Rene Pierere said her husband stopped cutting the lawn at their Waukegan home for a month each May four years ago. She got occasional comments from friends and neighbors, but those words did not bother her.
Pierre said he learned that letting the grass grow in May provides a better environment for pollinators like bees and butterflies to flourish. When they pollinate plants, it helps them grow and bear fruit or vegetables.
“We need the bees and butterflies, or we won’t survive,” she said. “We’re supporting the bees if we don’t mow in May. No Mow May is a good idea. More people need to be educated.”
The Pierres are among the few families participating in No Mow May month through May 31 in Waukegan, the first year the city officially participated in the annual event, joining Lake Bluff as the only towns in Lake County taking part.
While the city of Waukegan does not officially encourage or discourage residents from cutting their lawns in May, Building Commissioner Steve Lenzi said anyone in the city who displays a sign indicating they are taking part will not be cited for letting their grass grow taller than eight inches.
Lenzi, who oversees code enforcement for the city, has inspectors assigned to each of the nine wards to look for building code violations. If they see grass taller than six inches, they can write a citation like a parking ticket. If there is a sign in the yard, no citation is issued.
“If they have a sign, we let the grass grow to protect the pollinators,” he said. “This is the first year of the program. A lot of people are looking, but our inspectors have only found two yards with signs they’ve let me know about. This is part of the learning curve we’re in right now.”
Pierre said her husband does a lot of research about beekeeping. They would like to have an apiary in their yard to give bees an environment to make honey and pollinate. A bee’s lifespan is very short, and foregoing mowing in May helps them survive longer.
“Bees don’t have longevity,” she said. “If we don’t mow in May, it will help in this way.”
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By the time May 31 arrives, Pierre said the cultivated grass on their lawn reaches six inches in height, but the wild grass can grow from 12 to 15 inches tall, and dandelions sometimes get to 18 inches. Cutting the grass in June is not a major problem.
Though few people seem to be refraining from lawn mowing this month, there is a lot of discussion on social media. A May 7 post on the city’s Facebook page drew more than 30 comments. They ranged from supportive to critical to poking fun at the idea.
“You know how hard it will be to mow the lawn after a month of no mowing,” said one commenter. “I’ll put wildflower mix for bees, butterflies and humming birds.”
One person who took part in No Mow May a year ago received a citation, according to a Facebook comment. They tried to explain to the authorities, but “it fell on deaf ears.” Another person said it makes removing yard waste a challenge. An individual wrote that it makes a bad city look even worse.
“Whose dumb idea was this?” they wrote.