In The NoCo

Why ‘No Mow May’ might be a bad strategy for a healthy lawn in Colorado

By In The NoCo,

Published May 14, 2025 at 5:35 AM MDT

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Dandelions growing on a green lawn — "In Colorado with dandelions, a lot of them are done blooming by early May," says CSU horticulture specialist Alison O'Connor about the No-Mow May trend. "So if you're waiting to mow until June, you're still not supporting that population of weeds that might provide some nectar for pollinators."

You know spring is here when the sound of lawn mowers fills your neighborhood. But some folks think mowing isn’t a great idea this time of year.

There’s been a trend in yard care called No Mow May – as in, don’t mow your lawn until June. The concept started in the U.K. in 2019. The idea is to protect pollinators like bees and butterflies by letting dandelions and clover grow for a while before cutting them back.

But is No Mow May a good idea in Colorado and the Front Range?

For answers, we reached out to Alison O’Connor. She’s a horticulture professor with Colorado State University Extension, and an expert in yards, gardens, and the creatures that live among our plants.

She spoke with Erin O’Toole last spring about the trend – and offered lots of helpful ways to support pollinators. We’re listening back to that conversation today.

Find more tips from CSU Extension about creating pollinator-friendly landscaping and about how to attract native bees to your yard.

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In The NoCo

KUNC's In The NoCo is a daily slice of stories, news, people and issues. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show brings context and insight to the stories of the day, often elevating unheard voices in the process. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we celebrate the lighter side of things here, too.

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Erin O'Toole

As the host of KUNC’s new program and podcast In the NoCo, I work closely with our producers and reporters to bring context and diverse perspectives to the important issues of the day. Northern Colorado is such a diverse and growing region, brimming with history, culture, music, education, civic engagement, and amazing outdoor recreation. I love finding the stories and voices that reflect what makes NoCo such an extraordinary place to live.

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Ariel Lavery

Ariel Lavery grew up in Louisville, Colorado and has returned to the Front Range after spending over 25 years moving around the country. She co-created the podcast Middle of Everywhere for WKMS, Murray State University’s NPR member station, and won Public Media Journalism awards in every season she produced for Middle of Everywhere. Her most recent series project is "The Burn Scar", published with The Modern West podcast. In it, she chronicles two years of her family’s financial and emotional struggle following the loss of her childhood home in the Marshall Fire.

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Brad Turner

Brad Turner is an executive producer in KUNC's newsroom. He manages the podcast team that makes In The NoCo, which also airs weekdays in Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His work as a podcaster and journalist has appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition, NPR Music, the PBS Newshour, Colorado Public Radio, MTV Online, the Denver Post, Boulder's Daily Camera, and the Longmont Times-Call.

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