I’ve been looking into land usage recently, and i just realized i have no idea why everyone has front and back lawns.
Pretty much every house in the neighborhood I grew up in had lawns taking up 50-70% of the space on their property, and the lawn area almost never gets any use. Not considering those living in apartments or townhouses, this 50%+ lawn layout seems to be pretty typical for most North American homes (I understand this isn’t typical in Europe).
I could see how a family dog or kids would enjoy playing in the backyard lawn for an hour or two each day, but this is relatively little usage compared to the rest of the house, and the front yard almost never gets that same usage.
So why do we waste all this space on our property, filling it up with patches of grass we can’t eat (and rarely get to enjoy)? Especially as home prices continue to get more expensive…
And considering most people don’t get much value from their lawn, why does everyone put so much money and effort into watering, maintaining, pruning, and fertilizing their lawn? Is it all just a status-signaling game?
As a possible solution, why isn’t it normal to convert one’s lawn into a garden that can at least supply you with fresh fruit, vegetables, and eggs? This was strongly encouraged in WW1 and WW2, so there is precedent here.