A spring campaign is encouraging you to leave your grass alone for a couple of weeks.
The No-Mow May Campaign is being promoted throughout the region to avoid or limit cutting your lawn in May.
The extra weeks of growth will allow pollinators to take advantage of the early source of nectar created by flowering plants. The population of pollinators such as bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, and beetles has seen a significant decrease over the years.
According to Brittany Cormier, A Project Leader for the Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance, the campaign has been used throughout the world but adopting it in the region could also be beneficial for the river.
“We have been monitoring water quality in the Petitcodiac River watershed since 1997, and we are yearly noticing a spike in the parameters we measure,” said Cormier.
The spike is due to the rainfall and snowmelt that is washed into freshwater streams and rivers. The Alliance hopes that a No Mow May approach will help reduce the stormwater runoff that can carry pollutants into the watercourses.
In addition, plants that go untouched can absorb more rainfall and snowmelt that will be fed back to our groundwater reserves.
Given the situation surrounding the pandemic, Cormier encourages residents to “find a little piece of beauty” right on their property.
“Try and enjoy it rather than cutting it away… there might be some species that would really appreciate some more wildflowers around,” said Cormier.
Cormier says she’s appealed to councils across the Petitcodiac watershed and received encouragement to spread the word through the community.
