Turf grass lawns seem like a ubiquitous and natural part of American neighborhoods. It’s hard to imagine a block with anything besides green lawns. But there is nothing inevitable about grass being what we cover our yards with.
The tradition of putting decorative, nonfunctional turf grass on lawns began in France and England where it was a display of wealth and opulence. If you had a grass lawn it meant that you could afford to devote large portions of land to something that couldn’t be sold or eaten. This tradition was popularized in America by influential figures like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who both adorned their estates with grass lawns.
But grass lawns remained accessible only to the wealthy who could afford their own home. This all shifted in the mid-20th century with the explosion of the American suburbs, where tens of millions of families purchased new homes that often had their very own green grass lawns.
Grass lawns, though, require a lot of time and resources to maintain. There is a growing movement to replace turf grass lawns with more environmentally friendly, native plants that are better for the environment.
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