The “Before and After” of the Lazy Lawn Experiment. I love how my lawn and vine looks in the right corner picture.
Publisher’s Lazy Lawn Experiment Concluded – The Inside Scoop
I wrote an article last month about the very real concerns regarding the Bee population and that of all “pollinators” in the State of Massachusetts. Environmentalists made a suggestion that perhaps some people could have a “lazy lawn”, in other words, don’t mow it, let the dandelions and other vegetation grow, including the grass. It gives the bees more to pollinate they said. So, I tried it. And today, June 4, 2026, my lawn was mowed for the first time this year. For the original “To Bee or Not to Bee” article, CLICK HERE.
The benefits: I saw many bees during the past couple months. Interestingly, I told each one of them who came close to me that I loved them and please don’t bite me. This happened not only when I was walking around, but also on my front porch. Surprisingly, I didn’t get one bee sting, but had the pleasure of seeing more bees than I’ve seen in years. Somehow, it seems, Nature knew what I was doing and the bees appeared to be curious approaching me, “who is this complete nut?” they appeared to say. Another side benefit: when you let a lawn grown long, it actually gets to the point where it seeds itself and you actually get a much richer lawn in the bargain. Oh well, more to mow.
The pitfalls: The looks from neighbors stung and the feeling of being embarassed wasn’t fun. After all, my yard looked like I had just let it go. However, I did have a secret plan which some couldn’t see given the tall grass hiding my adventures. I put in a new redneck driveway including genuine ¾ granite stone, enhanced my solar lighting and otherwise cleaned up the place. The local birds observed the stone granite driveway and came to observe, often resting on my fence. I heard them chirping among themselves, but I couldn’t understand “bird” so I had no idea what they were saying. I’m pretty sure they weren’t talking politics.
Would I do it again? Well, probably not. I’ve lined up a lawn mowing guy who did a great job with my forest of grass at a reasonable price.(and he only knew about my experiment after the lawn had been mowed) The before pictures show tall grass. The after pictures are a welcome sight. Thanks to Grady Tobin of Tobin Landscaping who serves the North Central MA area. If you need a great landscaper, call Grady at (978) 730-2039. He’ll be coming by regularly to mow a normal lawn from now on.
Be kind to the bees. We need them. They provide a needed service to our environment and will ultimately save our planet if we let them BEE.
Werner Poegel, Publisher.