The Lawn: A History of an American Obsession [Paperback]

Virginia Scott Jenkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 1994

Lawns now blanket thirty million acres of the United States, but until the late nineteenth century few Americans had any desire for a front lawn, much less access to seeds for growing one. In her comprehensive history of this uniquely American obsession, Virginia Scott Jenkins traces the origin of the front lawn aesthetic, the development of the lawn-care industry, its environmental impact, and modern as well as historic alternatives to lawn mania.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the 18th-century English landscape, a folly was an extravagant building or ruin. In the 20th-century American landscape, the folly had to be the lawn. Jenkins's account gets off to a slightly slow start as she follows the lawn from its earliest beginnings as a simplified version of English romantic parks in the 19th century to the smooth fairway aesthetic fostered by the U.S. Golf Association (USGA) in the early 20th. But from then on, The Lawn is a quirky, thoroughly enjoyable look at man vs. nature, man vs. woman, and man vs. the Joneses. Despite the millions spent by both the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) and USGA to develop hardy disease- and pest-resistant turf for any climate, it did not obviate the need for tons of toxic herbicides and pesticides, gallons of water (even in the arid Southwest) and, as a 1952 article in Life said, the basics--"bamboo rake, grass shears, hand sprayer . . . wave sprinkler, a hoe, wheelbarrow, roller, iron rake, lawn mower and spade, an aerator, a weed knife." It was an arsenal, and Jenkins makes a convincing argument that the military metaphors used by advertisers and lawn-care experts alike were part of a male viewpoint that saw nature as something to be "controlled and mastered." It wasn't long before that controlled lawn, once a sign of affluence, became the strictly enforced norm of good citizenship and general moral rectitude. This summer could be much more fun if readers ignore their own lawns and stick to Jenkins's.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From The New Yorker

Virginia Scott Jenkins shows that this uniquely American landscape form is not a native one: indigenous New World grasses were munched into extinction by the colonists' Old World livestock, and the very concept of the lawn was borrowed from the romantic English parks of Capability Brown and from the French tapis vert. But gradual suburbanization and the shaming tactics of appearance-minded neighbors led America to become completely besotted with grass---and lawn care

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 246 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian Books (April 17, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560984066
• ISBN-13: 978-1560984061
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #707,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for any homeowner!, April 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Lawn: A History of an American Obsession (Paperback)

This book's title is very appropriate. You will have no questions about how houses all came to be surrounded by lawns after reading this. It explains how agriculture, chemical companies, the garden industry, golfing, housing developments, world wars, etc... and the advent of new inventions have come together to result in an entire lifestyle revolving around 'the lawn.' The writing is smooth and it goes down easy, from cover to cover. Written in language anyone can understand, yet factual enough to hold the interest of those with some existing knowledge. There are about 20 pictures of vintage advertisements for lawn products, which I enjoyed seeing very much. There is also a good bit of detail about what used to grow on the property surrounding most homes before lawns.

Please also see, "Redesigning the American Lawn; A search for Environmental Harmony," by F. Herbert Bormann, Diana Balmori, Gordon T. Geballe. This book takes up where we leave off. What is the impact of millions of monoculture lawns on the lifestyles and wallets of those who tend them, and on the environment? How can I change my yard to look better, and spend less time and money tending it (and to have less of a negative impact on the environment.)

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grass as an American cultural obsession, January 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Lawn: A History of an American Obsession (Paperback)

Before you go purchase that big bag o' Kentucky Bluegrass seed, read this book. It's a comprehensive history, cultural and ecological critique of something we usually don't think twice about-- the lush, green, overfertilized and ultimately sterile front lawn. Jenkins has a sense of humor about her subject, but doesn't let it mask the very real implications of what happens when all that fertilizer and insecticide almost every suburbanite pours onto their lawns gets into the larger ecosystem. If you are into American pop culture, environmentalism, class history or even just a good non-fiction read, this book is for you.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book to read while lying in your hammock, November 17, 2001

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Lawn: A History of an American Obsession (Paperback)

This book describes the history of how lawns were first introduced to American, became popular, and then became a necessity. Jenkins traces the early history of lawns as importations of the English country garden concept, as found in Jefferson's gardens in Monticello. She also explains the influences that garden clubs, the golf industry, and the USDA had on the popularization of lawns. The book is not just about lawns, however. It also provides a very interesting analysis of how advertising was used to create demand for completely unnecessary products, and how those products, such as lawn mowers and weed whackers, later came to be thought of as indispensable. This book will be of interest to historians of landscape architecture as well as to researchers of material culture.