alt Hacker NewsWhy are we so obsessed with lawns?
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I recently took over an old house and plot of land not used for ~20 years.
In that time, the main lawn is still grass dominated and fairly easy to cut. But many areas have become completely swamped with different bushes and willow.
I cut it all down twice per year but it shoots up like a jungle next year anyway.
Parts of old farm tracks have of course become unrecognizable and are slowly turning into a forest.
It's hard and tough to walk, you can't see properly as plants can grow quite tall (plus elevation differences).
I love plants; but for human enjoyment and passage between different areas on a plot of land; grass is superior. I dream of grass.
Engraved deep down in our primitive brain is the profound fear of high grass and forestry, which conceal bears, wolves, snakes, ticks and a lot of other dangers.
Thus, we have the natural inclination to raze it all and leave a very flat grass surface where no animal goes unnoticed.
This ends up translating into modern lawns a few hundreds of centuries later.
Someone, though I do not remember who, made the point that grasses are a highly successful parasite of the human species. The point was made in humour, but I still think it's a fascinating perspective.
My young children both love the lawn and I can tell they get a lot from interacting with it, playing on it, etc. It is a little bit of accessible greenery in my small back-garden and I don't need to water it, just mow it occasionally.
Mowing two weeks of summer growth just before a thunderstorm is peak vibes.
Because it’s the soft, clean, forgiving carpet for loads of outdoor activities.
Just the potential for a couple of great days a year is enough for me. I’m not talking about the mega mansions that have full time gardeners and unused lawns of course.
This question is never asked by people who have kids that love football for example. And that’s a large part of the population.
Not everyone love lawns though, there's even an entire subreddit dedicated to hating them: https://www.reddit.com/r/fucklawns/
I recently killed my lawn, ordered soil to create berms, and planted 100+ native plants (small ones and a few trees/bushes) all over the yard.
It has brought me so much joy! I observe so many interesting animal behaviors like birds playing on the springy yarrow flowers or bumble bees tumbling around the tiny clarkia blooms.
The three things that motivated me the most was Concrete Botany Audiobook[1], the Kill Your Lawn youtube series[2], and the interesting chats with neighbors who are interested in doing the same or have done the same.
That isn't to say it was easy or that I haven't gotten some strange comments like "your yard produces a lot of seeds that come into my lawn".
[1]: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9798317900410-concrete-botany
This was never really true in the southwest where rock gardens are common.
When done right, they are so stunning and low maintenance. They also open up more options for interesting and dramatic lighting at night.
10,000 years of agriculture has given us profound instincts to want to grow crops and harvest them. But you don't need to, it's a waste of your resources when you can head to the grocery store. So you grow grass that you can't eat and dutifully harvest it once a week. To satisfy that itch.
If you want to be able to walk around the garden, rather than just stare at it from the window, you're going to need gravel, concrete, or a lawn. I know which I prefer.