SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, MOWGLI:

The artifice of the 'lawn' (The Ottawa Citizen, July 8, 2009)

In the Victorian era, to be seen in public with disheveled hair or clothing was considered a mark of insanity. In the 20th century, an unmowed lawn was, if not a mark of insanity, then at least a sign of a bad citizen.

Times have changed. The patch of lawn still has its place; anyone with a croquet set or a family of young children can appreciate it. But it's no longer the only respectable landscaping option. Indeed, the attempt to maintain a pristine, green square of grass has many ecological and even cultural disadvantages, when it's done to the exclusion of anything else. The cookie-cutter suburban dream of identical green postage stamps has been found wanting.

The lawn represents our establishing dominion over Nature. Though I acknowledge that a recent threat to have a crop duster Turf Build several slacker neighbors may have been excessive.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 8, 2009 10:24 AM