Grass Lawns Are So 20th Century
I had grass lawns surrounding every house I have owned through the years; they really are, or at least were, a part of the paradigm for homebuilding, at least here in the U.S. and Europe.
Yet I agree with the author of the meme here, and don’t think I would go that route if I had it to do over. Below are some examples of better ideas; I especially admire the edible lawn.
Craig,
Lawns were originally just the ‘home’ pasture. They came to symbolize peace and stability (as opposed to the unhealthy crowded tenements.
Like America, the Aussie suburban lawn needed to be a hardy, but attractive open space where growing families could pursue healthy out door sport or hold social gatherings. Lawns replicated in miniature the great formal arks of the city.
A lawn represented peace, property, respectability for the new growing middle class home on it’s ubiquitous quarter acre. To many (especially migrants)it was the symbol of prosperity and security, of having made the arduous journey from the city to the leafy new suburbs.
The native garden in the illustrations look very low maintenance and attractive, but where can children run about, roll on the grass, play games in safety, hold birthday parties, keep pet dogs etc.?
Where that stretch of lawn to come home to,a neat and orderly haven of green in a hectic world ?
We know each other in our dead end street
And hardly any strangers come down here.
On Saturdays we mow the lawn; our neat
and tidy yards create an atmosphere
of calm and harmony in our houses.
We’re good friends and neighbours, but what goes on
here is everybody’s business. We’re wary
of newcomers in this street. What grows on
our fences isn’t gossip but thyme and rosemary,
and happy families in our houses.
We worried when poor old Harry got sick
and died. His only son, we thought, would not
maintain his home. He leased it pretty quick.
e felt so sad when removalists brought
their van and tramped on Harry’s garden.
Unwatered, Harry’s precious plants all died.
His garden ornaments tossed into the bin.
His son just didn’t care, he had no pride.
We watched as foreign students moved in.
Their rusty cars camped on Harry’s garden.
Once we knew one other in our street.
Now strangers live amongst us and we hear
their noisy parties, their music’s odd beat.
Our anger seethes. Gone is the atmosphere
of calm and harmony in our houses.
Shall we move further out ?