In the 17th century the only people with lawns were the royals and aristocrats. They mowed with goats and sheep. Lawns slowly spread to the US suburbs as a status symbol. Now they are a symbol of leisure and prosperity. It is now a heavy burden for over 80% of homeowners.
Mowing, fertilizing and watering are constant tasks. An enormous industry has been created. More water is consumed for lawn care than farmers use to raise corn wheat, or any other agricultural product. Some experts estimate that over 1/3 of water from public sources goes toward landscaping. In some of the drier states, this may rise to 70%.
Environment: Lawns are damaging to the environment. Fertilizer and pesticide runoff pollute our steams and lakes. Gasoline mowers emit as much pollution as 11 automobiles. There now exists an anti lawn lobby.
I wonder what people did for their yards before the age of lawns.
3 comments:
No question about it. We use far more water for our lawns and gardens than for "indoor" water uses.
Make no mistake - it is a guarantee - fresh water will be the next commodity to rise in price precipitously. Many will re-evaluate lawns at that time.
Another excellent post. I wish I could think of a way to get rid of my lawn and still have it look decent.
I've gotten rid of 2/3rds of my lawn and it looks so much nicer and requires very little water. I plan to get rid of the rest of it shortly. It looks terrible unless it has been very recently mowed. Down with lawns, I say! What a waste!
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