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Design of outdoor public areas, landmarks, and structures

 

Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes.^[2] It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for construction and human use, investigation of existing social, ecological, and soil conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of other interventions that will produce desired outcomes.

The scope of the profession is broad and can be subdivided into several sub-categories including professional or licensed landscape architects who are regulated by governmental agencies and possess the expertise to design a wide range of structures and landforms for human use; landscape design which is not a licensed profession; site planning; stormwater management; erosion control; environmental restoration; public realm, parks, recreation and urban planning; visual resource management; green infrastructure planning and provision; and private estate and residence landscape master planning and design; all at varying scales of design, planning and management. A practitioner in the profession of landscape architecture may be called a landscape architect; however, in jurisdictions where professional licenses are required it is often only those who possess a landscape architect license who can be called a landscape architect.

Definition of landscape architecture

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A canal design focused on esthetical landscape architecture in Stockholm, Sweden.

A river with concrete walls like those of a flood control channel, a historic flood-control measure using landscape engineering in Houston, Texas. Such channelling, intended to be strictly functional, may make flooding worse, by speeding the flow instead of spreading the pulse of floodwater.^[3][4][5]

Modern landscape architecture is a multi-disciplinary field, incorporating aspects of urban design, architecture, geography, ecology, civil engineering, structural engineering, horticulture, environmental psychology, industrial design, soil sciences, botany, and fine arts. The activities of a landscape architect can range from the creation of public parks and parkways to site planning for campuses and corporate office parks; from the design of residential estates to the design of civil infrastructure; and from the management of large wilderness areas to reclamation of degraded landscapes such as mines or landfills. Landscape architects work on structures and external spaces in the landscape aspect of the design – large or small, urban, suburban and rural, and with "hard" (built) and "soft" (planted) materials, while integrating ecological sustainability.

The most valuable contribution can be made at the first stage of a project to generate ideas with technical understanding and creative flair for the design, organization, and use of spaces. The landscape architect can conceive the overall concept and prepare the master plan, from which detailed design drawings and technical specifications are prepared. They can also review proposals to authorize and supervise contracts for the construction work. Other skills include preparing design impact assessments, conducting environmental assessments and audits, and serving as an expert witness at inquiries on land use issues. The majority of their time will most likely be spent inside an office building designing and preparing models for clients.^{[citation needed]}

History

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Main article: History of landscape architecture

For the period before 1800, the history of landscape gardening (later called landscape architecture) is largely that of master planning and garden design for manor houses, palaces and royal properties. An example is the extensive work by André Le Nôtre for King Louis XIV of France on the Gardens of Versailles. The first person to write of making a landscape was Joseph Addison in 1712. The term landscape architecture was invented by Gilbert Laing Meason in 1828, and John Claudius Loudon (1783–1843) was instrumental in the adoption of the term landscape architecture by the modern profession. He took up the term from Meason and gave it publicity in his Encyclopedias and in his 1840 book on the Landscape Gardening and Landscape Architecture of the Late Humphry Repton.^[6]

John Claudius Loudon was an established and influential horticultural journalist and Scottish landscape architect whose writings were instrumental in shaping Victorian taste in gardens, public parks, and architecture.^[7] In the Landscape Gardening and Landscape Architecture of the Late Humphry Repton, Loudon describes two distinct styles of landscape gardening existing at the beginning of the 19th century: geometric and natural.^[6] Loudon wrote that each style reflected a different stage of society. The geometric style was “most striking and pleasing,” displaying wealth and taste in an “early state of society” and in “countries where the general scenery was wild, irregular, and natural, and man, comparatively, uncultivated and unrefined.”^[6] The natural style was used in “modern times” and in countries where “society is in a higher state of cultivation," displaying wealth and taste through the sacrifice of profitable lands to make room for such designs. ^[6]

The prominent English landscape designer Humphry Repton (1752-1818) echoed similar ideas in his work and design ideas. In his writings on the use of delineated spaces (e.g. courtyards, terrace walls, fences), Repton states that while the motive for defense no longer exists, the features are still useful in separating "the gardens, which belong to man, and the forest, or desert, which belongs to the wild denizens."^[6] Repton refers to Indigenous peoples as "uncivilized human beings, against whom some decided line of defense was absolutely necessary.”^[6]

The practice of landscape architecture spread from the Old to the New World. The term "landscape architect" was used as a professional title by Frederick Law Olmsted in the United States in 1863^{[citation needed]} and Andrew Jackson Downing, another early American landscape designer, was editor of The Horticulturist magazine (1846–52). In 1841 his first book, A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening, Adapted to North America, was published to a great success; it was the first book of its kind published in the United States.^[8] During the latter 19th century, the term landscape architect began to be used by professional landscapes designers, and was firmly established after Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and Beatrix Jones (later Farrand) with others founded the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) in 1899. IFLA was founded at Cambridge, England, in 1948 with Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe as its first president, representing 15 countries from Europe and North America. Later, in 1978, IFLA's Headquarters were established in Versailles.^[9][10][11]

Fields of activity

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The variety of the professional tasks that landscape architects collaborate on is very broad, but some examples of project types include:^[12]

• Parks of general design and public infrastructure
• Sustainable development
• Stormwater management including rain gardens, green roofs, groundwater recharge, green infrastructure, and constructed wetlands.
• Landscape design for educational function and site design for public institutions and government facilities
• Parks, botanical gardens, arboretums, greenways, and nature preserves
• Recreation facilities, such as playgrounds, golf courses, theme parks and sports facilities
• Housing areas, industrial parks and commercial developments
• Estate and residence landscape planning and design
• Landscaping and accents on highways, transportation structures, bridges, and transit corridors
• Contributions to urban design, town and city squares, waterfronts, pedestrian schemes
• Natural park, tourist destination, and recreating historical landscapes, and historic garden appraisal and conservation studies
• Reservoirs, dams, power stations, reclamation of extractive industry applications or major industrial projects and mitigation
• Environmental assessment and landscape assessment, planning advice and land management proposals.
• Coastal and offshore developments and mitigation
• Ecological design (any aspect of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with natural processes and sustainability)

Landscape managers use their knowledge of landscape processes to advise on the long-term care and development of the landscape. They often work in forestry, nature conservation and agriculture.^{[citation needed]}

Landscape scientists have specialist skills such as soil science, hydrology, geomorphology or botany that they relate to the practical problems of landscape work. Their projects can range from site surveys to the ecological assessment of broad areas for planning or management purposes. They may also report on the impact of development or the importance of particular species in a given area.^{[citation needed]}

Landscape planners are concerned with landscape planning for the location, scenic, ecological and recreational aspects of urban, rural, and coastal land use. Their work is embodied in written statements of policy and strategy, and their remit includes master planning for new developments, landscape evaluations and assessments, and preparing countryside management or policy plans. Some may also apply an additional specialism such as landscape archaeology or law to the process of landscape planning.^{[citation needed]}

Green roof (or more specifically, vegetative roof) designers design extensive and intensive roof gardens for stormwater management, evapo-transpirative cooling, sustainable architecture, aesthetics, and habitat creation.^[13]

Relation to urban planning

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Through the 19th century, urban planning became a focal point and central issue in cities. The combination of the tradition of landscape gardening and the emerging field of urban planning offered landscape architecture an opportunity to serve these needs.^[14] In the second half of the century, Frederick Law Olmsted completed a series of parks that continue to have a significant influence on the practices of landscape architecture today. Among these were Central Park in New York City, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York and Boston's Emerald Necklace park system. Jens Jensen designed sophisticated and naturalistic urban and regional parks for Chicago, Illinois, and private estates for the Ford family including Fair Lane and Gaukler Point. One of the original eleven founding members of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), and the only woman, was Beatrix Farrand. She was design consultant for over a dozen universities including: Princeton in Princeton, New Jersey; Yale in New Haven, Connecticut; and the Arnold Arboretum for Harvard in Boston, Massachusetts. Her numerous private estate projects include the landmark Dumbarton Oaks in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.^[15] Since that time, other architects – most notably Ruth Havey and Alden Hopkins – changed certain elements of the Farrand design.^{[citation needed]}

Since this period urban planning has developed into a separate independent profession that has incorporated important contributions from other fields such as civil engineering, architecture and public administration. Urban Planners are qualified to perform tasks independent of landscape architects, and in general, the curriculum of landscape architecture programs do not prepare students to become urban planners.^[16]

Landscape architecture continues to develop as a design discipline and to respond to the various movements in architecture and design throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Thomas Church was a mid-century landscape architect significant in the profession. Roberto Burle Marx in Brazil combined the International style and native Brazilian plants and culture for a new aesthetic. Innovation continues today solving challenging problems with contemporary design solutions for master planning, landscapes, and gardens.^{[citation needed]}

Ian McHarg was known for introducing environmental concerns in landscape architecture.^[17][18] He popularized a system of analyzing the layers of a site in order to compile a complete understanding of the qualitative attributes of a place. This system became the foundation of today's Geographic Information Systems (GIS). McHarg would give every qualitative aspect of the site a layer, such as the history, hydrology, topography, vegetation, etc. GIS software is ubiquitously used in the landscape architecture profession today to analyze materials in and on the Earth's surface and is similarly used by urban planners, geographers, forestry and natural resources professionals, etc.^{[citation needed]}

European nations enabled the widespread circulation of urban planning strategies by transferring landscaping ideas and practices to overseas colonies. The green belt was a popular landscape practice exported by Britain onto colonial territories such as Haifa (1918-1948).^[19] Spatial mechanisms like the green belt, implemented through the Haifa Bay Plan and the British "Grand Model," were used to enforce political control and civic order and extend western ideas of progress and development.^[19] The Greater London Regional Planning Committee accepted the green belt concept which formed the basis of the 1938 Green Belt Act. The planning prototype demarcated open spaces, distinguished between city and countryside, limited urban growth, and created zoning divisions.^[19] It was used extensively in the British colonies to facilitate British rule through the organized division of landscape and populations. ^[19]

Relation to Indigenous practices

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Indigenous land management practices create constantly changing landscapes through the use of vegetation and natural systems, contrasting with western epistemologies of the discipline that separate ornament from function.^[20] The discipline of landscape architecture favors western designs made from structured materials and geometric forms.^[20] Landscape architecture history books tend to include projects that contain constructed architectural elements that persist over time, excluding many Indigenous landscape-based designs.^[20]

Landscape architecture textbooks often place Indigenous peoples as a prefix to the official start of the discipline. The widely read landscape history text The Landscape of Man (1964) offers a global history of the designed landscape from past to present, featuring African and other Indigenous peoples in its discussions of Paleolithic man between 500,000 and 8,000 BCE in relation to human migration.^[20] Indigenous land-management practices are described as archaeological rather than a part of contemporary practice. Gardens in Time (1980) also places Indigenous practice as prehistory at the beginning of the landscape architecture timeline. Authors John and Ray Oldham describe Aborigines of Australia as “survivors of an ancient way of life” who provide an opportunity to examine western Australia as a “meeting place of a prehistoric man.”^[20]

In the late 18th century, the landscapes created by aboriginal land and fire management practices appealed to English settlers in Australia.^[20] Journals from the period of early white settlement note the landscape resembling parks and popular designs in English landscape gardens of the same period.^[20] In England, these designs were considered sophisticated and celebrated for the intentional sacrifice of usable land. In Australia, the park-like condition was used to justify British control, citing its emptiness and lack of productive use as a basis for the dispossession of Aboriginal people. ^[20]

Education

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Landscape Architects are generally required to have university or graduate education from an accredited landscape architecture degree program, which can vary in length and degree title. They learn how to create projects from scratch, such as residential or commercial planting and designing outdoor living spaces^[21] they are willing to work with others to get a better outcome for the customers when doing a project; they will have to learn the basics of how to create a project on a manner of time and will require to get your license in a certain state to be allowed to work; students of Landscape Architects will learn how to interact with clients and will learn how to explain a design from scratch when giving the final project.^[22]

Landscape architecture has been taught in the University of Manchester since the 1950s. The course in the Manchester School of Architecture enables students to gain various bachelor's and master's degrees, including MLPM(Hons) which is accredited by the Landscape Institute and by the Royal Town Planning Institute.^[23]

Profession

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In many countries, a professional institute, comprising members of the professional community, exists in order to protect the standing of the profession and promote its interests, and sometimes also regulate the practice of landscape architecture. The standard and strength of legal regulations governing landscape architecture practice varies from nation to nation, with some requiring licensure in order to practice; and some having little or no regulation. In Europe, North America, parts of South America, Australia, India, and New Zealand, landscape architecture is a regulated profession.^[24]

Since 1889, with the arrival of the French architect and urbanist landscaper Carlos Thays, recommended to recreate the National Capital's parks and public gardens, it was consolidated an apprentice and training program in landscaping that eventually became a regulated profession, currently the leading academic institution is the UBA University of Buenos Aires"UBA Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo" (Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism) offering a Bacherlor's degree in Urban Landscaping Design and Planning, the profession itself is regulated by the National Ministry of Urban Planning of Argentina and the Institute of the Buenos Aires Botanical Garden.^{[citation needed]}

The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) provides accreditation of university degrees and non-statutory professional registration for landscape architects. Once recognized by AILA, landscape architects use the title 'Registered Landscape Architect' across the six states and territories within Australia.^{[citation needed]}

AILA's system of professional recognition is a national system overseen by the AILA National Office in Canberra. To apply for AILA Registration, an applicant usually needs to satisfy a number of pre-requisites, including university qualification, a minimum number years of practice and a record of professional experience.^[25]

Landscape Architecture within Australia covers a broad spectrum of planning, design, management, and research. From specialist design services for government and private sector developments through to specialist professional advice as an expert witness.^{[citation needed]}

In Canada, landscape architecture, like law and medicine, is a self-regulating profession pursuant to provincial statute. For example, Ontario's profession is governed by the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects pursuant to the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects Act. Landscape architects in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta must complete the specified components of L.A.R.E (Landscape Architecture Registration Examination) as a prerequisite to full professional standing.

Provincial regulatory bodies are members of a national organization, the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects / L'Association des Architectes Paysagistes du Canada (CSLA-AAPC), and individual membership in the CSLA-AAPC is obtained through joining one of the provincial or territorial components.^[26]

ISLA (Indonesia Society of Landscape Architects) is the Indonesian society for professional landscape architects formed on 4 February 1978 and is a member of IFLA APR and IFLA World. The main aim is to increase the dignity of the professional members of landscape architects by increasing their activity role in community service, national and international development. The management of IALI consists of National Administrators who are supported by 20 Regional Administrators (Provincial level) and 3 Branch Managers at city level throughout Indonesia.^{[citation needed]}

Landscape architecture education in Indonesia was held in 18 universities, which graduated D3, Bachelor and Magister graduates. The landscape architecture education incorporate in Association of Indonesian Landscape Architecture Education.^{[citation needed]}

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AIAPP (Associazione Italiana Architettura del Paesaggio) is the Italian association of professional landscape architects formed in 1950 and is a member of IFLA and IFLA Europe (formerly known as EFLA). AIAPP is in the process of contesting this new law which has given the Architects' Association the new title of Architects, Landscape Architects, Planners and Conservationists whether or not they have had any training or experience in any of these fields other than Architecture. In Italy, there are several different professions involved in landscape architecture:

• Architects
• Landscape designers
• Doctor landscape agronomists and Doctor landscape foresters, often called Landscape agronomists.
• Agrarian Experts and Graduated Agrarian experts.

The New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects (NZILA) is the professional body for Landscape Architects in NZ.^[27]

In April 2013, NZILA jointly with AILA, hosted the 50th International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) World Congress in Auckland, New Zealand. The World Congress is an international conference where Landscape Architects from all around the globe meet to share ideas around a particular topic.^{[citation needed]}

Within NZ, Members of NZILA when they achieve their professional standing, can use the title Registered Landscape Architect NZILA.^{[citation needed]}

NZILA provides an education policy and an accreditation process to review education programme providers; currently there are three accredited undergraduate Landscape Architecture programmes in New Zealand. Lincoln University also has an accredited masters programme in landscape architecture.^{[citation needed]}

Landscape architecture in Norway was established in 1919 at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) at Ås. The Norwegian School of Landscape Architecture at the Faculty of Landscape and Society is responsible for Europe's oldest landscape architecture education on an academic level. The departments areas include design and design of cities and places, garden art history, landscape engineering, greenery, zone planning, site development, place making and place keeping.^{[citation needed]}

In May 1962, Joane Pim, Ann Sutton, Peter Leutscher and Roelf Botha (considered the forefathers of the profession in South Africa) established the Institute for Landscape Architects, now known as the Institute for Landscape Architecture in South Africa (ILASA).^[28] ILASA is a voluntary organisation registered with the South African Council for the Landscape Architectural Profession (SACLAP).^[29] It consists of three regional bodies, namely, Gauteng, KwaZula-Natal and the Western Cape. ILASA's mission is to advance the profession of landscape architecture and uphold high standards of professional service to its members, and to represent the profession of landscape architecture in any matter which may affect the interests of the members of the institute. ILASA holds the country's membership with The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA).^[30]

In South Africa, the profession is regulated by SACLAP, established as a statutory council in terms of Section 2 of the South African Council for the Landscape Architectural Profession Act – Act 45 of 2000. The Council evolved out of the Board of Control for Landscape Architects (BOCLASA), which functioned under the Council of Architects in terms of The Architectural Act, Act 73 of 1970. SACLAP's mission is to establish, direct, sustain and ensure a high level of professional responsibilities and ethical conduct within the art and science of landscape architecture with honesty, dignity and integrity in the broad interest of public health, safety and welfare of the community.^{[citation needed]}

After completion of an accredited under-graduate and/or post-graduate qualification in landscape architecture at either the University of Cape Town or the University of Pretoria, or landscape technology at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, professional registration is attained via a mandatory mentored candidacy period (minimum of two years) and sitting of the professional registration exam. After successfully completing the exam, the individual is entitled to the status of Professional Landscape Architect or Professional Landscape Technologist.^{[citation needed]}

Architects Sweden, Sveriges Arkitekter, is the collective trade union and professional organisation for all architects, including landscape architects, in Sweden. The professional body is a member of IFLA (International Federation of Landscape Architects) as well as IFLA Europe.

As a landscape architect, anyone can become a member of Architects Sweden if they have a national or international university degree that is approved by the association. If the degree is from within the European Union, Architects Sweden approves Landscape architect educations listed by IFLA Europe. For educations outside the EU, the association makes an assessment on a statement from the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR).

The UK's professional body is the Landscape Institute (LI). It is a chartered body that accredits landscape professionals and university courses. At present there are fifteen accredited programmes in the UK. Membership of the LI is available to students, academics and professionals, and there are over 3,000 professionally qualified members.^{[citation needed]}

The Institute provides services to assist members including support and promotion of the work of landscape architects; information and guidance to the public and industry about the specific expertise offered by those in the profession; and training and educational advice to students and professionals looking to build upon their experience.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, the LI launched a major recruitment drive entitled "I want to be a Landscape Architect" to encourage the study of Landscape Architecture. The campaign aimed to raise the profile of landscape architecture and highlight its valuable role in building sustainable communities and fighting climate change.^[31]

As of July 2018, the "I want to be a Landscape Architect" initiative was replaced by a brand new careers campaign entitled #ChooseLandscape, which aims to raise awareness of landscape as a profession; improve and increase access to landscape education; and inspire young people to choose landscape as a career.^[32] This new campaign includes other landscape-related professions such as landscape management, landscape planning, landscape science and urban design.^[33]

In the United States, landscape architecture is regulated by individual state governments. For a landscape architect, obtaining licensure requires advanced education and work experience, plus passage of the national examination called the Landscape Architect Registration Examination (L.A.R.E.). Licensing is overseen at the national level by the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB). Several states require passage of a state exam as well.

Landscape architecture has been identified as an above-average growth profession by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and was listed in U.S. News & World Report's list of Best Jobs to Have in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.^[34] The national trade association for United States landscape architects is the American Society of Landscape Architects. Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park in New York City, is known as the "father of American landscape architecture".^[35]

• 
  Potager in Dordogne, France
• 
  Japanese garden in Ã…Å’tsu, Japan
• 
  Classical Chinese garden
• 
  Topiary in Helsingborg, Sweden
• 
  Asian sculpture garden in Texas, United States
• 
  Vigeland sculpture garden in Oslo, Norway
• 
  Roof terrace garden (Ventimiglia, Italy)
• 
  Escorial Formal palace garden in Madrid, Spain
• 
  Mediterranean garden in Alpes-Maritimes, France
• 
  Use of steps at Villa la Magia, in Quarrata, Italy
• 
  Lurie Garden in Chicago, United States, GGN & Piet Oudolf
• 
  High Line (second section) A repurposed area in New York City, United States
• 
  Parque Madrid Rio Formal use of water in Madrid, Spain
• 
  Schouwburgplein Urban park in Rotterdam, Netherlands
• 
  911 Memorial Park A memorial park in New York City United States

• Media related to Landscape architecture at Wikimedia Commons
• International Federation of Landscape Architects

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A lawn (/lɔːn/) is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawn mower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes—it is also commonly referred to as part of a garden. Lawns are usually composed only of grass species, subject to weed and pest control, maintained in a green color (e.g., by watering), and are regularly mowed to ensure an acceptable length.^[1] Lawns are used around houses, apartments, commercial buildings and offices. Many city parks also have large lawn areas. In recreational contexts, the specialised names turf, parade, pitch, field or green may be used, depending on the sport and the continent.

The term "lawn", referring to a managed grass space, dates to at least the 16th century. With suburban expansion, the lawn has become culturally ingrained in some areas of the world as part of the desired household aesthetic.^[2] However, awareness of the negative environmental impact of this ideal is growing.^[3] In some jurisdictions where there are water shortages, local government authorities are encouraging alternatives to lawns to reduce water use. Researchers in the United States have noted that suburban lawns are "biological deserts" that are contributing to a "continental-scale ecological homogenization."^[4] Lawn maintenance practices also cause biodiversity loss in surrounding areas.^[5][6] Some forms of lawn, such as tapestry lawns, are designed partly for biodiversity and pollinator support.

Lawn is a cognate of Welsh llan ( Cornish and Breton *lann* which is derived from the Common Brittonic word landa (Old French: lande) that originally meant heath, barren land, or clearing.^[7][8]

Areas of grass grazed regularly by rabbits, horses or sheep over a long period often form a very low, tight sward similar to a modern lawn. This was the original meaning of the word "lawn", and the term can still be found in place names. Some forest areas where extensive grazing is practiced still have these seminatural lawns. For example, in the New Forest, England, such grazed areas are common, and are known as lawns, for example Balmer Lawn.^{[citation needed]}

Lawns may have originated as grassed enclosures within early medieval settlements used for communal grazing of livestock, as distinct from fields reserved for agriculture.^{[citation needed]} Low, mown-meadow areas may also have been valued because they allowed those inside an enclosed fence or castle to view those approaching. The early lawns were not always distinguishable from pasture fields. The damp climate of maritime Western Europe in the north made lawns possible to grow and manage. They were not a part of gardens in most other regions and cultures of the world until contemporary influence.^[9]

In 1100s Britain, low-growing area of grasses and meadow flowers were grazed or scythed to keep them short, and used for sport.^[10] Lawn bowling, which began in the 12th or 13th century, required short turf.^[10]

Establishing grass using sod instead of seed was first documented in a Japanese text of 1159.^[10]

Lawns became popular with the aristocracy in northern Europe from the Middle Ages onward. In the fourteen hundreds, open expanses of low grasses appear in paintings of public and private areas; by the fifteen hundreds, such areas were found in the gardens of the wealthy across northern and central Europe. Public meadow areas, kept short by sheep, were used for new sports such as cricket, soccer, and golf.^[10] The word "laune" is first attested in 1540 from the Old French lande "heath, moor, barren land; clearing".^[11] It initially described a natural opening in a woodland.^[10] In the sixteen hundreds, "lawn" came to mean a grassy stretch of untilled land, and by mid-century, there were publications on seeding and transplanting sod. In the seventeen hundreds, "lawn" came to mean specifically a mown stretch of meadow.^[10]

Lawns similar to those of today first appeared in France and England in the 1700s when André Le Nôtre designed the gardens of the Palace of Versailles that included a small area of grass called the tapis vert, or "green carpet", which became a common feature of French gardens. Large, mown open spaces became popular in Europe and North America.^[10] The lawn was influenced by later seventeen-hundreds trends replicating the romantic aestheticism of grassy pastoralism from Italian landscape paintings.^[12]

Before the invention of mowing machines in 1830, lawns were managed very differently. They were an element of wealthy estates and manor houses, and in some places were maintained by labor-intensive scything and shearing (for hay or silage). They were also pasture land maintained through grazing by sheep or other livestock.^{[citation needed]}

It was not until the 17th and 18th century that the garden and the lawn became a place created first as walkways and social areas. They were made up of meadow plants, such as camomile, a particular favourite (see camomile lawn). In the early 17th century, the Jacobean epoch of gardening began; during this period, the closely cut "English" lawn was born. By the end of this period, the English lawn was a symbol of status of the aristocracy and gentry.^{[citation needed]}

In the early 18th century, landscape gardening for the aristocracy entered a golden age, under the direction of William Kent and Lancelot "Capability" Brown. They refined the English landscape garden style with the design of natural, or "romantic", estate settings for wealthy Englishmen.^[13] Brown, remembered as "England's greatest gardener", designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure. His influence was so great that the contributions to the English garden made by his predecessors Charles Bridgeman and William Kent are often overlooked.^[14]

His work still endures at Croome Court (where he also designed the house), Blenheim Palace, Warwick Castle, Harewood House, Bowood House, Milton Abbey (and nearby Milton Abbas village), in traces at Kew Gardens and many other locations.^[15] His style of smooth undulating lawns which ran seamlessly to the house and meadow, clumps, belts and scattering of trees and his serpentine lakes formed by invisibly damming small rivers, were a new style within the English landscape, a "gardenless" form of landscape gardening, which swept away almost all the remnants of previous formally patterned styles. His landscapes were fundamentally different from what they replaced, the well-known formal gardens of England which were criticised by Alexander Pope and others from the 1710s.^[16]

The open "English style" of parkland first spread across Britain and Ireland, and then across Europe, such as the garden à la française being replaced by the French landscape garden. By this time, the word "lawn" in England had semantically shifted to describe a piece of a garden covered with grass and closely mown.^[17]

Wealthy families in America during the late 18th century also began mimicking English landscaping styles. British settlers in North America imported an affinity for landscapes in the style of the English lawn. However, early in the colonization of the continent, environments with thick, low-growing, grass-dominated vegetation were rare in the eastern part of the continent, enough so that settlers were warned that it would be difficult to find land suitable for grazing cattle.^[18] In 1780, the Shaker community began the first industrial production of high-quality grass seed in North America, and a number of seed companies and nurseries were founded in Philadelphia. The increased availability of these grasses meant they were in plentiful supply for parks and residential areas, not just livestock.^[17]

Thomas Jefferson has long been given credit for being the first person to attempt an English-style lawn at his estate, Monticello, in 1806, but many others had tried to emulate English landscaping before he did. Over time, an increasing number towns in New England began to emphasize grass spaces. Many scholars link this development to the romantic and transcendentalist movements of the 19th century. These green commons were also heavily associated with the success of the Revolutionary War and often became the homes of patriotic war memorials after the Civil War ended in 1865.^[17]

Before the mechanical lawn mower, the upkeep of lawns was possible only for the extremely wealthy estates and manor houses of the aristocracy. Labor-intensive methods of scything and shearing the grass were required to maintain the lawn in its correct state, and most of the land in England was required for more functional, agricultural purposes.^{[citation needed]}

This all changed with the invention of the lawn mower by Edwin Beard Budding in 1830. Budding had the idea for a lawn mower after seeing a machine in a local cloth mill which used a cutting cylinder (or bladed reel) mounted on a bench to trim the irregular nap from the surface of woolen cloth and give a smooth finish.^[19] Budding realised that a similar device could be used to cut grass if the mechanism was mounted in a wheeled frame to make the blades rotate close to the lawn's surface. His mower design was to be used primarily to cut the lawn on sports grounds and extensive gardens, as a superior alternative to the scythe, and he was granted a British patent on 31 August 1830.^[20]

Budding went into partnership with a local engineer, John Ferrabee, who paid the costs of development and acquired rights to manufacture and sell lawn mowers and to license other manufacturers. Together they made mowers in a factory at Thrupp near Stroud.^[21] Among the other companies manufacturing under license the most successful was Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies of Ipswich which began mower production as early as 1832.^[22]

However, his model had two crucial drawbacks. It was immensely heavy (it was made of cast iron) and difficult to manoeuvre in the garden, and did not cut the grass very well. The blade would often spin above the grass uselessly.^[22] It took ten more years and further innovations, including the advent of the Bessemer process for the production of the much lighter alloy steel and advances in motorization such as the drive chain, for the lawn mower to become a practical proposition. Middle-class families across the country, in imitation of aristocratic landscape gardens, began to grow finely trimmed lawns in their back gardens.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1850s, Thomas Green of Leeds introduced a revolutionary mower design called the Silens Messor (meaning silent cutter), which used a chain to transmit power from the rear roller to the cutting cylinder. The machine was much lighter and quieter than the gear driven machines that preceded them, and won first prize at the first lawn mower trial at the London Horticultural Gardens.^[22] Thus began a great expansion in the lawn mower production in the 1860s. James Sumner of Lancashire patented the first steam-powered lawn mower in 1893.^[23] Around 1900, Ransomes' Automaton, available in chain- or gear-driven models, dominated the British market. In 1902, Ransomes produced the first commercially available mower powered by an internal combustion gasoline engine. JP Engineering of Leicester, founded after World War I, invented the first riding mowers.^{[citation needed]}

This went hand-in-hand with a booming consumer market for lawns from the 1860s onward. With the increasing popularity of sports in the mid-Victorian period, the lawn mower was used to craft modern-style sporting ovals, playing fields, pitches and grass courts for the nascent sports of football, lawn bowls, lawn tennis and others.^[24] The rise of Suburbanisation in the interwar period was heavily influenced by the garden city movement of Ebenezer Howard and the creation of the first garden suburbs at the turn of the 20th century.^[25] The garden suburb, developed through the efforts of social reformer Henrietta Barnett and her husband, exemplified the incorporation of the well manicured lawn into suburban life.^[26] Suburbs dramatically increased in size. Harrow Weald went from just 1,500 to over 10,000 while Pinner jumped from 3,00 to over 20,000. During the 1930s, over 4 million new suburban houses were built and the 'suburban revolution' had made England the most heavily suburbanized country in the world by a considerable margin.^[27]

Lawns began to proliferate in America from the 1870s onwards. As more plants were introduced from Europe, lawns became smaller as they were filled with flower beds, perennials, sculptures, and water features.^[28] Eventually the wealthy began to move away from the cities into new suburban communities. In 1856, an architectural book was published to accompany the development of the new suburbia that placed importance on the availability of a grassy space for children to play on and a space to grow fruits and vegetables that further imbued the lawn with cultural importance.^[17] Lawns began making more appearances in development plans, magazine articles, and catalogs.^[29] The lawn became less associated with being a status symbol, instead giving way to a landscape aesthetic. Improvements in the lawn mower and water supply enabled the spread of lawn culture from the Northeast to the South, where the grass grew more poorly.^[17] This in combination with setback rules, which required all homes to have a 30-foot gap between the structure and the sidewalk meant that the lawn had found a specific place in suburbia.^[28] In 1901, the United States Congress allotted $17,000 to the study of the best grasses for lawns, creating the spark for lawn care to become an industry.^[30]

After World War II, a surplus of synthetic nitrogen in the United States led to chemical firms such as DuPont seeking to expand the market for fertilizers.^[31] The suburban lawn offered an opportunity to market fertilizers, previously only used by farmers, to homeowners. In 1955, DuPont released Uramite, a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer specifically marketed for lawns. The trend continued throughout the 1960s, with chemical firms such as DuPont and Monsanto utilizing television advertising and other forms of advertisement to market pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides.^[32] The environmental impacts of this widespread chemical use were noticed as early as the 1960s, but suburban lawns as a source of pollution were largely ignored.^[33]

Due to the harmful effects of excessive pesticide use, fertilizer use, climate change and pollution, a movement developed in the late 20th century to require organic lawn management. By the first decade of the 21st century, American homeowners were using ten times more pesticides per acre than farmers, poisoning an estimated 60 to 70 million birds yearly.^[34] Lawn mowers are a significant contributor to pollution released into Earth's atmosphere, with a riding lawn mower producing the same amount of pollution in one hour of use as 34 cars.^[34]

In recent years,^[when?] some municipalities have banned synthetic pesticides and fertilizers and required organic land care techniques be used.^[35] There are many locations with organic lawns that require organic landscaping.^{[citation needed]}

Lawn seating

A Memorial Day concert on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building

Prior to European colonization, the grasses on the East Coast of North America were mostly broom straw, wild rye, and marsh grass. As Europeans moved into the region, it was noted by colonists in New England, more than others, that the grasses of the New World were inferior to those of England and that their livestock seemed to receive less nutrition from it. In fact, once livestock brought overseas from Europe spread throughout the colonies, much of the native grasses of New England disappeared, and an inventory list from the 17th century noted supplies of clover and grass seed from England. New colonists were even urged by their country and companies to bring grass seed with them to North America. By the late 17th century, a new market in imported grass seed had begun in New England.^[17]

Much of the new grasses brought by Europeans spread quickly and effectively, often ahead of the colonists. One such species, Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon), became the most important pasture grass for the southern colonies.^{[citation needed]}

Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) is a grass native to Europe or the Middle East. It was likely carried to Midwestern United States in the early 1600s by French missionaries and spread via the waterways to the region around Kentucky. However, it may also have spread across the Appalachian Mountains after an introduction on the east coast.^{[citation needed]}

Farmers at first continued to harvest meadows and marshes composed of indigenous grasses until they became overgrazed. These areas quickly fell to erosion and were overrun with less favorable plant life. Soon, farmers began to purposefully plant new species of grass in these areas, hoping to improve the quality and quantity of hay to provide for their livestock as native species had a lower nutritive value. While Middle Eastern and Europeans species of grass did extremely well on the East Coast of North America, it was a number of grasses from the Mediterranean that dominated the Western seaboard. As cultivated grasses became valued for their nutritional benefits to livestock, farmers relied less and less on natural meadows in the more colonized areas of the country. Eventually even the grasses of the Great Plains were overrun with European species that were more durable to the grazing patterns of imported livestock.^[17]

A pivotal factor in the spread of the lawn in America was the passage of legislation in 1938 of the 40-hour work week. Until then, Americans had typically worked half days on Saturdays, leaving little time to focus on their lawns. With this legislation and the housing boom following the Second World War, managed grass spaces became more commonplace.^[28] The creation in the early 20th century of country clubs and golf courses completed the rise of lawn culture.^[17]

According to study based on satellite observations by Cristina Milesi, NASA Earth System Science, its estimates: "More surface area in the United States is devoted to lawns than to individual irrigated crops such as corn or wheat.... area, covering about 128,000 square kilometers in all."^[36]

Lawn monoculture was a reflection of more than an interest in offsetting depreciation, it propagated the homogeneity of the suburb itself. Although lawns had been a recognizable feature in English residences since the 19th century, a revolution in industrialization and monoculture of the lawn since the Second World War fundamentally changed the ecology of the lawn. Money and ideas flowed back from Europe after the U.S. entered WWI, changing the way Americans interacted with themselves and nature, and the industrialization of war hastened the industrialization of pest control.^[37] Intensive suburbanization both concentrated and expanded the spread of lawn maintenance which meant increased inputs in not only petrochemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides, but also natural resources like water.^[2][17][28]

Lawns became a means of performing class values for the urban middle class, in which the condition of the lawn becomes representative of moral character and social reliability. The social values associated with lawns are promoted and upheld by social pressure, laws, and chemical producers. Social pressure comes from neighbors or homeowner associations who think that the unkempt lawns of neighbors may affect their own property values or create eyesores. Pressures to maintain a lawn are also legal; there are often local or state laws against letting weeds get too tall or letting a lawn space be especially unkempt, punishable by fees or litigation. Chemical producers unwilling to lose business propagate the ideal of a lawn, making it seem unattainable without chemical aid.^[12]

Front lawns became standardized in the 1930s when, over time, specific aspects such as grass type and maintenance methods became popular. The lawn-care industry boomed, but the Great Depression of the 1930s and in the period prior to World War II made it difficult to maintain the cultural standards that had become heavily associated with the lawn due to grass seed shortages in Europe, America's main supplier. Still, seed distributors such as Scotts Miracle-Gro Company in the United States encouraged families to continue to maintain their lawns, promoting it as a stress-relieving hobby. During the war itself, homeowners were asked to maintain the appearances of the home front, likely as a show of strength, morale, and solidarity. After World War II, the lawn aesthetic once again became a standard feature of North America, bouncing back from its minor decline in the decades before with a vengeance, particularly as a result of the housing and population boom post-war.^[17]

The VA loan in the United States let American ex-servicemen buy homes without providing a down payment, while the Federal Housing Administration offered lender inducements that aided the reduction of down payments for the average American from 30% to as little as 10%. These developments made owning your own home cheaper than renting, further enabling the spread of suburbia and its lawns.^[28]

Levittown, New York, was the beginning of the industrial suburb in the 20th century, and by proxy the industrial lawn. Between 1947 and 1951, Abraham Levitt and his sons built more than seventeen thousand homes, each with its own lawn. Abraham Levitt wrote "No single feature of a suburban residential community contributes as much to the charm and beauty of the individual home and the locality as well-kept lawns". Landscaping was one of the most important factors in Levittown's success – and no feature was more prominent than the lawn. The Levitts understood that landscaping could add to the appeal of their developments and claimed that, "increase in values are most often found in neighborhoods where lawns show as green carpets" and that, over the years, "lawns trees and shrubs become more valuable both aesthetically and monetarily".^[38] During 1948, the first spring that Levittown had enjoyed, Levitt and Sons fertilized and reseeded all of the lawns free of charge.^[28]

The economic recession that began in 2008 has resulted in many communities worldwide to dig up their lawns and plant fruit and vegetable gardens.^{[citation needed]} This has the potential to greatly change cultural values attached to the lawn, as they are increasingly viewed as environmentally and economically unviable in the modern context.^[39]

The appearance of the lawn in Australia followed closely after its establishment in North America and parts of Europe. Lawn was established on the so-called "nature strip" (a uniquely Australian term) by the 1920s and was common throughout the developing suburbs of Australia. By the 1950s, the Australian-designed Victa lawn mower was being used by the many people who had turned pastures into lawn and was also being exported to dozens of countries.^[40] Prior to the 1970s, all brush and native species were stripped from a development site and replaced with lawns that utilized imported plant species. Since the 1970s there has been an interest in using indigenous species for lawns, especially considering their lower water requirements.^[41] Lawns are also established in garden areas as well as used for the surface of sporting fields.^{[citation needed]}

Over time, with consideration to the frequency of droughts in Australia, the movement towards "naturalism", or the use of indigenous plant species in yards, was beneficial. These grasses were more drought resistant than their European counterparts, and many who wished to keep their lawns switched to these alternatives or allowed their green carpets to revert to the indigenous scrub in an effort to reduce the strain on water supplies.^[39] However, lawns remain a popular surface and their practical and aesthetically pleasing appearance reduces the use of water-impervious surfaces such as concrete. The growing use of rainwater storage tanks has improved the ability to maintain them.^{[citation needed]}

Following recent droughts,^[when?] Australia has seen a change to predominately warm-season turfgrasses, particularly in the southern states like New South Wales and Victoria which are predominately temperate climates within urban regions. The more drought tolerant grasses have been chosen by councils and homeowners for the choice of using less water compared to cool-season turfgrasses like fescue and ryegrass. Mild dormancy seems to be of little concern when high-profile areas can be oversown for short periods or nowadays, turf colourants (fake green) are very popular.^{[citation needed]}

Lawns are a common feature of private gardens, public landscapes and parks in many parts of the world. They are created for aesthetic pleasure, as well as for sports or other outdoor recreational use. Lawns are useful as a playing surface both because they mitigate erosion and dust generated by intensive foot traffic and because they provide a cushion for players in sports such as rugby, football, soccer, cricket, baseball, golf, tennis, field hockey, and lawn bocce.^{[citation needed]}

Lawns and the resulting lawn clipping waste can be used as an ingredient in making compost and is also viewed as fodder, used in the production of lawn clipping silage which is fed to livestock^[42][43] as a sustainable feed source.

Lawns need not be, and have not always been, made up of grasses alone. There exist, for instance, moss lawns, clover lawns, thyme lawns, and tapestry lawns (made from diverse forbs). Sedges, low herbs and wildflowers, and other ground covers that can be walked upon are also used.^{[citation needed]}

Thousands of varieties of grasses and grasslike plants are used for lawns, each adapted to specific conditions of precipitation and irrigation, seasonal temperatures, and sun/shade tolerances. Plant hybridizers and botanists are constantly creating and finding improved varieties of the basic species and new ones, often more economical and environmentally sustainable by needing less water, fertilizer, pest and disease treatments, and maintenance. The three basic categories are cool season grasses, warm season grasses, and grass alternatives.^{[citation needed]}

Many different species of grass are currently used, depending on the intended use and the climate. Coarse grasses are used where active sports are played, and finer grasses are used for ornamental lawns for their visual effects. Some grasses are adapted to oceanic climates with cooler summers, and others to tropical and continental climates with hotter summers. Often, a mixture of grass or low plant types is used to form a stronger lawn when one type does better in the warmer seasons and the other in the colder ones. This mixing is taken further by a form of grass breeding which produces what are known as cultivars. A cultivar is a cross-breed of two different varieties of grass and aims to combine certain traits taken from each individual breed. This creates a new strain which can be very specialised, suited to a particular environment, such as low water, low light or low nutrient.^{[citation needed]}

Cool season grasses start growth at 5 °C (41 °F), and grow at their fastest rate when temperatures are between 10 °C (50 °F) and 25 °C (77 °F), in climates that have relatively mild/cool summers, with two periods of rapid growth in the spring and autumn.^[44] They retain their color well in extreme cold and typically grow very dense, carpetlike lawns with relatively little thatch.^{[citation needed]}

• Bluegrass (Poa spp.)
• Bentgrass (Agrostis spp.)
• Ryegrasses (Lolium spp.)
• Fescues (Festuca spp.)
• Feather reed grass (Calamagrostis spp.)
• Tufted hair grass (Deschampsia spp.)

Warm season grasses only start growth at temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F), and grow fastest when temperatures are between 25 °C (77 °F) and 35 °C (95 °F), with one long growth period over the spring and summer (Huxley 1992). They often go dormant in cooler months, turning shades of tan or brown. Many warm season grasses are quite drought tolerant, and can handle very high summer temperatures, although temperatures below −15 °C (5 °F) can kill most southern ecotype warm season grasses. The northern varieties, such as buffalograss and blue grama, are hardy to 45 °C (113 °F).

• Zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp.)
• Bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.)
• St. Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum)
• Bahiagrass (Paspalum spp.)
• Centipedegrass (Eremochloa ophiuroides)
• Carpet grass (Axonopus spp.)
• Buffalograss (Bouteloua dactyloides)
• Grama grass (Bouteloua spp.)
• Kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum)

Grass seed mixes have been developed to include only grass seed species that grow will in low sunlight conditions. These seed mixes are designed to deal with light shade caused by trees that can create patchiness, or slightly heavier shade that prevents the full growth of grass. Most lawns will experience shade in some shape or form due to surrounding fences, furniture, trees or hedges and these grass seed species' are especially useful in the Northern Hemisphere and Northwestern Europe.^[45]

• Festuca rubra subsp. commutata (Chewings Fescue)
• Poa pratensis (Smooth Stalked Meadow Grass)
• Festuca ovina (Sheeps Fescue)
• Festuca trachyphylla (hard fescue)
• Festuca rubra (Strong Creeping Red Fescue)

Carex species and cultivars are well represented in the horticulture industry as 'sedge' alternatives for 'grass' in mowed lawns and garden meadows. Both low-growing and spreading ornamental cultivars and native species are used in for sustainable landscaping as low-maintenance and drought-tolerant grass replacements for lawns and garden meadows. Wildland habitat restoration projects and natural landscaping and gardens also use them for 'user-friendly' areas. The J. Paul Getty Museum has used Carex pansa (meadow sedge) and Carex praegracilis (dune sedge) expansively in the Sculpture Gardens in Los Angeles.^[46]

Some lower sedges used are:

• Carex caryophyllea (cultivar 'The Beatles')
• C. divulsa (Berkeley sedge)^[46]
• C. glauca (blue sedge) (syn. C. flacca)
• C. pansa (meadow sedge)^[46]
• C. praegracilis (dune sedge)^[46]
• C. subfusca (mountain sedge)^[46]
• C. tumulicola (foothill sedge) (cultivar 'Santa Cruz Mnts. selection')^[46]
• C. uncifolia (ruby sedge)

Moss lawns do well in shaded areas under trees, and require only about 1% of the water of a traditional grass lawn once established.^[48][47][49] Clover lawns do especially well in damp, alkaline soils. Yarrow lawns are drought resistant, can be mowed to form a soft, comfortable turf; common yarrow is native throughout Europe, North America, and parts of Asia, and spreads vegetatively to cover the ground.^[50][51][52] Camomile lawns and thyme lawns are fragrant (and native to Europe an North Africa). Soleirolia soleirolii favours shaded, damp spaces (and is often used in tsubo-niwas); it is native to the European side of the Mediterranean, and can be invasive elsewhere.^[53]

Other low ground covers suitable for lawns include Corsican mint (native to three mediterranean islands, invasive), Ophiopogon planiscapus (native to Japan),^[53] Lippia^[54] and lawnleaf,^[55] (native to Central America and southern North America),^[55][54] purple flowering Mazus (native to East Asia), grey Dymondia (native to South Africa), creeping sedums (various species native to various continents),^[54] Cotula species (ditto),^[55] and creeping jenny (native to Europe).^[54]

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Some plants native to Eastern North America that can be used as alternatives to grass lawns or incorporated into lawns are:^{[56][57][58][59]}

• Common yarrow
• Virginia springbeauty^[60]
• Wild strawberry
• Dwarf cinquefoil
• Moss phlox
• Creeping phlox
• Sensitive fern
• Canadian wild ginger
• Cinnamon fern
• Lyreleaf sage^[61]
• Allegheny pachysandra
• Woodland stonecrop
• Green-and-gold
• Beetleweed
• Blue-eyed grass
• Common blue violet
• Dwarf crested iris
• Wild pink
• Purple wood sorrel
• Spotted cranesbill

Alternatives to lawns include meadows, drought-tolerant xeriscape gardens, natural landscapes, native plant habitat gardens, paved Spanish courtyard and patio gardens, butterfly gardens, rain gardens, and kitchen gardens. Trees and shrubs in close proximity to lawns provide habitat for birds in traditional, cottage and wildlife gardens.^{[62][citation needed]}

Seasonal lawn establishment and care varies depending on the climate zone and type of lawn grown.^{[citation needed]}

Early autumn, spring, and early summer are the primary seasons to seed, lay sod (turf), plant 'liners', or 'sprig' new lawns, when the soil is warmer and air cooler. Seeding is the least expensive, but may take longer for the lawn to be established. Aerating just before planting/seeding may promote deeper root growth and thicker turf.^[63]

Sodding (American English), or turfing (British English), provides an almost instant lawn, and can be undertaken in most temperate climates in any season, but is more expensive and more vulnerable to drought until established. Hydroseeding is a quick, less expensive method of planting large, sloped or hillside landscapes. Some grasses and sedges are available and planted from 'liner' and 4-inch (100 mm) containers, from 'flats', 'plugs' or 'sprigs', and are planted apart to grow together.^{[citation needed]}

Lawn growth, 20-hour time lapse

Various organic and inorganic or synthetic fertilizers are available, with instant or time-release applications. Pesticides, which includes biological and chemical herbicides, insecticides and fungicides, treating diseases like gray leaf spot, are available. Consideration for their effects on the lawn and garden ecosystem and via runoff and dispersion on the surrounding environment, inform laws constraining their use. For example, the Canadian province of Quebec and over 130 municipalities prohibit the use of synthetic lawn pesticides.^[64] The Ontario provincial government promised in September 2007 to also implement a province-wide ban on the cosmetic use of lawn pesticides, for protecting the public. Medical and environmental groups supported such a ban.^[65]

On 22 April 2008, the Provincial Government of Ontario announced that it would pass legislation that would prohibit, province-wide, the cosmetic use and sale of lawn and garden pesticides.^[66] The Ontario legislation would also echo Massachusetts law requiring pesticide manufacturers to reduce the toxins they use in production.^[67] Experts^[who?] advise that a healthy lawn contains at least some "weeds" and insects, discouraging indiscriminate use of potentially harmful chemicals.^[34]

Sustainable gardening uses organic horticulture methods, such as organic fertilizers, biological pest control, beneficial insects, and companion planting, among other methods, to sustain an attractive lawn in a safe garden. An example of an organic herbicide is corn gluten meal, which releases an 'organic dipeptide' into the soil to inhibit root formation of germinating weed seeds. An example of an organic alternative to insecticide use is applying beneficial nematodes to combat soil-dwelling grubs, such as the larvae of chafer beetles. The Integrated Pest Management approach is a coordinated low impact approach.^[68]

Maintaining a rough lawn requires only occasional cutting with a suitable machine, or grazing by animals. Maintaining a smooth and closely cut lawn, be it for aesthetic or practical reasons or because social pressure from neighbors and local municipal ordinances requires it,^[69] necessitates more organized and regular treatments. Usually once a week is adequate for maintaining a lawn in most climates. However, in the hot and rainy seasons of regions contained in hardiness zones greater than 8, lawns may need to be maintained up to two times a week.^[70]

Low-maintenance alternatives to traditional turfgrass lawns reduce the need for frequent mowing, watering and chemical inputs.^[71]

The prevalence of the lawns in films such as Pleasantville (1998) and Edward Scissorhands (1990) alludes to the importance of the lawn as a social mechanism that gives great importance to visual representation of the American suburb as well as its practised culture. It is implied that a neighbor whose lawn is not in pristine condition is morally corrupt, emphasizing the role a well-kept lawn plays in neighborly and community relationships. In both of these films, green space surrounding a house in the suburbs becomes an indicator of moral integrity as well as of social and gender norms – lawn care has long been associated^{[by whom?]} with men. These lawns also reinforce class and societal norms by subtly excluding those who may not have been able to afford a house with a lawn.^[72]

The lawn as a reflection of someone's character and the neighborhood at large is not restricted to films; the same theme appears in The Great Gatsby (1925), by American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald.^[73] Character Nick Carraway rents the house next to Gatsby's and fails to maintain his lawn according to West Egg standards. The rift between the two lawns troubles Gatsby to the point that he dispatches his gardener to mow Carraway's grass and thereby establish uniformity.^{[citation needed]}

Most lawn-care equipment over the decades has been advertised to men, and companies have long associated good lawn-care with good citizenship in their marketing campaigns. The appearance of a healthy lawn was meant^{[by whom?]} to imply the health of the man taking care of it; controlled weeds and strict boundaries became a practical application of the desire to control nature, as well as an expression of control over personal lives once working full-time became central to suburban success. Women were encultured over time to view the lawn as part of the household, as an essential furnishing, and to encourage their husbands to maintain a lawn for the family and community reputation.^[17]

During World War II (1939–1945), women became the focus of lawn-care companies in the absence of their husbands and sons. These companies promoted lawn care as a necessary means by which women could help support their male family-members and American patriotism as a whole. The image of the lawn changed from focusing on technology and manhood to emphasizing aesthetic pleasure and the health benefits derived from its maintenance; advertisers at lawn care companies assumed that women would not respond positively to images of efficiency and power. The language of these marketing campaigns still intended to imbue the female population with notions of family, motherhood, and the duties of a wife; it has been argued^{[by whom?]} that this was done so that it would be easier for men returning from war to resume the roles which their wives had taken over in their absence. This was especially apparent in the 1950s and 1960s, when lawn-care rhetoric emphasized the lawn as a husband's responsibility and as a pleasurable hobby when he retired.^[17]

There are differences in the particulars of lawn maintenance and appearance, such as the length of the grass, species (and therefore its color), and mowing.^[41][74]

On average, greater amounts of chemical fertilizer, herbicide and pesticide are used to maintain a given area of lawn than on an equivalent area of cultivated farmland.^[75][28] The use of these products causes environmental pollution, disturbance in the lawn ecosystem, and health risks to humans and wildlife.^[76]

In response to environmental concerns, organic landscaping and organic lawn management systems have been developed and are mandated in some municipalities and properties. In the United Kingdom, the environmental group Plantlife has encouraged gardeners to refrain from mowing in the month of May to encourage plant diversity and provide nectar for insects.^[77]

Other concerns, criticisms, and ordinances regarding lawns arise from wider environmental consequences:

• Lawns can reduce biodiversity, especially when the lawn covers a large area.^[78] Traditional lawns often replace plant species that feed pollinators, requiring bees and butterflies to cross "wastelands" to reach food and host plants.^[79] Lawns promote homogenization and are normally cleared of unwanted plant and animal species, typically with synthetic pesticides, which can also kill unintended target species. They may be composed of introduced species not native to the area, particularly in the United States. This can produce a habitat that supports a reduced number of wildlife species.^[80]
• Lawn maintenance commonly involves use of fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, which can cause great harm. Some are carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. They may permanently linger in the environment and negatively affect the health of potentially all nearby organisms. The United States Environmental Protection Agency estimated in 2012 that nearly 32,000,000 kilograms (71,000,000 lb) of active pesticide ingredients are used on suburban lawns each year in the United States.^[81] There are indications of an emerging regulatory response to this issue. For example, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Kuwait, and Belize have placed restrictions on the use of the herbicide 2,4-D.
• It has been estimated that nearly 64,000,000 litres (14,000,000 imp gal; 17,000,000 US gal) of gasoline are spilled each summer while re-fueling garden and lawn-care equipment in the United States: approximately 50% more than that spilled during the Exxon Valdez incident.^[28]
• The use of pesticides and fertilizers, requiring fossil fuels for manufacturing, distribution, and application, has been shown to contribute to global warming. (Sustainable organic techniques have been shown to help reduce global warming.)^[82] A hectare of lawn in Nashville, Tennessee, produces greenhouse gases equivalent to 697 to 2,443 kg of carbon dioxide a year. The higher figure is equivalent to a flight more than halfway around the world. Lawn mowing is one element of lawn culture that causes a great amount of emissions (which can be mitigated by replacing lawn mowers with grazing livestock). ^[83]

Maintaining a green lawn sometimes requires large amounts of water. While natural rainfall is usually sufficient to maintain a lawn's health in the temperate British Isles- the birthplace of the concept of the lawn- in times of drought hosepipe bans may be implemented by the water suppliers.^[84] Conversely, exportation of the lawn ideal to more arid regions (e.g. U.S. Southwest and Australia) strains water supply systems when water supplies are already scarce. This necessitates upgrades to larger, more environmentally invasive equipment to deal with increased demand due to lawn watering. Grass typically goes dormant during periods of cold or heat outside of its preferred temperature ranges; dormancy reduces the grasses' water demand. Most grasses typically recover quite well from a drought, but many property owners become concerned about the brown appearance and increase watering during the summer months. Water in Australia observed 1995 data that up to 90% of the water used in Canberra during summer drought periods was used for watering lawns.^[85]

In the United States, 50 to 70% of residential water is used for landscaping, with most used to water lawns.^[81] A 2005 NASA study estimated conservatively 128,000 square kilometres (49,000 sq mi; 32,000,000 acres) of irrigated lawn in the US, three times the area of irrigated corn.^[86] That translates to about 200 US gallons (760 L; 170 imp gal) of drinking-quality fresh water per person per day is required to keep up United States' lawn surface area.^{[citation needed]}

In 2022, the state of Nevada pass a bill that not only banned the installation of new lawns in the state, but also mandated the removal of any lawn deemed "nonfunctional." This was in response to a years-long drought in the state. ^[87]

An increased concern from the general public over pesticide and fertilizer use and their associated health risks, combined with the implementation of the legislation, such as the US Food Quality Protection Act, has resulted in the reduced presence of synthetic chemicals, namely pesticides, in urban landscapes such as lawns in the late 20th century.^[88] Many of these concerns over the safety and environmental impact of some of the synthetic fertilizers and pesticides has led to their ban by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and many local governments.^[76] The use of pesticides and other chemicals to care for lawns has also led to the death of nearly 7 million birds each year, a topic that was central to the novel Silent Spring by the conservationist Rachel Carson.^[28]

The use of lawn chemicals made its first appearance in the 18th century through the introduction of "English garden" fads. These types of lawns put precise hedging, clean cut grass, and extravagant plants on display. Following the initial introduction of lawn chemicals, they have still been continually used throughout North America. Because many of the turf-grass species in North America are not native to our ecosystems, they require extensive maintenance. According to the United States Geological Survey, 99% of the urban water samples that were tested contained one or more types of pesticides. In addition to water contamination, chemicals are making their way into houses which can lead to chronic exposure. Currently, standards for pesticide management practices have been put in place through the Food Quality Protection Act.^[12]

In the United States, lawn heights are generally maintained by gasoline-powered lawn mowers, which contribute to urban smog during the summer months.^[89] The EPA found, in some urban areas, up to 5% of smog was due to small gasoline engines made before 1997, such as are typically used on lawn mowers. Since 1997, the EPA has mandated emissions controls on newer engines in an effort to reduce smog.^[90]

A 2010 study seemed to show lawn care inputs were balanced by the carbon sequestration benefits of lawns, and they may not be contributors to anthropogenic global warming.^[91][92] Lawns with high maintenance (mowing, irrigation, and leaf blowing) and high fertilization rates have a net emission of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide that have large global warming potential.^[93] Lawns that are fertilized, irrigated, and mowed weekly have a lower species diversity.^[94]

Replacing turf grass with low-maintenance groundcovers or employing a variety of low-maintenance perennials, trees and shrubs^[80] can be a good alternative to traditional lawn spaces, especially in hard-to-grow or hard-to-mow areas, as it can reduce maintenance requirements, associated pollution and offers higher aesthetic and wildlife value.^[95][71] Growing a mixed variety of flowering plants instead of turfgrass is sometimes referred to as meadowscaping.^[96]

Lawns take up space that could otherwise be used more productively, such as for urban agriculture or home gardening. This is the case in many cities and suburbs in the United States, where open or unused spaces are "not generally a result of a positive decision to leave room for some use, but rather is an expression of a pastoral aesthetic norm that prizes spacious lawns and the zoning restrictions and neighborhood covenants that give these norms the force of law."^[97]

In urban and suburban spaces, growing food in front yards and parking strips can not only provide fresh produce but also be a source of neighborhood pride.^[98] While converting lawn space into strictly utilitarian farms is not common, incorporating edible plants into front yards with sustainable and aesthetically pleasing design is of growing interest in the United States.^[99]

• Bacterial lawn
• Moss lawn
• Tapestry lawn
• Organic lawn management
• Gardening
• List of organic gardening and farming topics

• Bormann, F. Herbert, et al. (1993) Redesigning the American Lawn.
• Hessayon, D. G. (1997). The Lawn Expert. Expert. ISBN 978-0-903505-48-2.
• Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Lawns: Ch. 3: pp. 26–33. Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
• Jenkins, V. S. (1994). The Lawn: A History of an American Obsession. Smithsonian Books. ISBN 1-56098-406-6.
• Steinberg, T. (2006). American Green, The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn. W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 0-393-06084-5.
• Wasowski, Sally and Andy (2004). Requiem for a Lawnmower.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lawns.

Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article Lawns.

• "Planting and care of Lawns" from the UNT Govt. Documents Dept.
• Integrated Pest Management Program: website & search-engine
• How to look after your Lawn
• Lawn Care University at Michigan State University
• "EPA Management of Polluted Runoff: Nonpoint Source Pollution" (includes mismanagement of lawns problems.)