Blog: A History of the Well-Cut Lawn

Feminists across the globe would be disappointed in me.

At first, it was a regular duty. It’s been a predictable, if unenthusiastic effort to earn a few bucks. An hour or so spent each fortnight, every whenever-I-have-time—there was even a period when it’s was every week. It’s conventionally a man’s job but women can do it just as well—but, in spite of feminism propaganda, that doesn’t mean I enjoy it.

Mowing sucks. And, believe me, I knew that going into the deal, but it’s hard to say no to a friendly neighbor when your older brother ships out for college—especially when said neighbor has twenty bucks in hand. Over the past two sweltering summers, the novelty of being a female lawn mower extraordinaire has, needless to say, worn off. Sure, girls are just as capable of pushing an electric mower around in the sun as boys are—score one for the feminists—but the job itself remains tedious. More than once, the closeted anarchist in me has questioned why middle class suburban Americans don’t save themselves the time and trouble of lawn care by reverting to the grounds keeping style of the Finch family in To Kill a Mockingbird: all dirt, no work.

No, but really, the idea of a well-kept lawn is really, really strange. If you think about it. Taming nature for ornamental purposes? A growing industry of minimum wage workers devoted to doing what homeowners who can afford to pay don’t have to? Echelons of snobby neighbors envious of the perfectly manicured masterpiece yard? Who thought this was a good idea?

Europeans. Those dirty, dirty Europeans.

Wet, mild climates on the other side of the Atlantic are ideal for cultivating grass. What is now a landscaping craze began with common grazing areas for commoners’ livestock. After the Middle Ages, the well-to-do aristocracy of northern Europe developed an affinity for having green weeds cushioning their property. The trend largely kept to the elite: even then, only the wealthy could afford lawn care, especially since trimming the grass sometimes required hiring a team of field hands and supplying them with scythes.

The invention of mowing machines in 1830 allowed lawns to grow into a popular phenomena among the affluent and in public parks by 1870. A seed tucked in the coat pocket of some Pilgrim and the middle class’s rampant urge to emulate the wealthy later, a uniform, well-cut lawn is an integral manifestation of the white picket fence suburban American dream.

And, by the way, the suburban American dream of a uniform, well-cut lawn will cost you twenty bucks.