Help pollinators in your yard

Mow less – instead of mowing your lawn every single week, or even multiple times a week, mow every 2 to 3 weeks. Mowing stresses your grass and creates unhealthy lawns if mowed too frequently. Lawns mowed every 3 weeks can have as much as 2.5x more lawn flowers, and support a greater number of pollinators (UMass-Amherst, 2018(External link)).

Mow higher – consider keeping your lawn 3.5-4.5” inches in height. Taller grass holds more moisture, is less prone to stress, and better hides plants like clover and dandelion that pollinators need.

Water your lawn about 1” (in volume) per week in the early morning or late evening, and avoid watering during rain events.

Water your lawn all at once rather than in smaller quantities more frequently. This can disrupt pollinators and other insects, and stress your lawn during periods of drought.

Allow some flowering plants to persist in your lawn; tolerate clover and dandelions. To provide plenty of food sources from spring and throughout fall, avoid de-weeding your entire yard – no need to pull up all those ‘evil’ patches of clover or rid your lawn of all those ‘pesky’ dandelions. These are a favorite food source for many of MN’s threatened pollinators, including several bee species.

Limit or cease use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Use organic sources sparingly instead.

Consider applying for Minnesota’s Lawns to Legumes(External link) program.

When you start mowing again in June, learn from the UMN about mowing best practices for a healthy lawn(External link). Best practices for bringing your grass back down to a reasonable height while keeping it healthy include:

• Mow late in the day or when grass is dry
• Mow down in small increments (never more than 1/3 of grass blade’s height at one time)
• Rake up excessive clippings to prevent them from going into streets. This protects your local water quality and keeps storm drains clear.