No Mow May in Cedar Falls

04/28/2025

Howdy all, while No Mow May is no more in Cedar Falls, don't be afraid to keep learning more!

As a part of Trees Forever's Stewards of the Beautiful Land webinar series, they are kicking of the year by featuring No Mow May. Join them on Wednesday, April 30th at noon for a presentation by North East Iowa Field Coordinator Bri Hull.

Registration for the link is required, so don't forget to sign up!

https://www.facebook.com/share/164vgFHDhB/

Send a message to learn more

04/29/2023

What a beautiful day to work converting your yard to pollinator habitat! We'll be outside playing in our Cedar Falls garden all day! 🌱💚🌱💚🌱

If you're looking for sources to help you add native seed or plants to your yard, here's a list of Iowa providers: https://www.tallgrassprairiecenter.org/seed-service-providers

There are other Midwest native plant nurseries that sell plants online, like Prairie Nursery in Wisconsin and Prairie Moon in Minnesota.

A successful prairie planting requires good seed, proper installation and timely management. Knowledgeable, experienced seed vendors and service providers help ensure the best outcome. To help you find qualified seed and service providers in Iowa, the Tallgrass Prairie Center has compiled a list of....

04/29/2023

Call them "lawn flowers," not weeds, please!
Aren't these native wild violets a beautiful bed for the falling magnolia petals? Not only that, but they're one source of food for our neighborhood bees. So much to love!

04/28/2023

"Oh Bee One, you're our only hope!"

The first bumble bees to emerge in spring are the new queens from last year's colonies. They are on their own, gathering nectar and pollen on which to raise their first daughters. New queens need flowers like these plum blossoms that just opened today.
💚🌱🌸🐝💚🌱🌸🐝💚🌱🌸🐝💚🌱🌸🐝💚🌱
You can help by planting native, spring flowering shrubs like wild plum, pagoda dogwood, p***y willow, and black haw viburnum in your yard!

04/25/2023

2023 Update - No Mow May is no more in Cedar Falls. This means that you must comply with the 8" limit on grass height in lawns.
Don't despair! You can still help pollinators in your CF yard! Here are a few ways:
1. MOW LESS - mow half your yard each week or so, or mow the whole yard every other week.
2. MOW HIGHER - set your mower at 4 inches to leave more flowers.
3. DON'T use lawn chemicals that kill lawn flowers or insects.
4. Convert your grass lawn to a BEE LAWN.
5. Grow a POLLINATOR GARDEN with native plants.

What do you plan to do to help? Please share your thoughts!

05/30/2022

It sounds like our City Council members need to hear more positive stories about our 2022 No Mow May experiment!

An email link and phone number is included on each council member's bio page. Click their name on the page linked below: https://www.cedarfalls.com/1106/City-Council-Members

Thank you!
🐝🌼🌱🐝🌼🌱🐝🌼🌱

05/28/2022

Bill Witt has proof that lawn flowers help feed bumble bees!

He sent us photos of a common eastern bumble bee feeding in a patch of creeping Charlie. Thanks, Bill, for your floriferous yard and sharp eye!

05/28/2022

Sunny, warm days like today are great for observing pollinators on flowers! We saw two kinds of butterflies, several species of native bees, and some bee mimic flies in a big patch of prairie groundsel!

If you move slowly and quietly, you can sneak up on pollinators while they're busy feeding on flowers. Take lots of pictures! If some of them are clear, you can post them on sites like iNaturalist. You'll get a tentative identification of your find, and your observation can contribute to community science.

We would also love to see your pictures!

05/28/2022

Well, it's almost over! Lots of folks are doing their first post-May mowing this weekend.

Thanks to Melinda for these pictures and the mowing advice!

"Mower on highest setting only taking small swatches! Saw lots of bumblebees while mowing. We plan to mow again with our bagger to get it back acceptable for the neighbors"

05/26/2022

What's bright green, grass-like, and edgy? A sedge!

🦋 If you have these in your No Mow May yard, you're providing food for the caterpillars of several butterflies, including the Eyed brown and some skipper species.

🌱 Sedges look similar to grasses, but their stems are triangular in cross section. Hence the saying, "sedges have edges." Their flowering structures are different, too, but that gets complicated.

🌱 There are many native sedge species. All of the ones I've found in my yard this May are native, like the awned graceful sedge (Carex davisii) pictured here.

🌱 Sedges are great for texture in gardens! Some species like shade, others like full sun. Many of them tolerate mowing, but I think this part of my yard needs to turn into a sedge garden!

05/25/2022

Yesterday we told you how much bumble bees like Virginia waterleaf flowers. Today, Bill Witt sent us pictures that prove it!

Did you know that there's more than one kind of bumble bee? There are about a dozen species that can be found in NE Iowa! I think Bill's bee is a brown-belted bumble bee queen, but I'm not totally sure.

How can you find out more about the bumble bees in your neighborhood? Take pictures! Then compare them with the excellent guide at the link below. You can also contribute your photos to bumblebeewatch.org.

https://www.xerces.org/publications/brochures/bumble-bees-of-iowa

05/24/2022

Has this plant appeared in your yard or neighborhood?

☘️ If so, consider yourself lucky! This is Virginia waterleaf, a native woodland wildflower that makes a great ground cover for shade to part shade.

🐝 Bumble bees love the flowers! There's even a specialist bee that only feeds on waterleaf flowers (Andrena geranii).

🌱 Native plants are the best choices for a pollinator garden because of the natural relationships they have with pollinators and other beneficial insects.

Violets, prairie groundsel, and Virginia waterleaf are native flowers you may get "for free" during No Mow May.