Unless you’re bringing out the trusty lawnmower, a lawn is something you hardly ever think about. You look at it and think, “Oh, that’s nice!”, and go about your day.

Today, though, a lawn may be THE symbol of neighborhood status. But also, it might just be a way to keep up with the HOA. But back in the day, having a lawn meant you had serious money. Not because grass was fancy, but because you had the land and the people to take care of it. That wasn’t a space used for farming or livestock, it was just something you’d let sit, perfectly trimmed, as nothing more than a flex.

So, how did we get from Versailles to where we are now? Let’s take a look.

Back in the 1600s, we had the Palace of Versailles (France) as the perhaps ultimate example of what a lawn could be. These weren’t your ordinary patches of grass, oh no. The lawns in Versailles were huge, geometric fields trimmed with obsessive precision. A sight to behold and remember. And here’s the thing – they were cut by hand, using scythes.

If you think that’s crazy, just think of the fact that back then, you couldn’t just find lawn mowers for sale, pick a few up, and be done with mowing (relatively) soon. There were no machines; just teams of gardeners keeping everything perfectly neat for the enjoyment of the French aristocracy.

Why, you might ask, were the royals so obsessed with their lawns? That one’s easy – to show off, of course!.

If you had grass you didn't need to use for growing food or raising animals, you obviously had a lot of money and land. So much, in fact, that you didn’t even need to use the land you had.

England picked up on this idea in the 1700s, but they made it feel a bit more natural. On the surface, at least. Designers like Capability Brown created those dreamy, rolling green landscapes that seemed wild, but were actually designed to look effortless.

It was all about power – to shape nature, to hire people to maintain it, and to turn land into art.

America shaped its own identity in the 1800s and early 1900s, but it borrowed a lot of ideas from Europe, which conveniently included their love for manicured green spaces. The British tradition of grand lawns started to show up on colonial estates, but it was really the Industrial Revolution that REALLY changed things up and upped the ante.

Cities got crowded, and urban planners started designing public parks and green areas as a way to bring some peace and order to the upcoming chaos and over time, this idea crept its way into private life.

If you had a patch of grass outside your home, you were showing signs of being a good citizen, where a tidy lawn meant you cared about your community and followed the rules. By the 1950s, after WWII, this idea truly exploded.

The GI Bill helped millions of Americans buy homes, and those homes had front lawns. Lawns were not just for the wealthy anymore, they were for the aspiring middle class. A neat lawn meant you were responsible, stable, and successful. And a whole new industry took off because those lawns had to be kept looking perfect.

Fertilizers, hoses, pesticides, lawn mowers… This became the standard in garages across the country. Lawn care even got tied to masculinity through the idea that a “real man” took pride in keeping the yard trimmed and tidy. Was this the start of toxic masculinity? Hm. Possibly.

Today, lawns still have a meaning, but what they represent has started to change. In a lot of suburbs, especially those governed by HOAs, it’s a requirement to have a neat, green lawn. It shows you’re responsible, clean, you play by the rules, and you have no problem mowing the lawn on weekends instead of spending that time with your kids.

Nice, right? A perfectly manicured lawn tells your neighbors you care, and not just about your own property, but about how the whole neighborhood is being presented. And while this’s all good and dandy, not everyone is on board with this.

Some people see this ‘obsession with lawns’ as another form of social pressure. Like a quiet demand to conform, to perform a certain version of success, even if it’s just with grass. And if you don’t conform, you’ll be ridiculed (even quietly/subtly).

More and more people are questioning the impact on the environment, as well. The wasted water, the pesticides, and the lack of biodiversity can’t be that great for nature.

For example, a paper published by the Columbia Climate School has revealed data that 30-60% of urban freshwater is used on lawns, which is worrying, to say the least.

To combat this issue, native gardens are being planted that don’t require constant attention, which is a form of small rebellion against the ‘uniform look’ of the suburbs.

You might say that it’s not nice to roll your eyes at someone fussing over their lawn. And is it okay to obsess over something so simple as grass? Is there really a need to show off every chance you get?

While some people use their lawns as an extension of their character to show their neatness, subjugation, and their willingness to follow the rules, others use it as an accessory – to boast.

The way we use and treat lawns has an innate historical background, which could be the reason why things are as they are (when it comes to lawns, at least), but maybe we should also learn from this same history and consider focusing on being kinder to the planet and being more eco-conscious.

History is important – even when it comes to lawns – but it’s the future that’s ahead.