Ruud Kleinpaste: Mowing lawns or wildflower meadows?

The British Gardeners are urged to stop mowing lawns in May so as to “support bees”. Gardeners come in many different "sizes":  1) Precision gardeners. Those that follow the swanky garden magazines and have not a plant nor a blade of grass out of place. Think Versailles and the Famous British gardens like Sissinghurst. When it comes to lawns they are cut to within an inch of their life! There are no weeds, and few "wild Flowers". Most of the borders are sprayed to minimize fungi and bacterial diseases as well as Natural Biodiversity such as insects, spiders, mites, praying mantises and crickets  2) Wannabe-precision gardeners. Those who haven't got the time nor the staff to achieve the number one status. Their gardens really lack detailed attention and as such they're a lot weedier and "all over the place" in the eyes of precision gardeners. They usually do have some structure though... and are pleasant to the eye.  3) Hippies and Macrobiotic adorers of Homeopathy and Herbs. My goodness! That is a mess! Stuff everywhere - no weed control, aphids all over the place, weird flowers popping up everywhere, heaps of blackbirds, lots of worms, swarms of butterflies and armies of moths, native bees, beetles, insectivorous birds and lizards.  Ironically, when it comes to creating a garden with the best biodiversity, the third option will win hands-down. Imagine heaps of different species of flowers, weeds, (as well as mosses and lichens) allowing for a huge diversity of wildlife. The nectar and the pollen attached to a variety of flowers is very beneficial for pollinators, such as bees and moths and butterflies, beetles, hover flies, parasitic wasps and predatory critters who all need pollen (protein) for development and nectar (sweet energy). The Brits might have the idea to not mow their lawns in May (getting more flowering weeds in there), but I reckon we can do much better than that:  Now is the time to sow wild-flower seeds (mixed series of species) in some vegetable beds that are lying dormant or idle. Some of