I was talking to my neighbor a couple of days ago and he mentioned that his lawnmower had conked out at the end of the summer and he hadn’t gotten it back from the repair shop yet. Well, that got me to thinking about grass (the kind you mow.) I’ve often said that I thought it would be easier to just pave our lawn area and paint it green. Maintaining a lawn takes a lot of work.<\/p>\n
I don’t know who came up with the bright idea that the area surrounding your house should be lush and green, but apparently, that\u2019s what has become most acceptable to modern society. Having a nicely trimmed green field leading up to your front door has become kind of a status symbol. And in some communities a messy front lawn gets you in trouble with your neighbors and may even result in a fine from some homeowners associations.<\/p>\n
It seems that the grass lawn as a status symbol originated in European aristocracy. The first \u201clawns\u201d were grassy fields surrounding English and French castles. Castle grounds had to be kept clear of trees so soldiers\/guards protecting the castle had a clear view of the surroundings to prevent enemies from sneaking up through the forest. The word lawn comes from the word launde<\/em>, which meant a \u201cglade or opening in the woods.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure how the lawn became the \u201cstandard\u201d for single family dwellings, but the movement was certainly helped along by Frederick Law Olmstead, the \u201cfather of American landscape design.\u201d Olmstead designed Central Park in New York and also designed suburbs where each house had its own little lawn. Suburbs proved popular because a lot of people wanted to move away from the industrialization of cities and away from all the concrete. The first lawn mower was developed by Edwin Budding in 1830, but didn\u2019t draw that much attention until the average person was faced with the chore of keeping their own lawns nicely trimmed.<\/p>\n But it appears that the guy that has to shoulder the blame for all of us having to cut the grass every week during the summer is Abraham Levitt. Levitt was the founder of Levittown \u2014 declared the \u201cideal\u201d of American suburbia in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Levitt, and his sons, created the first suburb where healthy lawns were already in place when the occupants took possession of their new homes. The homeowners were given pamphlets about the importance of maintaining a perfect lawn, with tips about how to keep it green, lush, and weed-free. So, thank Abe for that hour or two, or more, that you spend every week keeping your property up to neighborhood standards.<\/p>\n Claire\u2019s dad always had a \u201cperfect\u201d lawn \u2014 it would be the envy of most golf courses. He always had a beautiful<\/em> lawn<\/em>. I\u2019ve always had a yard<\/em>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was talking to my neighbor a couple of days ago and he mentioned that his lawnmower had conked out at the end of the summer and he hadn’t gotten it back from the repair shop yet. Well, that got … Continue reading
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