I think it was mainly a status thing, in that you could afford to have vast amounts of land that weren't producing anything, and the workforce to maintain it. Like, it's something a French king would do at a Chateau to complement their rose gardens.

It's just crazy to think that now it can be against the law (or at least against HOA rules) to not have a lawn. Like it's illegal to plant a vegetable garden in your front yard.

If you can put up with the dirty looks from neighbors and resist the peer pressure, cultivate crabgrass! it's drought-resistant, grows low so never needs to be mowed and still green. I'm quite the crabgrass cultivator - my main technique is negligence and general laziness.

If you live in a strata or HOA, all bets are off - maybe lobby for an astroturf exemption?

I live in a pretty rural part of town (off of a dirt road that leads to the main road - across the street: it's back to your usual 120,000 people city), so nothing but whatever grows naturally. Some of my neighbors raise goats and sometimes they ask us if they can graze on our yard. It's nice.

I googled it and the top 10 links are about getting rid of it!

>or at least against HOA rules

WTF!? I am from Europe, is this really a thing? Although,it wouldn't surprise me, watching American Movies, lawn and suburbia seems inseparable.

You have no idea. Many Master Planned Communities have very restrictive CC&R's (Covenants, Codes & Restrictions) that you must contractually agree to abide to in order to buy a property there. I've seen all kinds of fun rules like only being allowed to paint your house one of the approved seven shades of beige, only using one type of roofing material, only planting trees and shrubs in any publicly facing frontage/backage/sideage from an approved list, maintaining no publicly visible weeds, maintaining a green front lawn year round and even put up a minimum amount of holiday decoration (lights) during December. Little Boxes, indeed[0].

[0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUoXtddNPAM

The homeowner's association has a lot of power in the US, so it is inevitable that it will be misused and used incompetently. However only in the most close-minded and controlling of suburbs can you not plant a vegetable garden.

Not plant a vegetable garden in the front yard?

You can't even hang your laundry out to dry. All in the name of freedom.

But what is their reasoning for this?

In some areas, tall grass becomes a habitat for snakes, which can be problematic for children.

For most areas, it's aesthetic.

Here in the south-east, a short lawn will have no mosquitoes but a grassy area will have plenty (as in you'll get 20-30 bites in one evening outdoors), so that's a strong motivation.

On the other hand, snakes eating all the rats would be good for children. Rats are reservoirs for many human diseases, but the think on the snakes!! is a common alibi for forcing your neighborg not to having shrubs, roses, grass, climbers, rocks, ponds and everything that would make your own garden look duller by comparison.

I think it's about the looks. Everything needs to be tidy and clean.

What if someone wants tidy, clean and paved, or tidy, clean with lots of interesting shrubs and trees?

Simply a case of no, a lawn it must be?

HOA's and HOA bylaws are normally mandated and created by the bank doing the construction loan. They do this to protect the value of the property while they hold interest in the remaining lots. The mortgage industry also loves this since in the end they may be stuck with a property if there is a default.

HOAs are a fascist alternative to actual community.

> protect the value of the property

... which means "protect interest of neighbors".

People like when their neighbourhood looks nice and is safe from snakes, bugs and mosquitos.

Drop in property value comes to mind if there's an adjacent stretch of untamed wild.

>WTF!? I am from Europe, is this really a thing?

In some places, particularly wealthy places built up after WW2. Some people like it because "muh property values". Just as many hate it because "muh freedom"

"Like it's illegal to plant a vegetable garden in your front yard. "

Making that illegal should be illegal.

They've made crossing the street at certain places illegal. This is the war on public spaces we've lost.

> they even warned us to not let our dog on the lawn because it was so toxic

In my area those are called the TruGreen lawns, and they dominate much of the city 3 seasons out of the year. Those little signs that tell you to keep your living creatures off of them for a week after application, or longer depending on weather. I don't, however, think that anyone bothers to notify the squirrels, rabbits, opossum, and birds about those limitations - they will all continue to frolic on doused areas, eat and drink from those areas. Not to mention the impact on insects, the impact on the soil and water.

All for what? Fewer weeds?! It's disgusting to see such callous disregard for our environment being perpetrated as a matter of routine.

> In Florida they even warned us to not let our dog on the lawn because it was so toxic.

Care to elaborate? I spent over 40 years in Florida and maintained a few lawns during that time, and I have never heard of such a thing.

That was in a wealthier neighborhood in Vero Beach. Everybody had perfect lawns and was spraying them a lot. Nobody let their children on the lawn either.

I haven't commented in over 3 years, but you're the first person I've seen mention Vero Beach on HN in the 8 years I've participated. As a Vero native, your comment resonates.

Spraying lawns with toxic chemicals so that they can't be used? What an incredible, dangerous, disgusting waste.

The grass is very hard and would be really uncomfortable to step on barefoot but it looks good.

Holy moly, what a waste! Thanks for clarifying.

Florida grass is awful. It's not even fun to walk in. Coming from the Midwest the lawns here are dramatically better and the grass is very nice for running around in. As kids we spent a lot of time on the lawn running through a sprinkler, playing football/sports, etc...