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Spring can be a stressful time for gardeners, as many spend their free time weeding and doing chores to get the garden tidied up as soon as possible. However, gardeners are now being asked to put away their lawnmower this weekend and stop mowing the lawn for an entire month to help spread wildflowers across the UK.

No Mow May is a gardening campaign in which British gardeners keep their grass as long as possible in order to give local pollinators like bees and butterflies more of a chance to survive. The campaign was first started by Plantlife, a UK conservation charity, which has stated that lawns are crucial for wildlife at this time of year and cutting them is destroying an important food source for these insects. They said: "From May onwards, simply stop mowing your lawn (or even just a small part of it) and do more by doing less. No lawn is too small! Even the tiniest wild patch can provide vital food needed by bees and butterflies and give wildlife the best start to summer."

Spring is when everything in a garden starts growing again, but it often means that wildlife returning after winter do not yet have reliable food sources.

There are often not many flowers blooming yet, which means insects do not have enough pollen to feed in which will have a big impact on birds that are starting to nest.

May is a crucial time, as if too many pollinating insects die off, then it will affect the amount of plants growing and animals being born in spring, which has a lasting effect on the environment.

However, when lawns are allowed to stay natural, they start growing wildflowers like daisies, clovers and buttercups, which provide nectar for butterflies and bees.

Everyone loves to keep their garden tidy, but even keeping a small part of the lawn messy can help increase the number of insects in your garden and support your local wildlife.

Lawns are often in a poor state in spring as they recover from winter, and mowing too much now can stress out the grass, preventing it from growing properly.

When you cut grass all the time in spring, it means they can only grow shallow roots, and once summer arrives, they will struggle to retain any water.

This means the lawn will need to be watered more often, which adds more work in the long run and increases the likelihood of drying out.

If you want to avoid patchy yellow grass, then taking a break from mowing in May helps a lawn develop a deeper root system, so the grass will stay hydrated in hot weather.

Long grass will also bury deeper into the soil, so it gets more nutrients, which also helps lawns become much stronger, so they appear healthier and greener over time.

What is fantastic about No Mow May is that one of the most effective ways to help nature without even having to leave your doorstep.

All you need to do is stop mowing all or part of the lawn for the whole month of May in order to let wildflowers bloom.

Try to also avoid using weedkillers or fertilisers in the garden during this time, as they can poison insects and birds.

If you cannot stand having a completely messy garden, then consider only mowing paths or the edges of lawns as a compromise to keep your space looking nice while helping wildlife.

Some gardeners enjoy sharing photos of their longer lawns and wildflower patches, showing how even small changes can support the local environment.