No Mow Lawns and Meadows
Prairie dropseed mixed with salvia, butterflyweed and coneflower makes all your bees and butterflies happy.
The traditional lawn can be a little boring and definitely is not bee- and butterfly-friendly. The great thing is that there are many options for ground covers in your yard that don’t need to be mowed, flower seasonally, and support a more dynamic and exciting ecosystem.
Here is a breakdown and when they are appropriate.
- Traditional lawn islands – traditional lawn (bluegrass blends) are still the best choice for foot traffic, play fields and areas you just want to walk barefoot and laydown and name cloud shapes.
- No Mow Lawns – we have done many No Mow lawns in the last few years and they work! These are clumpy, swirly, shimmery 6-10″ fescue lawns that don’t need to be mowed. We recommend taking a string trimmer to it once a year to clean it up.
- Bee Lawns – A bee lawn is a No Mow lawn where we mix in flowering ground covers that are pollinator friendly — good ones include clover, sedum, ajuga and wild strawberry.
- Short Meadow – We love short meadows and even created a product called MeadowBox. A short meadow gets to a height of about 2′. It is made up of a short grass like prairie dropseed or bluestem (60-70%) mixed in with groups of flowering perennials that bloom throughout the year (30%). This is a bee’s dream landscape!
Read more about bee lawns at the University of Minnesota Beelab – here.
Get inspired by natural landscapes from around the world!
Learn more about how to get started with Field!
This is a No Mow lawn in south Minneapolis.
