The History of Lawns

It may be known by many names — turf, yard, green, sod — but there are three key elements to the definition of a lawn:

• It is an area of grass or mostly grass.

• It is mown, instead of allowing the plants to reach their full height.

• It is maintained for the benefit of people.

Lawns are not found in nature. People create and maintain them — around homes, in parks, and many other public and private spaces. The first recorded lawns were in Europe in the middle ages. The first lawns were filled with wild flowers, and low mounds of turf were created for seating, which were sometimes planted with aromatic herbs such as chamomile.

The 18th century brought the design of even more expansive parks and gardens in the estates of wealthy landowners. If you weren’t tipped off by the enormous manor house or castle, you would know by the vast expanse of lawn around it that the owner was very wealthy indeed. Lawns implied a staff of servants armed with scythes, brushes, rollers, shears, and edging irons. Some expanses of lawn were rolled using horses.

To learn more got to www.TheLawnInstitute.org