NationStates Jolt Archive

What gives with the obession people have with grass lawns? I just don't get it. This practice wastes resources, interepts and perverts the natural growth cycle and is really boring to look at. Can someone please explain to me why this futile practice is so popular in some parts of the world (including my own, unfortunately)

Poll being added.


EDIT: Or not. Durrrrr.... (at least the weed is really good)
So how many poeple actually like lawns vs. hate them?

because they have nothing better to do? Then again I don't even have a front lawn.

So you believe that grey is better than green? Or that not having somewhere for the kids to play/to sit out in the sun/to provide some room to park your car is a good idea?

If I had a choice, I'd build my house slap bang in the middle of 10 acres of land, so no one could build next to me and spoil the enjoyment I get from my lawn

I'm going to have to agree with you on this one, grass lawns ARE a waste of resourses and boring as hell. If you cut your lawn twice a week, think about how much money you're spending just so your yard looks the way society says it should look. The only real reason to keep your lawn trimmed is to keep the re-sale value up.

I personally want a lawn where there is nothing but wild growth obscuring my house from view, with a dark and dangerous looking path leading into the foliage and my front door....that or gravel, because gravel kicks ass.

Indeed, lawns do sucketh.
I'd say that, if you must go that route, you could just rrip the whole damn mess up and lay down some astroturf or fake grass of some variety. The worst people for grass lawns are those assjacks that try and have lawns in the desert (Hot desert, I mean, like Arizona). IT IS THE FUCKING DESERT! There isn't supposed to be grass, there is supposed to be damn SAND! And scrub, musn't forget scrub.
But, yeah, desert lawns really do piss me off, and having one should be a shootable offence.

Thank you! Finally, someone who thinks that lawns are worthless!

I agree wholeheartedly, waste of time, money, and water...

Agreed, grass is a waste and unecessary these days because we now have fake grass. I live in Vegas where they are paying peopl eto get rid of their grass and put up desert landscapes. THey have saved a shit load of water from this program

I'm not certain of what resources my lawn or those of my neighbors consumes aside from a small ammount of gasoline used to mow some of them. It's not like you have to sprinkle water on them or spread fertilized on them. Not that I really enjoy the time it takes to care for it, but it is less than I would I spend on upkeep on the house if I let the brush grow up. Plus it gives one a large open space to play if one wants to.

I like my lawn, but don't go all out with it. I don't water it, and if it goes brown, it goes brown. I pay one of the neighbor kids to mow it for me once a week.

It can't be beat for a place to play sports, or for kids to play on, or for a summer party. Then again, I live in the country.

Grass lawns are pointless if you live in the middle of a desert but if you live somewhere where it is easly maintained (like i do) then i don't see the problem.

What gives with the obession people have with grass lawns? I just don't get it. This practice wastes resources, interepts and perverts the natural growth cycle and is really boring to look at. Can someone please explain to me why this futile practice is so popular in some parts of the world (including my own, unfortunately)

Poll being added.


EDIT: Or not. Durrrrr.... (at least the weed is really good)
So how many poeple actually like lawns vs. hate them?

Grass is a lot softer to get tackled on than concrete. :)

In some places, like the aforementioned Arizona and Las vegas, lawns are wasteful and basically doomed, but I'd say that they can be a necessary part of a person's property in the right region.

Consider this: grass doesn't ruin any sort of cycle, it continues it. If you didn't have grass on your front lawn 1) the valuable topsoil would erode away into invaluable sediment (this is how deserts are formed) and 2) the continue the whole life cycle. Grass grows, taking nutrients from the soil. Grass dies, decomposes and returns nutrients to the soil.

Furthermore, grass provides food for animals which still live fairly close to civilization, and it is definitely a nce safety precaution. For one, you know what's growing in your yard. You wouldn't believe how many plants there are that would sicken, poisonous, or even kill your child or pet through simply touching the plant and then touching their eye, or looking their finger (let alone, eat it!). And also, if your kid falls, you want them to fall onto a nice mat of grass, or some pile of dirt and rocks? Your choice.

Oh, but I am against the type of people who feel it's necessary to water their lawns althroughout the summer. If you have to do that, then you planted the wrong species of grass. Oh, and a lot of people don't know how to properly fertilize their lawns, so I hate them, too.

So you believe that grey is better than green? Or that not having somewhere for the kids to play/to sit out in the sun/to provide some room to park your car is a good idea?

If I had a choice, I'd build my house slap bang in the middle of 10 acres of land, so no one could build next to me and spoil the enjoyment I get from my lawn

Grass grows on its own. Artificially maintained lawns/turf grass, wastes resources because it requires weeding, pesticides, and causes runoff instead of letting water seep into the ground and refil the aquifers.

Just because real grass pastures aren't as "pretty" doesn't mean that they aren't suitable play areas for children. Personally, I'd just as soon let weeds grow four feet high and any weeding that needs to be done is sure to get done by children looking for the ball that they kicked over my fence. Sadly, the neighboors would object.

What gives with the obession people have with grass lawns? I just don't get it. This practice wastes resources, interepts and perverts the natural growth cycle and is really boring to look at. Can someone please explain to me why this futile practice is so popular in some parts of the world (including my own, unfortunately)

Poll being added.


EDIT: Or not. Durrrrr.... (at least the weed is really good)
So how many poeple actually like lawns vs. hate them?

Something tells me youre just a pissed off teenager that has to mow is grass every week.

Grass is a lot softer to get tackled on than concrete. :)
I really fail to see the point of tackling when there is no chance to crack somebody's skull. That, after all, is the main reason why American Football still mystifies me, and the reason why I live in the city.

Personally, I'd just as soon let weeds grow four feet high and any weeding that needs to be done is sure to get done by children looking for the ball that they kicked over my fence. Sadly, the neighboors would object.Not a good idea unless you are only thinking in the short term. After about 15-20 years of letting a field grow up around your house you will have all kinds of problems with the foundation is the most important, but after only a few years animals will be nibbling nibbling on your house. It is a hassle, but unless you're doing the whole cabin in the forest thing it is best not to let the area arround your house grow up.

I really fail to see the point of tackling when there is no chance to crack somebody's skull. That, after all, is the main reason why American Football still mystifies me, and the reason why I live in the city.

I tend to tackle people I like. I also tend to get tackled by people I like. So the problem with skull-cracking and other major injuries is that it greatly reduces the fun of subsequent tackles.

I tend to tackle people I like. I also tend to get tackled by people I like. So the problem with skull-cracking and other major injuries is that it greatly reduces the fun of subsequent tackles.
What says fun like a trip to the ER?
A TRIP TO CENTRAL BOOKING!
That's right kids, Assault in the First Degree is fun! And don't be lettin' the MAN, tell you otherwise.

Furthermore, grass provides food for animals which still live fairly close to civilization, and it is definitely a nce safety precaution. For one, you know what's growing in your yard. You wouldn't believe how many plants there are that would sicken, poisonous, or even kill your child or pet through simply touching the plant and then touching their eye, or looking their finger (let alone, eat it!). And also, if your kid falls, you want them to fall onto a nice mat of grass, or some pile of dirt and rocks? Your choice.

I have to admit you have a point, but in the words of NOFX: fuck the kids.

I don't have children and don't intend to have them (I'll probably end up with them eventually anyway, but meh, whatever), so a gravel lawn would really only hurt my standing with my nieghbors. Plus, a gravel lawn could look damn cool if you aquired a ton of different types of rocks. As for the my forest, where I live there are not a lot of dangerous plants out and about. I live in the Canadian Sheild, and the most dangerous things you'll really find up here are poison berries, and most animals avoid them like the plague. In fact, a large bush (our word for forest) borders my back lawn. The nieghborhood kids have been playing in that bush for many generations, and I have not heard of a death due to poisoning (deaths due to stupid kids falling out of trees or having trees fall on them is another story).

What gives with the obession people have with grass lawns? I just don't get it. This practice wastes resources, interepts and perverts the natural growth cycle and is really boring to look at. Can someone please explain to me why this futile practice is so popular in some parts of the world (including my own, unfortunately)


The only reason I have a lawn here in Arizona is because it helps keep my house cooler.

So you believe that grey is better than green? Or that not having somewhere for the kids to play/to sit out in the sun/to provide some room to park your car is a good idea?

If I had a choice, I'd build my house slap bang in the middle of 10 acres of land, so no one could build next to me and spoil the enjoyment I get from my lawn
You're a lunatic, in my books. Why destroy all that beautiful nature just to replace it with a vast unending expanse of greenm cut to a uniform height, and total homogenous in terms of species? Blah. Boring. Not my thing.

Agreed, grass is a waste and unecessary these days because we now have fake grass. I live in Vegas where they are paying peopl eto get rid of their grass and put up desert landscapes. THey have saved a shit load of water from this program

Thats exactly the kind of thing I like to hear.


I think native flora and fauna should be encouraged wherever you go. What better plants to landscape with than the ones that naturaly grow right where you are. Importing some fucked up foreign mutant grass variety and blanketing the landscape with it just seems so stupid.

Something tells me youre just a pissed off teenager that has to mow is grass every week.

I am 31 years old, fully employed and educated far beyond a high school level. I don't have lawn to mow, because I am old enough and smart enough to do as I fucking well please. with my property. If that invovles also being smart enough to not grow a pointless testament to botanical monoculture, so be it. I just hate the fucking things, okay? I'm allergic to the damn things as well.

I like grass lawns. They feel good to walk on without shoes.

You know, this whole thread reminds me of my favorite teacher from high school; he had a lawn that was nothing but dirt while living in an upper middle-class neighborhood. He did it just to be different, and I'm pretty sure it pisses the neighbors off to no end.

Heh, dirt lawns rule.