On Sunday April 28th at 8 o’clock in the evening I got the lawn (okay, most of it) mowed, so I did manage to get it done within April!
Now, I agree that it does look a bit tidier now than with the 10″ grass jungle, but it also looks so much less interesting, because all the small flowers that had come out all over the lawn have now been cut down.
Here are a few examples:
I also suspect that the mowed lawn will be much less interesting to the wood pigeons and the pheasant and all the other birds that have taken to strutting their stuff on the lawn while foraging, not to mention the smaller animals like insects and the like.
*sigh*
A lawn is a desert painted green, but there’s no helping it; it must be mown, though I probably will never get around to doing it on a fortnightly basis. Still, little by little I’m carving out sections of lawn and turning them into flower beds that will allow for more diversity both of plant and animal life. And I promise: I will NEVER weed the lawn! Just look at the above beauties; I can’t imagine why some people are less than thrilled to have such flowers growing in-between the grass!
(I only got around to mowing perhaps half of the lawn; the area in front of the covered terrace and the area from the drive to the front door. The rest will be done the coming weekend when I have a three-day weekend up in the summer house with my mother-in-law in tow. I actually look forward to having some company up there that isn’t classified as “wildlife”. Also, when my mother-in-law gets bored, she starts cleaning or cooking… Either is welcome!)
Love the flowers growing in the lawn…i won’t weed it either
And the best thing is, even though the lawn looks a bit sad when it’s been mowed, within two days the flowers will be blooming again, those hardy little darlings!
I hated having a lawn when we rented places hence us having none at our own house. I always much prefer grass with flowers in it but I admit a mown lawn really does set off the garden and makes everything look neat and tidy. There’s no getting away from the fact that an un-mown lawn looks to much like a jungle. I’m looking forward to the long weekend, hoping for some sunshine so I can get out and garden. The torrential rain and flooding here has given me cabin fever!
Also, we need a lawn for lounging on, having garden parties on and last – but by no means least – for playing croquet on! It just needs to be smaller; the size for a long lunch table for 20 would also fit a croquet match, and then we need a small additional area of lawn under the hammock…
(But flowers in the lawn always!)
I always have this same dilemma with my “lawn” in Maine. When I get there in May, the grass is knee-high but it has all these great flowers blooming in it. Then there are all the ripening strawberries I don’t want to mow over. Like you, I’ve been slowly eliminating a lot of the lawn and turning it into garden.
Fortunately my lawn flowers grew back in less than a week, so the green desert disappears quickly again.
(Also, I’ve stayed clear of a corner of the lawn with the lawn mower because this late first mowing means I have suddenly discovered the site of a former flower bed; there are arum leaves peaking up through the grass, some sort of very pretty flower I don’t recognise and a miniature rose. These clearly need to be lifted before the mower is allowed in that area!)