It's OK to mow in May - Understanding how Science works

 

This is a true story.  

Years ago when I was a young man studying Evolutionary Biology as part of my teaching degree; our professor told us this story.  His professor at the time walked in, dropped the textbook into the trash and said something to the effect of "The discovery of complex life developing in deep sea vents changes everything we thought we knew."

In other words....the biologists at the time were surprised to discover multiple colonies of complex animals with completely different biochemistry living in a very hostile environment, at that time it was believed that only small organisms evolved in the extreme temperatures and high pressure of the deep sea vents.   

Suddenly there were advanced forms of life (worms and crabs) whose biochemistry was unlike any thing else on the planet.   Evolution, at least the way it was understood at the time, changed.  

This story has stuck with me all these years because it teaches a very valuable lesson.  As our knowledge grows and changes, so should how we view the world around us.  It's not always easy, as sometimes long held beliefs can change overnight based on new evidence.  Societies are built on order.  We understand our place in the world and for centuries this worked beautifully.  

Some things change slowly.  Other things can be changed seemingly overnight and forced us to either accept it, or "die."  Their is a reason why Charles Darwin didn't punish his findings for as long as he did, he understood the implications of evolution on the greater society. 

The "No Mow May" movement, while certainly not on the same level as evolutionary theory,  is having one of those moments where things are changing as the research around it changes, so much so that I thought I should talk about it.  It's important to discuss and learn from.

Not an actual bee

The idea in a nut shell is a simple one.  We all know that pollinators are on the decline.  Not mowing your lawn for the entire month of May, or at least putting off mowing for as long as possible seemed a reasonable way to help increase their population.  Some studies indicated that the number of pollinators increased due to the amount of flowers they now had access to.  Plus there were other beneficial reasons like cutting back on gas usage and CO2 emissions from gas powered lawn mowers.  

It's also a simple way to participate in the environmental moment without actually having to do much of anything.  

However when scientists started to look at this, they discovered some things and actually started to question if "No Mow May" was good for the very insects they were trying to protect.   This is how science works....ideas morph and change as more information is added to the pot.   

In Philosophy there is something called the "Web of Belief" and it's the best way to explain how science grows and changes over time.  Think of a spider in a web.  Now that spider is a central idea that is held to be true.   Around that spider are varies strands of webbing.  These are experiments and other data that are proven to hold that spider in the web.

The further you get away from the center the web the less supported those strands become.   As experiments and further information is received, if the strand holds in place and other strands are added to it...the web grows.    

If the strand breaks and takes other strands with it...then either the data is wrong or the original idea, the spider, is flawed.   If more and more stands start to break then the spider can fall to the floor.  The central tenet is changed and a new spider takes the center of the new web based on new information.  The process begins anew.

An imperfect example of this is how the earth used to be considered the center of the solar system.   Over time more and more evidence showed this idea to be wrong, and the earth took it's place as the third planet.   At first there was thought to be only five planets.  Then six.  We reached nine at one time and went back to eight as our knowledge grew.   There may be a ninth world out there in the darkness.  We don't know yet...but if there was, it would answer some questions I'm not getting into here.   

In the case of No Mow May, the spider in the web is tilting a bit.  It now appears that mowing the lawn every two to three weeks or so is the way to go.  Planting native plants and plants that produce a good amount of nectar is a good way to help protect the pollinators.   Reducing the size of the lawn is a good idea.  All things this blog encourages.

I've written before how I let part of my yard "go wild" to provide for nature.  
 

For the last several weeks its been rainy.  It's also been a bit cold as some nights required a frost warning.  It's pushed my gardening back, delayed the rest of the tree trimming, and delayed other projects, so with the weather finally cooperating....I mowed.   In May.  Luckily we all ready have dandelions and other flowers blooming. 

If all goes according to plan, I'm not mowing again to the 25th or so.  This is largely due to how bees communicate and exchange information.  The bees will communicate that my yard has flowers blooming and in what precise location.   Any other flowers will be considered a "bonus" by them.

Because I do want to provide a nice little space for the various pollinators in the area.  I'm not telling you not to mow or to put off mowing your yard, although not mowing as often is simply a better option.