Why don't Americans plant trees and bushes of stuff that they can eat in their houses instead of having useless grass?
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This is why:
https://youtu.be/EwVovJgwbJQAI summary, for those who can't watch it right now, like myself:
The video discusses the history of lawns and their impact on American culture:
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Lawns originated in 17th century Europe as a symbol of wealth and status, eventually making their way to America [01:31].
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The invention of the push lawnmower and sprinklers in the 19th century made lawn maintenance more accessible [02:43].
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After World War II, suburban sprawl and consumerism led to lawns becoming a standard feature of the American dream [03:37].
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Homeowners' associations (HOAs) enforce strict rules about lawn care, contributing to the pressure to maintain a perfect lawn [05:23].
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The lawn care industry has become a massive business, with homeowners spending billions of dollars on products and services [07:14].
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Lawns have negative environmental impacts, including water waste and pesticide runoff [09:11].
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The video suggests alternatives to traditional lawns, such as growing food or native species, xeriscaping, using fake turf or clover, or simply letting the lawn grow naturally [10:13].
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Ok, but why?
The real answer is because in America rich people buy houses, and then create HOAs in the housing deeds and contracts to force all future owners to maintain the house in a way that will increase the neighborhood property value forever.
HOAs exclusively fight to make houses more and more "valuable" since housing is a financial investment here
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As someone who lives in an ex-industrial city (Birmingham Alabama), I’ve always been worried about air pollution and tainted soil (there are superfund sites nearby). I feel like every thing would have to be above ground and covered. That seems like a lot of work. Should I be worried?
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Thanks, you explained better than I would have. I was going to go on a tangent about Louis XIV showing the other aristocrats his new "lawn" concept.
Hey, thanks!
I have to point out, Versailles did have quite a bit of lawn and certainly helped, but the concept of decorative short grass predates it, and even existed in the some of the American civilisations using a totally different plant IIRC. The Wikipedia article notes several medieval examples.
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As someone who lives in an ex-industrial city (Birmingham Alabama), I’ve always been worried about air pollution and tainted soil (there are superfund sites nearby). I feel like every thing would have to be above ground and covered. That seems like a lot of work. Should I be worried?
Yeah you should. Look into soil testing with your local city, county, or University Extension office. You send in a little sample of dry soil and they email you the results. It's usually pretty cheap and will tell you if any soil is unsafe. My local library, for example, has sample boxes for free. Definitely a good idea for anyone in a place where lead paint could have been used, let alone other horrible stuff.
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It’s a stupid reason. Historically, if you were a peasant and had been granted access to land, you grew food or herbs. If however you were a lord, you got your food from your peasants. You had no need to grow your own food. So they could afford to grow lawns as a sign of wealth.
This has transferred across into the modern psyche. Lawns are a way of saying “i’m so rich, i don’t have to worry about sustenance. In fact i’ll throw money at it to maintain this slab of green rather than have it provide food, or shade.”
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We do? Some ppl dont, we have sugarcane, oranges, lemons, eggplants, peppers, and I forget the rest, my dad/grandpa are more into gardening. Its just not realistic to do a lot, cheaper and a lot faster to go the grocery storec more variety, hoemgrown stuff is ususlly more of an addon.
Yeah, I have a lemon tree and a small garden that gives me some herbs and some strawberries (that are pretty but don't taste great). My parents were into gardening so they always had a big garden. I remember one of the problems they had is that a single crop would ripen in a short period. Like they'd get 200 tomatoes over 2 weeks. Not ideal (unless you're into canning/jarring), but a good way to make friends with your neighbors.
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We do. Obviously not everyone can But I wager the number of Americans growing something edible on their space is decent. Usually it's easy stuff to grow, or someone's favorites.
Thinking about it and counting in my head I actually knows dozens of people that grow tomatoes personally. They grow easily in large quantities in relatively small space and all taste better than store bought.
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The 50s happened.
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The 50s happened.
And for whatever the fuck reason, they wanted houses like the ones found in pre-1789 France
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The real answer is because in America rich people buy houses, and then create HOAs in the housing deeds and contracts to force all future owners to maintain the house in a way that will increase the neighborhood property value forever.
HOAs exclusively fight to make houses more and more "valuable" since housing is a financial investment here
Thank you. So not having a proper garden increases the value?
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It’s a stupid reason. Historically, if you were a peasant and had been granted access to land, you grew food or herbs. If however you were a lord, you got your food from your peasants. You had no need to grow your own food. So they could afford to grow lawns as a sign of wealth.
This has transferred across into the modern psyche. Lawns are a way of saying “i’m so rich, i don’t have to worry about sustenance. In fact i’ll throw money at it to maintain this slab of green rather than have it provide food, or shade.”
This is the correct answer. So many US'isms are bourgeois / aristocratic imitation.
Cars / wasteful transportation, lawns, sprawled out cities, high amounts of meat consumption, vacation homes / timeshares / exotic vacations, having servants, etc. These are things that are only possible for countries with huge amounts of land and resources, and not sustainable or doable for most of the world.
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Ya front yard. We didn’t aggressively plant either. We had 4 or 5 fruit trees planted with beds around them
Shoulda gotten a tree lawyer. Tree law is not to be fucked with.
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I’m tryin’, man. Fruit bearing plants take a lot of work compared to the manicured suburban steriscape. They’re not super easy to grow (depending on where you live), require pruning and fertilizer, soil amendment, and unfortunately pesticides or fencing if you don’t want insects or deer destroying your hard work.
That’s way more effort than most people want to expend. HOAs or even local ordinances may also restrict what can be grown.
Look into native plants. There are so many edible things that you can just leave in the wasteland that is your yard and they'll take over. Here in Tennessee we have pawpaws and maypops for fruit, tomatoes that pop up randomly, garden greens like wood sorrel and lambs quarters, and a bunch of other things that absolutely take over given half a chance. Sure, if you try and grow the seed packets from your local Lowes you'll have issues with pests and whatnot, but there is so much more food out there than these varieties.
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As someone who lives in an ex-industrial city (Birmingham Alabama), I’ve always been worried about air pollution and tainted soil (there are superfund sites nearby). I feel like every thing would have to be above ground and covered. That seems like a lot of work. Should I be worried?
oh, man I was there for the first time ever just two weeks ago. I wanted to stop at a boutique liquor store. I was shocked to see the number of abandoned/dilapidated structures. The liquor store actually happened to be located in a newish out-building on the same lot of one of these abandoned mansions. The store was very nice, but I was left with a lot of questions that were all pretty-much answered when I read online that Birmingham is also know as The Pittsburgh of the South.
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Trees (e.g. apple trees or others) provide great shade and help lower the temperature. They are beneficial if you feel that summer heat is getting worse due to climate change. Additionally, if you have issues with heavy rainfall, trees can help by absorbing large amounts of water through their roots. This approach can be applied in most countries.
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Thank you. So not having a proper garden increases the value?
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There are places where they have trees all around their houses. Like in California, where they just had been more fuel to the fires.
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It’s a stupid reason. Historically, if you were a peasant and had been granted access to land, you grew food or herbs. If however you were a lord, you got your food from your peasants. You had no need to grow your own food. So they could afford to grow lawns as a sign of wealth.
This has transferred across into the modern psyche. Lawns are a way of saying “i’m so rich, i don’t have to worry about sustenance. In fact i’ll throw money at it to maintain this slab of green rather than have it provide food, or shade.”
@Turturtley @Confidant6198 Its worse, because, actually, even if they wanted to, most Americans are under the tyrannical rule of a Homeowners Association (talk about liberty huh) that forces them to plant grass, and can fine them a shit ton of money if they do otherwise
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Look into native plants. There are so many edible things that you can just leave in the wasteland that is your yard and they'll take over. Here in Tennessee we have pawpaws and maypops for fruit, tomatoes that pop up randomly, garden greens like wood sorrel and lambs quarters, and a bunch of other things that absolutely take over given half a chance. Sure, if you try and grow the seed packets from your local Lowes you'll have issues with pests and whatnot, but there is so much more food out there than these varieties.
Absolutely. Already have a couple.
