In Columbus, the Sounds of Summer is recognized as a four-week concert series presented by Main Street Columbus.

For me, though, the “Sounds of Summer” are not music. When I was kid, they were the roar of lawnmowers cranking on Saturday mornings up and down our street. At the indecent hour of 8 or 9 in the morning (from a teen’s perspective), someone on our street would crank up the old push mower, setting off a chain reaction of lawnmowers cranking up and down the street.

Ours was a working-class neighborhood. Of the 14 houses on our street, the biggest home was maybe 2,000 square feet. Most were 1,200 square feet or so. But it was a step up from a trailer park, and the working folks who lived on the street were proud homeowners who took care of their stuff. A neatly maintained yard was an unstated rule. A lawn that wasn’t mowed for more than a couple of weeks was reason for alarm. Neighbors would stop by to see if the homeowner was OK.

The city of Starkville has joined something called the “No Mow March” movement. The city won’t be mowing city rights-of-way, medians and municipal lots throughout the month. Outdoor sports venues aren’t a part of the plan.

Homeowners, too, are participating, which is especially important.

The idea of refraining from mowing for a month originated in the UK and is growing in popularity in the U.S., especially in the South. The month chosen is related to the start of spring, which in the South is March, hence No Mow March.

The most significant benefit of No Mow month (aside from not having to mow, obviously) is that it provides more food for bees, butterflies, and other insects during a critical time while germinating the flowers or vegetables we look forward to each summer.

Bees are having a particularly tough time of it, if you haven’t heard. The past year has seen some of the highest mortality rates in beekeeping history. The 2024-2025 U.S. Beekeeping Survey reported that 55.6% of managed honeybee colonies were lost, the highest rate since records began in 2010. Winter losses this year have been particularly devastating, with an estimated 40.2% of colonies failing to survive the colder months. The U.S. butterfly population has fallen by 22% since 2005.

Bees and butterflies need all the help they can get. Keeping the lawnmower in the tool shed seems like a small sacrifice.

In truth, the average lawn in the U.S. is an anomaly. Folks in other countries have lawns that are less maintained, favoring native grasses, even weeds.

The notion that our lawns should look like a golf course is only about 100 years old and followed the invention and growth of motorized lawn mowers.

Before then, a large, perfectly maintained weedless lawn was a status symbol. It meant the homeowner paid someone to take care of the property, something well beyond the reach of the average factory worker.

Now, of course, lawn care is an enormous industry, producing enormous quantities of seeds, weedkillers, fertilizers and equipment. Zero-turn lawnmowers are all the rage, ranging anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000 or more. Commercial lawnmowers can cost up to $20,000.

All things considered, our world would be much better off without the kind of lawns we have been keeping here in the U.S.

The idea of what constitutes a well-kept yard has certainly changed, and not for the better. In other countries, lawns reflect the beauty of nature.

It would take some getting used to, of course, but letting our lawn grass grow longer, allowing other grasses and weeds to live and make their contributions to the ecosystem creates a kind of beauty, too.

Sounds of Summer? Less mower noise, more music.

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].

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