The Suburban Lawn Wars: America's Obsession with Perfect Lawns vs. Ecological Disaster
The American obsession with perfect lawns is causing conflict in suburbs across the nation. This article details several families' battles with HOAs over planting native plant gardens, highlighting the clash between the cultural ideal of a manicured lawn and the environmental damage it causes. Evolving from European aristocratic traditions and popularized through government loans and suburban development, the perfect lawn has become a symbol of the American Dream. However, this devotion to a monoculture of grass leads to biodiversity loss, resource waste, and pollution. Growing numbers are questioning this tradition, advocating for more natural, eco-friendly gardening practices, but change is difficult, facing resistance from entrenched cultural norms and influenced by current political and economic factors.