April 18, 2023 / For Immediate Release
MUNICIPALITY OF THE DISTRICT OF LUNENBURG, NOVA SCOTIA – Spring is in the air–are you ready to fire up the lawnmower? The Municipality of the District of Lunenburg (MODL) and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is hoping you’ll think twice about mowing your lawn this May.
According to the NCC, No Mow May is a call to help wild pollinators and other wildlife in the greenspaces where we live. With habitat loss and degradation as the major cause of wildlife decline, the non-profit land conservation organization is suggesting that keeping your lawn mower in the shed for the month of May can benefit nature.
By letting flowers bloom on your lawn, including dandelions, you can provide an important source of nectar and pollen for wild bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects.
Residents can register for No Mow May Challenge and be entered to win gift cards from local garden centres at engage.modl.ca/NoMowMay. Challenge participants can also pick up their free No Mow May lawn sign from the Municipal Services Building at 10 Allée Champlain Drive during regular business hours, while supplies last.
“No Mow May is a community science initiative that encourages property owners to limit lawn mowing practices during the month of May to provide early season foraging resources for pollinators that emerge in the spring, especially in urban landscapes when few floral resources are available,” said Mayor Carolyn Bolivar-Getson. “I hope residents will join us in this important initiative.”
MODL acknowledges residents may have concerns about ticks. Recent research has shown that mowing your lawn less often to provide native bees a better habitat won't lead to an increase in disease-carrying ticks. While blacklegged ticks can be found in some yards, blacklegged ticks need near 100% humidity for at least part of the day and prefer areas with significant leaf litter, not lawns.
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Media contact:
Sarah Kucharski
Manager, Corporate Services and Communications
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(902) 541-1328