Since May 2010, I have been an avid (if amateur) gardener. After buying our house in 2009, one of the first plans my wife and I made was to tear up portions of our lawn in order to plant a large vegetable garden. Part of our rationale behind this decision was environmental, but we also thought that it was important to figure …
The ubiquity of lawns
I write today of a long-standing American tradition: the immaculately kept, Kentucky Bluegrass lawn. Lawns are quite complex, tying into resource conservation, food security, economics, and the underlying societal mores that govern our perceptions. We live in an era where maintaining a lawn to community standards contributes to increased home values, greater respect within the community, and provides a place that …