Last year the City Council and I agreed to a request some local pollinator advocates to allow for a "No Mow May" in Cedar Falls. It's a growing trend to not mow yards for the sake of early pollinator foraging. I've sent this update to the City Council about continuing "No Mow May" this spring, with some important modifications. Here's what I wrote:
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"Council,
I intend to have Director Sheetz and staff provide a short presentation to the Community Development Standing Committee in the near future, with a recommendation for this upcoming May for the"Now Mow May" initiative.
While I like the concept (and am grateful that the Council was willing to try it out), some property owners took advantage of it, or neglected their yards such that by the time the city could get contracted mowers in, we were already at mid-June. For this year, I would like to consider:
- PERMITTING. Making this initiative permit-based (perhaps $30 - $40) with permits available beginning in April, with all the proceeds going toward pollinator prairie restoration in Cedar Falls. Anyone not holding a permit during May would be cited for nuisance grass/weeds as usual.
- YARD SIGNS. Any permit holders would receive a small 2023 yard sign when they obtain their permit. This will help assure neighbors that the property will be mowed in compliance with City Code no later than June 1st.
- MOWED BUFFER. Participants would be required to provide a minimum two-foot mowed buffer between their property and adjoining properties.
- EDUCATION. Educational outreach from the new city horticulturalist and other ecology educators would focus on planting pollinator gardens, pesticide reduction, and other positive long-term steps, in addition to not mowing yards.
I have to say that at my house, No Mow May was a bust. My lawn doesn't have flowering plants like clover, so all I got was really tall grass. I'm not embarrassed by that -- it was an experiment; I was glad to participate, and now I'll try something different at my house to get the desired effect. Still, some yards do flower, so I believe the No Mow May concept still has merit for continuance.
I believe that the changes above, and perhaps others, will allow Cedar Falls to continue to lead the way with No Mow May in a way that greatly improves on last year's effort. Ultimately, it will be the council's choice, of course. Thanks for considering!"
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The four proposals above are in-line with what the early adopters of No Mow May in Wisconsin are doing. Think it's especially important to require permits. I was surprised at how many rental properties were just completely neglected (often by out-of-town property owners) who never mowed from March through June...it took almost three weeks to get city contractors scheduled to mow those properties. That meant we were nearly at the end of June, and those yards looked absolutely hacked when they were put back into compliance. So, the permitting is mainly just to police the initiative, and ensure that unmowed yards are actually participating in the program, not just derelict property owners.
I'm looking forward to hearing the Council's thoughts on this, with public input, and I hope we'll be able to do a No Mow May again this year. Thanks for reading to the end, and for doing the work to be an informed and engaged resident.