Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!ncar!tank!uxc!iuvax!purdue!decwrl!labrea!polya!Gang-of-Four!barbara
From: barbara@Gang-of-Four.Stanford.EDU (Barbara Chapman)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: Why People Like Lawns, etc.
Summary: Problems with medow around houses
Keywords: lawn, meadow
Message-ID: <6095@polya.Stanford.EDU>
Date: 13 Jan 89 23:42:50 GMT
References: <23468@mordor.s1.gov> <3057@cbnews.ATT.COM> <761@myrias.UUCP>
Sender: news@polya.Stanford.EDU
Reply-To: barbara@Gang-of-Four.Stanford.EDU (Barbara Chapman)
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University
Lines: 25

>What you get around your house if you do nothing at all
>(except maybe pull weeds and saplings), is "meadow", what
>>occurs in nature where larger plants are unable to thrive. 
>
>Meadow is comfortable to lie or walk on (if you are into walking
>around your house), easy to care for because it requires no
>care at all, and much cheaper than trying to maintain a velvety
>evenly-trimmed greensward (no mower, no chemical fertilizer).
>
>The two disadvantages to meadow are 
>[1] it is clear to your neighbors you have done nothing to your lawn, and 
>[2] it is not orderly. 

My parents once tried having "medow" around their house -- that is, 
they had at one time had a lawn, but they did not cut or weed it.
	They liked the result: tall grass with flowers (others might
call them "weeds")  Unfortunately, the neighbors did *not* like my
parents' medow, and complained.  My parents were polite, but firmly
stated that they could grow whatever they wanted to on their own
property.  The city, however, did not agree (this was Toronto,
Ontario, Canada) and forced my parents to start mowing.  I believe
the cited ordinance had something to do with "eyesores..."

Maybe this is why people "like" to have lawns around their houses:
city officials all had ancestors in the grasslands :)