The Aesthetic Of The Perfectly-Groomed Lawn

Environmental historian Ted Steinberg explains American's fascination with the perfect lawn.

1 minute read

March 20, 2006, 11:00 AM PST

"Why did the perfect-lawn aesthetic emerge in the 1950s? Because that was a time in the nation's economic history when â€" with Americans already awash in consumer goods such as refrigerators and washing machines â€" manufacturers longed for new ways of stimulating demand. The perfect lawn fueled postwar consumerism as homeowners repeatedly bought products in the elusive quest for an impeccable yard.

...Economic imperatives, color preferences and conformity are better explanations than genetics for the all-American lawn mania. Focusing on genes tempts us to accept as inevitable the roughly 75,000 Americans injured each year using lawnmowers or the groundwater contamination caused by lawn overfertilization. But, in fact, ecological history suggests that traveling back and forth across the yard with our spreaders is no more natural than the chemicals we are putting in the ground."

Read the full story: Lawn mores

Saturday, March 18, 2006 in The Los Angeles Times

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