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- Hacker News
- Not everyone love lawns though, there's even an entire subreddit dedicated to hating them: https://www.reddit.com/r/fucklawns/by stymaar
- Same crowd as r/fuckcars and r/antiwork or distinct?by lysace
- I’d consider those redditors to also be obsessed with lawns.by sokoloff
- Well count me in (I wouldn't join that sub though.) Almost all lawns are just a sad approximation of a proper meadow, and could be real gardens - instead of an artificial, plain, featureless green space, they could harbour plants and be a habitat to countless animals.
Plus, the obsession some people have with mowing their lawn - I've got a particular neighbour who does it daily in the summer, for two hours I've got a constant engine roar in my ear.
by 9dev - Mowing two weeks of summer growth just before a thunderstorm is peak vibes.by bob1029
- > The act of pushing a mower around possesses an almost primordial appeal
see also: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/magazine/1377293/patio-ma...
by walrus01 - I think the Climax Mower in TFA had a very different appeal.
- I think it may skip over a more fundamental reason in that they may look like the environment we evolved in, at least that's an impression I got in Africa in places like:
Serengeti https://cdn2.rhinoafrica.com/thumbnails/media/_en/destinatio...
and the Okavango Delta https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/thumbs/news_1987-890-520-2019...
As probable persistence hunters, grassy areas with animals in to run after likely would have been good.
by tim333 - This was never really true in the southwest where rock gardens are common.
When done right, they are so stunning and low maintenance. They also open up more options for interesting and dramatic lighting at night.
by sublinear - Imagine buying up property of sand and covering it in rocks.by gherkinnn
- There are other counties further to the southwest than Wiltshire .. although a well earned high five for referencing Stonehenge.by defrost
- I recently killed my lawn, ordered soil to create berms, and planted 100+ native plants (small ones and a few trees/bushes) all over the yard.
It has brought me so much joy! I observe so many interesting animal behaviors like birds playing on the springy yarrow flowers or bumble bees tumbling around the tiny clarkia blooms.
The three things that motivated me the most was Concrete Botany Audiobook[1], the Kill Your Lawn youtube series[2], and the interesting chats with neighbors who are interested in doing the same or have done the same.
That isn't to say it was easy or that I haven't gotten some strange comments like "your yard produces a lot of seeds that come into my lawn".
[1]: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9798317900410-concrete-botany
by philips - My young children both love the lawn and I can tell they get a lot from interacting with it, playing on it, etc. It is a little bit of accessible greenery in my small back-garden and I don't need to water it, just mow it occasionally.by veltas
- I recently tore out my lawn and co-designed a native yard with my kids. We designed a map together with very narrow wood chip paths to play on and brought in soil to create berms for height variety. They love running around playing tag or hiding from each other. Once they get older I can imagine friends will enjoy capture the flag or foam dart wars in the space.
We had one small japanese maple tree that they designated as a reading / relaxation area and have been using that too.
I think the biggest thing was the berms + paths around and over them. The topographical variety added a lot of play opportunities.
All that said we kept a small patch of grass- but it just isn't the entire yard as it was when we got our place.
Edit: removed counter point as a phrase
by philips - If you want to be able to walk around the garden, rather than just stare at it from the window, you're going to need gravel, concrete, or a lawn. I know which I prefer.by jstanley
- Personally, my preference would be moss.by NoGravitas
- Does the entire surface need to be grass to be able to walk about? What about some grass pathways through a variation of shrub, trees and meadow?by brnt
- You don't need to concrete the whole thing. A few paths is enough.
- I just have some big flat rock set legs-length apart to make a path. I don't have anything against grass, but I much rather have wild flowers, vegetable and fruits growing.by maeln
- My garden has grass - wild flowers and wild grasses and I can walk in it. Even barefoot (not often, I'm a city boy unused to that). I sometimes walk just to pick up fruit from the couple trees here and there. I'm not even sure what the problem is that requires you concrete in garden, maybe if you need a wheelchair then yes paths might the way to go (I only assume, because I'm not in that situation). Otherwise lawn looks to me barren, a sad splotch of green nothingness. Some neighbours insist on lawns, good for them, even asked me why I don't, and I gave them the above answer. They weren't happy with it as I assume you won't be either, but here I am.by soco
- Someone, though I do not remember who, made the point that grasses are a highly successful parasite of the human species. The point was made in humour, but I still think it's a fascinating perspective.by Battleshack
- Just like wolves selected for survival the humans who treated them well and eventually humans evolved to produce oxytocin on petting wolves =P
- It’s snobbery, pedantry and a flex like a clean shaven face or a perfectly clean house: look at me, I can actually afford to do this Sisyphean task (or even better: I have it done for me!) more often than is necessary! Unlike you hairy dirty poor wild bastardsby iammjm
- Because it’s the soft, clean, forgiving carpet for loads of outdoor activities.
Just the potential for a couple of great days a year is enough for me. I’m not talking about the mega mansions that have full time gardeners and unused lawns of course.
This question is never asked by people who have kids that love football for example. And that’s a large part of the population.
by spiderfarmer - I recently took over an old house and plot of land not used for ~20 years.
In that time, the main lawn is still grass dominated and fairly easy to cut. But many areas have become completely swamped with different bushes and willow.
I cut it all down twice per year but it shoots up like a jungle next year anyway.
Parts of old farm tracks have of course become unrecognizable and are slowly turning into a forest.
It's hard and tough to walk, you can't see properly as plants can grow quite tall (plus elevation differences).
I love plants; but for human enjoyment and passage between different areas on a plot of land; grass is superior. I dream of grass.
by mikaeluman - Seems like planting a tree there would address most of the issue.
A birch growing for 5 years is already 3 metres tall and will prevent anything larger from growing around it.
by Tade0 - Sounds like you need to get a couple goatsby eloisius