Spring has sprung, and as May approaches, gardeners are encouraged to focus on their home gardens.
How we maintain green spaces and the modern gardening practices we use affect our carbon emissions.
A new campaign has been launched to raise public awareness of the importance of lawn care.
Here's everything you need to know about No Mow May
What is May without Capricorn?
Launched by scientists at the charity PlantLife, the No Mau Me campaign aims to encourage people to see wildflowers and other plants in their lawns.
Director of Plant Conservation Nicola Hutchinson said: "Wild plants and fungi are the foundation of life and shape the world we live in. However, one in five wildflowers in Britain is at risk and we urgently need to address and control this loss."
With around 23 million gardens in the UK, lawn care is essential to the potential of wild plants and other wildlife. Mowing your lawn in May can have major benefits for nature, society, and the climate, which is why everyone is encouraged more than ever to mow their lawns.
Common wildflowers that you may find in your garden
Among the 10 common plants scored in last year's campaign were daisies, creeping lily, yellow crocus, common trepang, forget-me-not, common thistle, white clover, common daisy, common chrysanthemum and dandelion.
Plant promoters are particularly pleased to see the prevalence of yellow noise in British lawns.
Because semi-parasitic plants have the ability to act like "natural lawn mowers".
This reduces dead grass and allows for the growth of more delicate wildflowers.
In addition, the bird's leg injury, which infested the grasslands, was good news for other wildlife, as it provided a rich source of food for 140 species of insects.
How does gardening contribute to carbon emissions?
Contrary to popular belief, not all gardening is good for the environment, but according to PlantLife, mowing the lawn more often can help reduce the carbon footprint of British gardens.
It is estimated that the British lawn could be mowed thirty million times a week.
This is equivalent to consuming 45 milliliters of petrol, resulting in 80,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually, or the combined carbon footprint of nearly 10,000 average homes.
But now that the clean lawn trend is becoming more and more popular, people are cutting back on lawns.
“Uncultivated bowling green with its borders may be a desirable garden aesthetic, but we are seeing an increasingly cultural shift to see wild lawns teeming with bees and butterflies,” said Ian Dunn, CEO of PlantLife. They have a high value.
“There is a radical paradigm shift in turf management that benefits plants, pollinators, people and the planet.”
