Front lawns in suburbia and nearly
everywhere in America are distinctly American. I took the photo on
the right in a middle class neighborhood in the heart of Salt Lake City.
Michael Pollan in his most recent book Second Nature argues that front
lawns date back to the post Civil War era and were promptly
recognized as being democratic. Everyone has the front of their home
open along with everyone else. The back yards are private and
secluded.
I read Second Nature because I loved Pollan's earlier book The Botany of Desire. Pollan is a superb writer and Botany was a masterpiece. Unfortunately being a good writer writing about a subject of minor interest to me (gardening) left me with the book half finished.