Don't mow, just grow, dammit! #WildDS106


If you ever spent a Long Weekend In Alice Springs you'd notice some lawns that have the sign 'Don't Mow' posted. This instructs the over-zealous council people to skip that lawn. These lawns are interesting, scruffy, colourful and easier to keep than the manicured green patches. Destroying wildflowers can get people riled-up!

In the desert, water is the thing! The soil is great but red sand is pervasive and grass soon turns to dust ponds without moisture. However, you can walk along the many trails and see wildflowers and a wide variety of plants (if the Buffel grasses have been removed or kept in check). I don't have anything against weeds but they sure block the wildflowers and diversity. There are a group of volunteers that clear the buffel at the end of the house blocks. The wildflowers are stunning.

How do I combobulate? Joining in #ReclaimOpen2025 is a joy! It is connecting me to the DS106 Daily Create ed and tech folks I haven't seen for awhile, a diverse set of blogs and presentations which are wonderfully accessible from the retro home page onwards. The wonderful image from Bryan Mathers for our session Combobulating the Wild is wonderful and glad it has evoked this post. Working as a Learning Designer crafting online courses in a institutional-wide template is like maintaining the manicured green patches of lawn. It works, it is mostly pleasing to the eye (for students?), it is boring to work with and it takes a lot of maintenance. To me, rewilding means maintaining my scholarship of open education, pause the mowing and let the wildflowers of imagination grow!

Comments

  1. Dogtrax6 November 2025 at 05:02

    There is a similar (don't mow) movement around here, mostly in Spring, to make flowers for the bees.

    ReplyDelete

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