What is a lawn?
A: A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other
durable plants such as clover and are used for aesthetic and recreational
purposes.
Lawns are usually composed only of what?
A: Grass species.
Lawns are subject to weed and pest control, maintained
in a green color (e.g., by watering), and are regularly what?
A: Mowed to ensure an acceptable length.
Lawns are used around what?
A: Houses, apartments, commercial buildings and offices.
Many city parks also have what?
A: Large lawn areas.
In recreational contexts, the specialized names turf,
pitch, field or green may be used, depending on what?
A: The sport and the continent.
The term "lawn", referring to a managed grass space,
dates to when?
A: At least the 16th century.
With suburban expansion, the lawn has become culturally
ingrained in some areas of the world as part of what?
A: The desired household aesthetic.
In some jurisdictions where there are water shortages,
local government authorities are encouraging what?
A: Alternatives to lawns to reduce water use.
Lawns may have originated as grassed enclosures within
early what?
A: Medieval settlements used for communal grazing of livestock, as distinct
from fields reserved for agriculture.
When did lawns become popular with the aristocracy in
northern Europe?
A: From the Middle Ages onward.
In medieval Europe, why did open expanses of low
grasses become valued among the aristocracy?
A: Because they allowed those inside an enclosed fence or castle to view
those approaching.
The early lawns were not always distinguishable from
what?
A: Pasture fields.
The damp climate of maritime Western Europe in the
north made lawns what?
A: Possible to grow and manage.
Before the invention of mowing machines in 1830, how
were lawns managed?
A: They were maintained by the labor-intensive methods of scything and
shearing.
In most situations, they were also pasture land
maintained through what?
A: Grazing by sheep or other livestock.
Areas of grass grazed regularly by rabbits, horses or
sheep over a long period often form what?
A: A very low, tight sward similar to a modern lawn.
Lawns similar to those of today first appeared in
France and England in the 1700s when André Le Nôtre designed what?
A: The gardens of the Palace of Versailles that included a small area of
grass called the tapis vert, or "green carpet".
Wealthy families in America during the late 18th
century began mimicking what?
A: English landscaping styles.
In 1780, the Shaker community began the first
industrial production of what?
A: 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 what?
A: Parks and residential areas, not just livestock.
Thomas Jefferson has long been given credit for being
what?
A: The first person to attempt an English-style lawn at his estate,
Monticello, in 1806.
Before the mechanical lawnmower, the upkeep of lawns
was possible only for whom?
A: Extremely wealthy estates and manor houses of the aristocracy.
This all changed with the invention of what?
A: The lawnmower by Edwin Beard Budding in 1830.
It took ten more years and further innovations for the
lawnmower to become what?
A: A practical proposition.
Middle-class families across the country, in imitation
of aristocratic landscape gardens, began to do what?
A: Grow finely trimmed lawns in their back gardens.