
The Case Against Lawns - howard941
https://www.curbed.com/2019/3/13/18262285/mcmansion-hell-kate-wagner-lawn-care-mowing
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benj111
"After the neighbors replaced the nearby woods with an oversized house and
lawn"

The lawn is the least of the problems cited here.

And its quite geographically specific. If you get heavy rain, you want grass
to absorb run off. Because lawns aren't going to be replaced by trees and
natural wilderness. They'll be replaced by paving.

~~~
eesmith
I felt it was pretty clear that while details (like the one about the
neighbors) were geographically specific, the point wasn't to get rid of all
grass. The term "lawn" in this essay is a short-hand for "turf grass lawn".

For example, the starting suggestion was "Getting rid of turf grass and
replacing it with native grasses, prairie, or whatever natural ground cover
happens to be inherent to the place you live and that doesn’t require
fertilization, pesticide use, or mowing".

If you need grass to absorb run off, then go ahead and use grass which has
evolved in and for that local climate.

I felt like the author should have pointed out some of the politics involved,
like city or neighborhood rules which place limits on the height of the grass.
One of the houses near me when I lived in Illinois used prairie grasses. I
loved it. But the grasses were a _lot_ higher than the turf grass of the
neighbors, which upsets people who 1) value the turf grass lawn look and 2)
believe, perhaps correctly, that their house value depends on having neighbors
who agree with 1).

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siruncledrew
What I’ve noticed about lawns:

From looking at pre-1990s houses in the suburbs, I have noticed that lawns
typically comprise a large percentage of the lot size. It seems to me, back
when those houses were built, a desirable quality of a suburban home was
having a ‘lawn where the kids could play around’. Lawns also were (and still
are) a personal show of accomplishment, so people took interest in their lawns
and the lawns of others. (If you watch 80s and 90s movies with suburban shots
- like Donnie Darko - it also shows “the American lawn” in the suburbs).

In newer houses built after the 2000s, I’ve seen house size comprise more of
the total lot size, and lawn size reduced. I figure this is a sign of the
trend to have a big house over a lawn. It’s fairly economical today to build a
template-style cul-de-sac or subdivision of “large” homes built closer
together (thus smaller lawns) to capitalize on the land. Plus, if someone is
spending a lot of money on a house, then I suppose they want to get their
money’s worth in amenities (2 car garage, 3+ full baths, nice kitchen, big
living room, etc), which means more house is needed. There’s also less reason
to care about having a lawn if it’s going to get less use out of it. On
speculation, maybe 70% of the lot is house, with the remaining 30% of the lot
being a small front yard and larger fenced back yard.

Aside:

As for having natural lawns that are more locally ecological friendly as
opposed to manicured grass, I think the main impediment is people’s
perceptions and fear of “pests”. Either neighbors get pissed off or they
complain about property values, local ordinances, HOA bylaws, etc to some
local government about “non-standard” lawns that promote ecological
cohabitation.

It’s kind of weird so many people in the suburbs have this view. Like they are
actually afraid of having nature next to them, when the suburbs are a place
outside the city built right next to nature and rural land.

I used to live close to a small park, and I would leave out unused food at
night on ocassion for deers, rabbits, and stray cats that would wander around,
instead of throwing it away. My neighbor saw me doing that and threatened to
call the cops on me, and report me to the health board and animal control. If
animals were wrecking havok on neighbors yards I would understand, but
neighbors like these are so protectionist of their yards, they will blow up a
petty thing to huge proportions and find a way to get “the law” on their side
to make life miserable for someone. As if I am putting them in grave danger
because a deer ate some berries in my backyard. I don’t understand why people
would buy a house next to a park if they really needed to be so fenced off.

