percent», says Arno Aschauer, species conservation officer at WWF Austria.

Yet 80 percent of our 3’000 wild and cultivated plants are pollinated by bees and other flying insects. «If they disappear, fruit growing will face conditions like those in China, where crops now have to be pollinated by hand», warns Gerald Neubacher from the state nature conservation department. More on biodiversity and on Environment and Nature Conservation.