CANTON — For the month of May, residents of the Village of Canton are encouraged to relax and watch the grass grow.

No or Low Mow May is the name of a practice many communities are adopting to help our pollinators. Pollinators such as bees, butterflies and other creatures are essential to the ecosystem and provide critical pollination services to over 180,000 different plant species and more than 1200 crops.

Honey bees alone add between 1.2 and 5.4 billion dollars to agricultural productivity in the U.S. (pollinator.org). However, loss of habitat, pesticides, pollution, and change in climate patterns are contributing to shrinking pollinator populations.

Why mow less in May? The start of the growing season is a critical time for hungry, newly emerged native bees. By allowing it to grow longer, and letting flowers bloom, your lawn can provide nectar and pollen to help the bees thrive. Mowing less creates habitat and can increase the abundance and diversity of wildlife including pollinators.

The Village of Canton has already established some Low Mow Zones on village public land by Bend in the River Park and is working with the Canton Sustainability Committee to identify areas to plant native species that support pollinators and add more low mow zones. There is also interest in using native species to combat invasives along the Remington Trail to reduce the use of pesticides.

The Canton Sustainability Committee is working to increase pollinator gardens in Canton and hopes to establish a “pollinator trail” – a map of pollinator gardens that community members, visitors and pollinators can enjoy. Existing pollinator gardens are located on SUNY Canton’s Campus, St. Lawrence University, E.J. Noble Center and the Unitarian Universalist Church. A pollinator plot at the Boyden and Farnes Road intersection is in the works, as well as plans to plant sunflowers on waste spots throughout Canton.

What can individuals do to help pollinators? Let the grass grow in May.  Canton Village ordinance states that the lawn cannot exceed 10 inches high. The Village will enforce the ordinance beginning in June. Also, consider seeding clover into your lawn or other species that flower and/or require less mowing than typical lawn grass. Designate a section of your lawn as a no-mow wildflower zone and seed native wildflowers there. Plant more native flowering plants in your gardens.

There are many excellent resources on the Web for sourcing native species, landscaping ideas, even signs to advertise to your neighbors what you are doing, for example: https://beecityusa.org/no-mow-may/.