School children from East Linton are being recognised for their work in encouraging their entire village to stop mowing and start growing in order to protect wildlife.
The No Mow May initiative encourages gardeners to reduce grass cutting and allow wildflowers and grasses to bloom.
Now in it’s eighth year, the campaign launched by the charity Plantlife has seen more gardeners than ever turn over parts of their lawns to nature.
Young environmentalists from the local primary school in East Linton have played a key role, turning the village phone box into a free wildflower seed hub, putting up posters at the butcher’s shop and getting the council to agree not to mow a large section of their local park.
STV NewsSix-year-old Megan Thomas said: “We’ve been growing the grass long now, it’s getting really long. It can help plants have a longer and happier life.”
Freya Shields, aged five, added: “It’s good for plants and insects like ladybirds and butterflies that live in the wild.”
East Linton will be one of just a handful of areas in Britain to host the 2026 competition, which encourages people to leave their green spaces and lawns unmowed during May, and preferably longer.
STV NewsWith around 97% of flower meadows lost since the 1930s, it also means the loss of vital food for pollinators, like bees and butterflies.
But with 23 million gardens across the UK conservations say there’s still an opportunity to let things grow, bring back these mini jungles and help insects to thrive.
Plantlife specialist botanical advisor Sarah Shuttleworth said: “It may seem like a small gesture but levelled up it actually really makes a difference.
“Just leaving some areas or all of your lawn unmown for ideally a few months over the summer means that all of those flowers that have been sitting waiting for that break in mowing can be there for all those pollinators looking for nectar.”
STV NewsAuthor and No Mow May organiser Ken Ilgunas moved to the UK from the US in 2018. Now living in East Linton with his family, he remembers the manicured lawns of his childhood.
“When I moved here to Scotland, I was amazed by what I saw. There was so much diversity in every single lawn, fruit trees, shrubs, lawns left to grow wild. I was inspired by that; you don’t need to mow your lawn every Sunday.
“I think it looks beautiful – a meadow with butterflies, bugs and bees hopping about. It’s great for biodiversity.
“Kids sympathise with the plants, bugs and birds. An initiative like this really speaks to them.”
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