A program set up four years ago to help with pollinators is now a permanent part of the city of Shawano after the Shawano Common Council voted April 8 to hold No Mow May indefinitely.
The initiative was originally suggested in 2022 by Alderman Kevin Barkow. He had learned about a similar program in place in Appleton, which saw three times as many bees in the area with No Mow May than before. It protects pollinators during a critical period of emergence and survival, while providing a habitat for those pollinators in early spring foraging.
May tends to be a time when more flowers bloom, Barkow noted four years ago, so allowing homeowners to leave their grass to grow during that month would avoid disruption as bees, butterflies and others that help to pollinate plant life can provide a better ecosystem.
The initiative came shortly after the city had voted to increase citation amounts for property owners who didn’t maintain their lawns during the other months of the year. At the time, the council had decided to have an annual resolution about the matter in the event that the city decided not to participate in the program one year.
Concerns were raised in 2024 about whether the program was making a difference, with some on the council noting there weren’t any studies out there that indicated whether No Mow May was actually making a difference. However, the council agreed to give it one more year in 2025.
Fast forward to 2026, and Barkow recommended that, instead of continuing to bring No Mow May back year after year, they make it a permanent initiative in Shawano. The move allows property owners to voluntarily take part, and the city agrees not to cite property owners whose grass is growing haphazardly.
“Is this something that communities are still doing?” Mayor Bruce Milavitz said. “Are you interested in it?”
Barkow said he wanted to see the program continue and felt that, after four years, it was unnecessary to annually review whether the city wanted to continue.
Public works director Mike Mahloch said there were not any issues his department dealt with in May, but he noted that some property owners decide to extend the lack of mowing into June, and that’s when problems come up. No Mow May only suspends mowing rules from May 1-31.
“People are complaining because neighbors have done the No Mow May and then, after that, they still haven’t mowed,” Mahloch said. “It has not been that big of an issue.”
The vote does not prevent the council from ever reexamining the issue, but it ends bringing up the matter every spring.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
