Fewer residents taking part in 'No Mow May' in 2024

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It's designed to help bees collect pollen and allow flowers to germinate. "No Mow May" was big in Western New York last year, but in one part of Buffalo, the participation wasn't as much as last year.

Buffalo Common Councilman Joe Golombek says "No Mow May" took part this year, albeit with fewer people forgoing the mower.

"Some of the people that were involved last year that I've spoken to have said that since this year, spring really came early and the flowers were budding. Things like that about 3-4 weeks earlier, because of the amount of rain and the warm weather that we had, that the normal May wasn't as necessary during the month of May," said Golombek in an interview with WBEN.

Golombek says only a few groups took part this time around.

"The groups have been encouraging people to cut the grass and to do like a high mow rather than a low cut when they're mowing the grass, just so that it'll keep some of the clover budding properly," said Golombek.

He adds the groups felt their gardens looked a lot nicer last year than they had in previous years.

Golombek believes a "No Mow May" next year will depend on the weather.

"The groups that I've spoken to have said that it's possible if the weather continues to change, that maybe it would be April that they would look at instead of may in the future," Golombek explained.

"No Mow May" is considered an environmentally safe and sound way to try to help germinate flowers, grasses, and clovers, to give the bees a place to collect pollen. Organizers say the long-term hope would be something that would help flowers bloom better. They add this would give bees a better opportunity to survive a longer period of time in Buffalo.