Happy Bank Holiday weekend
from the daisies
I’ve been out in the garden as much as possible this weekend, getting through some jobs overdue and getting ahead with June’s1. I unbound the bindweed, unhid the little herbs from the big herbs, chatted to the potatoes, and gave the sedum the Chelsea chop. What I didn’t do was mow the lawn; this was in honour of No Mow May – the annual campaign that calls on local councils and households with lawns/verges to hold off mowing for the month, encouraging biodiversity by allowing ‘weeds’ and wildflowers to grow.
Since the beginning of the year, the lawn in our garden has been home to daffodils, crocuses2, and bluebells – the ghosts of which still remain among the buttercups and daisies. When we first moved in, the lawn was approximately ninety-nine percent3 ground elder, and it has taken me hours and hours, maybe days and days, to get it to a point where there is grass and flowers. There will be those who say I should embrace the ground elder too, but I’m afraid our differences are irreconcilable (although I slightly miss the satisfaction of following its roots along underground – which grow horizontally, not down – and pulling them out).
One thing I especially love about No Mow May is the name. It’s got rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, and, best of all, it says what it is:
What are you asking me to do? No mow When? May Understood
A perfect campaign name.
And the video clip below shows a perfect example of what a difference it makes. It’s of a local churchyard, brimming with tall daisies on the verges and around the graves.
as in the month, not a neighbour
feel free to croci or crocus if you prefer
and one percent ‘suspected ground elder’