The lawn is already growing like crazy, even though we’re barely into May. Some years I’ve been able to put off the first mowing until June.

This early, the lawn is dotted with cowslips and the main challenge in mowing it is not running them over. Some patches I just leave be completely. In others, I trim around and between the clumps of flowers. Many are just far enough apart that the mower just fits between them. Which could be a happy coincidence, but could also be because any new plants that have tried to establish themselves between them have been mowed down before they got large enough to survive. Who knows.

Reality looked a lot better than the photo.