i was about to joke about how my political stance is “end lawnmower culture” but then it occurred to me that i actually Am against lawns as suburban status symbols and wastes of land that Could be used to sustain native flora & fauna and grow food for people, but no, instead they are these huge useless swaths of land that need Constant maintenance, the process of which is not only destructive, but Incredibly Loud
You know that actually is the purpose of a lawn? They started as a trend of the French monarchy – the ones revolutionaries beheaded for being self indulgent assholes.
It exists purely as a status symbol that says, “I have land but I don’t have to use it for anything productive. I can invest time, money and resources in maintaining an entirely useless crop on land I’m not farming just because it looks pretty.”
Lawns offend me.
Why have that stunted golf course in front of your suburban house if you can’t even water it? Get one of these instead.
Unite Against the Lawn
Pro tiny house, anti grass lawn. Prioritize practicality.
This is actually really interesting because back in the 1950s and 60s in Australia when we started getting large waves of Southern European migrants one thing the Italians and others would often so is buy a little suburban home, then tear out the ornamental flower beds and lawn and useless trees and plant fruits, vegetables, grapes and even olives. It was considered completely scandalous by their Anglo-Saxon neighbours because lawn was considered an aspirational thing and the ideal was to go from not needing a kitchen garden and having an ornamental garden to show how well you were doing.
This is great. All of it. Not to derail this too much, but “Lawnmower” culture also reminds me of aggressively heterosexual men. Men ALWAYS will use mowing the lawn as a way to get out of doing all the other household chores – having a lawn that a man mows somehow makes maintaining everything else inside a house the women’s responsibility. Down with lawnmower culture.
i’ve actually read a whole book on lawns and lawn culture (yes, really) it’s called lawn people by paul robbins check it out and let’s all boycott lawn culture together!!!
Never thought of this and wow. It’s really an eye opener
Wow. This is really useful info !!
There’s a house on the corner (I would get a picture if it weren’t creepy as fuck) whose lawn is filled with trees, flowers and plants. You can barley see the house. Everyone in the development gossips about how it’s an eyesore. & I image how much the owners had to fight with the homeowners association for approval.
The City of Olympia has a grant for homeowners who want to turn their lawns/properties into Food Forests. It pays for some materials and all of the labor. The homeowners pay for the plants.
There is also a local organization called GRuB that provides FREE raised beds and container gardens to Thurston County residents. Folks qualify for free raised beds, container gardens, AND free plants based on financial need.
If you are a low income person who is unsure you can afford plants/seeds to start a garden: You can buy plant starts and vegetable seeds with your EBT benefits!
GRuB IS AWESOME. And yay Oly for cool grants (sadly I’m in Tumwater).
As xmagnet-o mentions, Lawnmower Culture is so entrenched that some developments have rules against anything but well-manicured lawns. There are places with lawn awards. This is not only awful for the environment (lawns are a monoculture, usually maintained to high standards only with fertilizers and herbicides, usually mowed with highly inefficient gas-engines, and can be as bad for run-off as a packed gravel driveway), but it’s basically designed to separate the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ – because if you’re a have-not, or even a have-less, wasting time and money primping your useless lawn is NOT going to be a priority.
