Lawn Craze

[ysabetwordsmith]

Here's a comic about the lawn craze.  Some further thoughts ...

It goes a lot farther back than postwar suburbs.  Lawns started as a status symbol among European aristocracy.

Advice to stop watering, fertilizing, mowing, etc. or to replace lawns with something else is great -- if it's legal.  In many areas it is not, and people are fined or even evicted for being unwilling or unable to keep their lawn in a manner pleasing to others. Such laws are bad for disability and bad for the environment, but those are things fewer people care about than power. Check the local level of tyranny before trying to solve lawn-related problems.

Comments

[zesty_pinto]

Thanks for sharing that bit of history on the lawns in Europe, didn't think about it a lot and it makes sense.

When I lived in Boston, I had to send my landlord a notice we received for not maintaining the lawn even though it was a strip of land that was unfenced and only used by dog walkers that seemed to enjoy leaving their dog's turds. It was pretty worthless for the most part, though I guess it's also because everyone there was obsessed with keeping their real estate values up since it's Boston.

[silver_chipmunk]

That was pretty interesting, thanks for posting it.

You're welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm a fan of personal freedom and environmental issues. I wish more people were willing and free to grow things other than short grass.

Re: You're welcome!

[silver_chipmunk]

Yeah. Short grass is better than a concrete yard, but not very satisfactory in and of itself.

[siliconshaman]

The more I hear about housing associations, the less I am surprised by the rise of fascism in America.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

America has a number of dangerously undemocratic institutions, grown up like weeds in places people don't realize how troublesome they are. Want to stop something from happening? Don't waste your time trying to make it illegal. Work on making it uninsurable. A great many things have been stopped that way, and there's no recourse.

Re: Yes...

[havocthecat]

As someone who works in the insurance industry, that is an interesting and terribly complex concept, given that insurance is regulated at the state level and is litigated, by and large, on the local level.

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

What I'm looking at is this tangle of concepts:

* Insurance people aren't generally elected. So if the populace dislikes these people making rules that everyone else is stuck with, some of which cause serious problems, there's no straightforward way to oust them and fix the damage.

* Insurance companies have a ton of money. Most people don't. Statistically speaking, America is a plutocracy/oligarchy. This means rich people make decisions poor people are stuck with, which causes problems.

* As you mentioned, the main way to challenge these is litigation, a tool unavailable to many people, and for anyone but another megacorp, you're pushing on the short end of the lever if you can reach it at all.

* But insurers are the most alert to climate change. That'd be really useful if they were doing more about it than refusing to insure people who need insurance. See also their patchy response to flood-prone and fire-prone areas. It'd be fantastic if they lobbied to CLOSE those areas to development. "Don't build things in fire chimneys" is great advice. But mostly, they just leave people uninsured, in the same dangerous places.

* And a lot of times, it's not even the kind of insurance that can be used. They overwhelmingly deny claims, because they never want to give the money back. Some fields of insurance are still useful, but others are basically "Insurance" -- money you pay by force or threat. This then has a negative impact on public perception of insurance as a concept, which undermines the functionality of the fields that are still working.

I can see the problems. I can see a few things that would make improvements. But I don't see a way to fix the whole system, it's too entrenched with a lot of other fuckups in America today. In some cases I can see feasible replacements, but basically nobody wants to do those. Frex, lots of civilized countries have a public health system, some of them excellent; studies show that nonprofits consistently outperform both government and for-profit caregivers; we could conceivably take all the best parts and build a nonprofit NGO health network. But nobody wants to.

I imagine that's a lot more maddening for folks in the industry.

Re: Yes...

[(Anonymous)]

as someone in healthcare....the breakroom bitchfest over "HOW MUCH MORE PROOF DOES THIS INSURANCE CARRIER WANT BEFORE THEY REALIZE they SHOULD COVER X" is ugh.

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

And then they wonder why people "don't want help" or "didn't come sooner." Because they've been turned away often enough to realize nobody cares and asking for help is frequently pointless. So a lot of perfectly fixable things don't get fixed.

In this regard, health "Insurance" is an inherent conflict of interest. Sick/injured people want to get health care. Corporations want to keep all the money. This does nobody any good.

Re: Yes...

[havocthecat]

Many of your comments on insurance are very much reductions of the actual issues, but we're also running into the problem with why I don't talk in any great detail about my field of employment outside of work: I'm also not going to deal with the negative perception of the industry and those employed in it, which affects literally every discussion of the industry I have with someone who doesn't work in it.

I also don't work in the health insurance industry, which is vastly and wildly different than the property and casualty and the life insurance industry. They require entirely different discussions, and the issues involved are vastly different.

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Many of your comments on insurance are very much reductions of the actual issues, <<

That's pretty much inevitable with any large complex issue. It is sometimes possible to separate one small part for discussion, but as they all tie together, that's not always useful.

>> but we're also running into the problem with why I don't talk in any great detail about my field of employment outside of work: I'm also not going to deal with the negative perception of the industry and those employed in it, which affects literally every discussion of the industry I have with someone who doesn't work in it. <<

That makes sense. It sounds like a lousy work situation.

[fred_mouse]

One of the first things we did in the garden when we moved into this house was pull up the reticulation in the front garden, and mulch the lawn (mostly on the verge). I have never regretted this. I also underloved the back lawn, and when partner complained that it was dying, I was a bit pointed that if they wanted lawn, they were going to have to do the work. It was fairly promptly mulched.

These days, we are seeing a slow trend of artificial lawns around our suburb. Sadly, these aren't usually as 'set and forget' as people would like, and most of the early ones have weeds around the edges and seams, so any kindly thoughts I might have had are evaporating.

[havocthecat]

If only my city didn't fine us when the weeds hit 8" or higher! Though I have gotten the front yard to be mostly clover. I love clover and it feeds the bees, plus when we hit the dry spell in late summer, it stays pretty green and the bees still have food. I don't want to kill our dandelions because it would kill all our clover too.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> If only my city didn't fine us when the weeds hit 8" or higher! <<

While that is a serious problem in many places, some people have successfully overturned it by pointing out the severe drawbacks of lawns (i.e. they conflict with water-saving measures, raise toxin levels, and so on). What you need to do in order to challenge that rule is to look for anything the city is having a real hard time doing, that correlates with lawn maintenance. If they're trying to reduce water, point out that a wild lawn or alternative coverage (native plants, xeriscaping, garden, gravel, etc.) will reduce that. If they're concerned about wildlife, nonmowing will support that. And so on.

>> Though I have gotten the front yard to be mostly clover. I love clover and it feeds the bees, plus when we hit the dry spell in late summer, it stays pretty green and the bees still have food. <<

Yay clover!

>> I don't want to kill our dandelions because it would kill all our clover too.<<

They're actually great pollen/nectar plants. Dandelion honey is delicate tasty stuff. Some people also like dandelion wine, or dandelion salad.

[viciousladybug]

Wow, I never thought about the history of lawns. They def seem decadent. Our lawn is rapidly turning into violets and moss. We live in a rural area with a lot of trees, so we are letting nature take over although we still have some grass yet. We never water or fertilize though...we have too many frogs, snakes, and other wonders who like it au natural!

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

That sounds like you have a relatively damp forest. Those are easy to grow fun things such as ferns, liverwort, and a host of fascinating wildflowers. You might look into what is native in your area. Also, fallen log gardens are awesome for holding moisture through dry summers.

[paynesgrey]

Interesting history on lawns in Europe! I know here, in our suburb, we have ordinances for a lawn to be cut after a certain length. I think you can't grow it past six inches here, and everyone in the neighborhood is super anal about their lawns. We don't usually care. I like the dandelions growing to attract the honey bees, and we do the bare minimum of everything else, lol. I do have a spice garden that I keep relatively cleaned up but that's about it.

Ideas for lawns:

[rhodielady-47.livejournal.com]

There are lots of neat little low-growing plants that make good substitutes for lawn grass.
Here are a few:
White/Dutch clover
wild violets (certain species of butterflies use these as a host plant)
Spring beauties
Blue-eyed grass (kin to iris, they have blue blooms)
dwarf chamomile
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/lawn-care/lawn-substitutes/chamomile-lawn/growing-chamomile-lawns.htm
creeping thyme
https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/2016/01/21/lawn-alternatives-creeping-thyme/
moss (for use in wet, rainy climates or in deep shade in moist areas)

Also, those people who insist on growing a GRASS lawn should put some time and effort into finding a grass variety that is adapted to their area. They're out there but you have to do the research to find them.
High Country Gardens used to carry grass meant for use in dry areas.
Creeping Charlie is another good idea for a lawn. It's extremely hardy, low-growing, and extremely determined to out-grow any other weed. Plus, it's gorgeous when it's in bloom.
:^)

Re: Ideas for lawns:

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>> White/Dutch clover
wild violets (certain species of butterflies use these as a host plant) <<

As far as I'm concerned, anything that survives walking and mowing constitutes "lawn." We have a lot of the above two. When I sow grass seed, I like to add clover to it, so it doesn't need fertilizer. Used to be, grass seed came with clover for that exact reason, but then people started putting herbicide on everything, which kills the clover. >_<

>>Blue-eyed grass (kin to iris, they have blue blooms) <<

I bought a couple of these this spring. We'll see if they bloom.

>> moss (for use in wet, rainy climates or in deep shade in moist areas) <<

We have that in some shady areas.

>>Also, those people who insist on growing a GRASS lawn should put some time and effort into finding a grass variety that is adapted to their area.<<

Yeah, we want to try some of those, but this spring required patching LARGE areas of lawn so we had to go with cheap stuff. Also I'd like to put in actual prairie grass eventually. So far I've planted pots, but want to try seed.

Re: Ideas for lawns:

[rhodielady-47.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you'd be interested in something called Buffalo grass.
I'm told it makes a good lawn grass but doesn't need to be mowed that often.
:^)

Re: Ideas for lawns:

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I believe that's one of the low-water, low-mow, native grasses that we have considered. It's expensive. But I really want to buy a bag and try it on bare patches to see how it does here.