May Contain Peanuts

I see...

As the summer sneaks up on us, the pools are opening, the sun stays out longer and the yards are astir with the machinery of flora management. As I pushed the mower around the ol green rectangle, I was searching for reasons why I should be performing this bi-weekly task anyhow. The question became, why does a neatly trimmed yard look so good? What makes an even 2" of grass all around the ideal image of lawn maintenance?

I am guessing that it comes from a greater image of those rolling Irish hills that always look so perfect with the clear blue sky against a perfect shad of grass green. That, coupled with the interior look of an even carpet and flat floor make one's lawn an outdoor floor, an outdoor carpet. Of course this is going to look better than overgrown weeds or unorganized grass blades everywhere. Our lawn has become an extension of the house, with landscaping being the furniture and decor. That perfect flat, green lawn is the organic carpet that you feel comfortable walking barefoot through. A hill or change in topography can be offset by a small garden or rock pile, creating a wall or edge to the carpet. Flowers are planted in the ground instead of sitting in a vase on your table. Lawn chairs and gazebos are placed near edges or in formations that make exterior rooms. Hell, fountains and pools even pop up instead of sinks and baths.

Yes, this comparison has already gone on too far, but I just find it interesting how it is expected to keep a clean yard, just as it is to keep a clean house. Unkept yard? Dirty people. Perfect turf? Howdy neighbor. On a bigger note, this is just another unseen conformity issue that is expected of us. I am not really arguing that this is bad, I enjoy a nice looking yard as much as the next person, but I will continue to ask why and at least for the meantime try to find a justifiable reason why I am sweating my bag off for an hour or two every other week keeping the earth around my house 'suburbia pretty'.