Nature Crisis

Nature crisis: Humans ‘threaten 1m species with extinction’ (May 2019)
Our insects are in trouble (November 2019)
Nature crisis: ‘Insect apocalypse’ more complicated than thought (April 2020)
Biodiversity: UK is one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries (October 2021)
UK’s flying insects have declined by 60% in 20 years (May 2022)
The UK is a hostile environment for wildlife (September 2023)
UK one of the world’s most nature depleted countries (October 2023)
Bugs Matter Citizen Science survey shows further decreases in UK insect numbers (April 2024)
‘This year has been dead’: where have Britain’s insects gone? (August 2024)
Insects are still disappearing – and there are hundreds of reasons why (April 2025)
Half of UK butterfly species in long-term decline, monitoring reveals (April 2025)

Year upon year headlines provide stark reminders of what the planet is losing. But in a world of social media generated instant dopamine boosts, how many people slow down to read the warnings about the crisis facing nature? Much less act on them.

Action can be simple, even if it means defying what has described as Britain’s “greatest contribution to the visual culture of Europe”. The manicured garden. Warm weather days hum to the sound of lawnmowers. Those who have no time to keep up with grass cutting sometimes pave the area, or replace natural grass with artificial turf. It’s fair to say that the British are known for their obsession with lawns. This cultural phenomena gained popularity during the 17th century, when home owners used gardens as a visual display of opulence. To afford a house, a garden, and staff to maintain the grounds, was a status symbol. The sign of the wealthiest in society.

It’s time to move on from our Stepford gardens and work for, rather than against nature.

Grow Don’t Mow

Plantlife run an annual campaign, ‘No Mow May‘, asking people to refrain from grass cutting throughout May. The aim is to encourage wild flowers to grow, which in turn attracts insects and other wildlife into gardens. As a rule, the benefits to nature from a more laid back approach to gardening are present all year round. Autumn, for example, when fallen leaves are sometimes best left to lie.

Results of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) from last year reveal that 2024 was one of the worst years on record for butterflies in the UK. Findings showed more than half of butterfly species in the UK now in long-term decline. Nine species had their worst year since 1976 when counting began. These included the Small Tortoiseshell, Chalk Hill Blue and Small Copper. For 2025, Butterfly Conservation are asking people to commit to grow, not mow, from April to October. Sign up here and receive a free downloadable guide on how to manage your lawn for butterflies.

Long Grass

Long grass is essential to butterflies and moths throughout the year. They use it for feeding, egg laying, shelter, and pupating. It is particularly important from spring to autumn when adults lay eggs, and feed from nectar of wild flowers amongst the grass.

Avoiding grass cutting from the beginning of May until end of August reduces the risk of destroying eggs, caterpillars, and food.

Long grass can, of course, hide predators using it as cover when hunting. There are protective measures which can be incorporated into any garden. For example, planting prickly shrubs around feeding table bases, and situating tables away from places where predators can hide and leap. Dense shrubbery offers shelter for birds and other animals, and is hard for predators to penetrate.

Did You Know?

Since the 1930s, approximately 97% of flower-rich meadows have been lost. With them, vital wildlife food and habitat has also gone. If people set aside feeling pressured to have close cropped lawns, and ignore concerns of being judged for letting grass grow, the benefits can be significant. Not only in supporting nature, but in helping the environment. Long grass and wildflowers help to lock carbon – a key contributor to climate change – below ground.

The smell of fresh cut grass is regularly placed in the top three when people are polled on their favourite smells. But the smell is a distress call issued by the cut grass, warning other plants and insects that they are at risk of harm. With enough notice, surrounding plants can draw down supplies of sugar and other resources towards their roots. This means the plant has a better chance of recovering from the trauma caused by mowing. Spare the grass, save the insects.

Final Thought

“If we and the rest of the back-boned animals were to disappear overnight, the rest of the world would get on pretty well. But if the invertebrates were to disappear, the world’s ecosystems would collapse.” Sir David Attenborough