FERNDALE, Mich. (WXYZ) — "No Mow May" starts Monday, and the city of Ferndale is latest community to adopt the program.
Ann Arbor and Royal Oak launched theirs in recent years. They're allowing residents to let their grass grow the entire month.
“During the first couple of months of the year, I probably mow about every week and a half. The grass grows that much,” Stan Williams, a Ferndale resident told 7 Action News.
Come Monday, he can let his lawn grow wild.
The "No Mow Money" sign is up in Mark Finnell and Tina Gloss-Finnell’s front yard, after they signed up with the city.
Finnell said, “It’s not simply trying to save some time and money on mowing your lawn.”
“We’re just happy to be a part of anything Ferndale has to offer when it helps," Gloss-Finnell said.
So, what is “No Mo May” all about?
“No Mow May is a conservation initiative that supports sustainability, especially in urban environments," Claire Dion, Ferndale's zero waste program coordinator explained.
She said it’s good for insects, birds and a host of pollinators. Dion oversees the program and said, so far, 340 residents have registered.
Professor Elizabeth Tibbetts, who teaches ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Michigan explained, “By not mowing in May, that increases the flowers available to pollinators and it helps ensure they’re more likely to survive.”
She said by reducing mowing it gives insects more places to live and more food for them to eat.
“You wouldn’t do well eating the same food all day, one food all day. Insects don’t do well with that either. So, grass is not a very good environment. That if there are more little plants and weeds growing in there, the insects are much happier," Tibbetts said.
Dion said, "As they have additional leisure time for not mowing during the month of May, we want to encourage people to plant more native plants and really support pollinators by adding native plants to their yard.”
The city said if you’re not participating to please refrain from reporting overgrown grass to code enforcement. However, enforcement standards will resume in June.
