Explaining La Crosse’s sustainability program ‘No Mow May’
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – As the weather warms up, insect pollinators return from their Winter hideouts. As First News at Nine’s Dashal Mentzel explains, La Crosse is looking to help these pollinators with an annual sustainability program.
The city of La Crosse is running its third year of ‘No Mow May’. The program began in Appleton and has expanded to multiple cities across the state. La Crosse Outdoor Recreation Coordinator, Sami Meyer, explains “It is an initiative to give pollinators in the springtime a little bit more foraging habitat and shelter while they’re emerging from their winter hibernation. The goal is to let the lawns grow longer so that bees, butterflies… other pollinators have access to those resources in the springtime.”
Meyer, says the program has been well received by the public, “We’ve gotten great participation from those that have decided to register. It’s been exciting to see people come back, (and) participate in, year after year. We’ve got some folks, even this year that have come back for the third year, and we even keep getting new folks added into that mix as well.”
But not everyone is on board with ‘no Mow May’. City Council member Erin Goggin says the lack of mowing can cause the spread of weeds from lawn to lawn. Goggin adds you can still support pollinators and still mow in May, “There’s a few plants that are there that do very well in Wisconsin. Those include cornflower, Liatris, blanket flower, and catmint. Just take a little bit of that and plant it in any corner of your yard, and you’re gonna see a ton of bees.”
Meyer says those who participate don’t have to let the grass grow for an entire month, “We know that (it’s) not always possible to just let your lawn grow the entire month, especially with the early spring that we’ve been having. The rainfall really prompted that growth in our lawns, too. So mowing less even is beneficial. You can mow less frequently every two weeks instead of twice a week.”
Registration for ‘No Mow May’ is open until May 24th. In La Crosse, Dashal Mentzel First News at Nine.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX2548 & WIProud.
