A couple of years ago, Liz Varmecky got rid of the front lawn of her Homewood house, going all in on native plants the attract pollinating insects.

With grass supplanted by goldenrod, Black-eyed Susan and milkweed, Varmecky said she wishes her community would do more to bolster green, environmentally friendly initiatives.

A founder of the environmental organization South Suburbs for Greenspace, Varmecky said she’s not very happy with Homewood’s decision to not participate this year in No Mow May, something it promoted last year to support pollinator health.

“They did not give people a ton of notice,” Varmecky said Wednesday. “If they had announced this last fall then people would have had time to do alternate methods.”

The No Mow May movement started in England in 2019 and was introduced in the United States in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Communities in the U.S. have adopted or modified similar efforts.

It has gained traction amid growing concern for populations of pollinators — the bees, butterflies and other tiny critters that help gardens and crops grow — with promoters of no mow suggesting turning suburban yards into springtime buffets for bugs.

Chicago-area suburbs including La Grange Park, Riverside and Westmont last year hosted No Mow ‘Til Mother’s Day, allowing lawns and flowering weeds such as dandelions and creeping Charlie to fully flourish, but only until mid-May.

Homewood announced this week that while it supports pollinator health and environmentally friendly practices, research shows that long-term native planting solutions are more effective than simply not mowing for a few weeks.

The village said the lack of mowing can also negatively affect lawn health by encouraging pests, invasive weeds and allergens.

A village ordinance requires that grass and weeds not exceed 6 inches, a rule it relaxed last May after green lighting the no mow effort.

The village can also place liens on property to recover charges for a cutting service as well as the cost of registering the liens with Cook County.

Homewood officials are encouraging residents to plant native flowers and establishing pollinator gardens and creating bee-friendly yards with diverse, sustainable vegetation.

Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld said he’d love to keep bee hives in his yard, but has four fruit-bearing apple trees.

He said he has to spray the trees to ward off insects and prevent fungal infections, something that would not be conducive to keeping bees.

“I have to spray if I want to get apples,” Hofeld said Wednesday.

The mayor said he just recently learned of the decision, apparently arrived at by village staff, to opt out of no mow this year.

He said that while the village did get complaints last year about yards looking messy due to lack of mowing, he did not know if that was the overriding concern in dropping the program this year.

“I have mixed emotions about it,” Hofeld said.

He said he has put plantings in his yard to help attract polinating insects, such as hummingbird mint that draws bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

“I put in a lot of plants that assist in that,” Hofeld said.

Varmecky said she would like to see Homewood support more environmentally friendly efforts.

The village has a tree sharing program, with the community helping susidize the planting of trees in residents’ property. Varmecky said something similar for native plants could be adopted, and she’d like to see the village hold workshops for residents who want to incorporate native plantings on their properties.

“There are tons of pollinator friendly native plants available,” she said. “There are so many different options.”

Because they’re native to the area, the plants tend to thrive, and require far less maintenance, such as regular watering, compared with flowers that are annuals, Varmecky said.

She said she’d started with planting beds along the edge of her front yard containing pollinator plants, and bit by bit got rid of the grass, finishing the undertaking in 2023.