To Mow or Not to Mow? Marquette’s Changing Lawn Landscape

Nearly 40 years ago, Michael Pollan published an article in The New York Times Magazine entitled “Why Mow? The Case Against Lawns,” recounting a childhood incident from the Long Island suburbs. His father, much to the annoyance of neighbors, adopted a haphazard approach to mowing where their front grass “towered over the crew-cut lawns on either side of us.” The neighbors were unimpressed; their message was clear, “mow your lawn or get out.”

More recently, a suburban Maryland homeowner replaced their front lawn with native plants and received a cease-and-desist letter from their local homeowner association; according to the letter the native yet nontraditional plants were “eyesores that hurt property values.” A three-year legal battle ensued that at its heart focused on individual property rights versus the rights of a community to impose how land should be used. As America’s number one irrigated crop, protected by municipal and homeowner housing association codes, lawns represent another front in America’s culture wars.

The remainder of this article provides a brief historical perspective on how lawns in America became sacrosanct, the reasons behind the rising opposition to them, and how these opposing forces can be seen in the city of Marquette’s landscape.

American Lawns: A Brief Overview

Adopted from British aristocracy in the 18th century, the American clean-cut lawn originates as a symbol of wealth, available only to those who could afford labor or slaves to cut the grass using hand tools. The lawns and landscapes of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello home in Virginia and George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate can be attributed to slave labor and a handful of employed English gardeners. In the mid-nineteenth century the lawn mower was invented which helped popularize lawn cultivation among wealthy Americans.

Lawns were promoted by the American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead’s 1868 plan for the Chicago suburb of Riverside; each house was set back 30 feet from the street and connecting lawns promoted a park-like image. Ultimately, it was the development of suburbia in the aftermath of World War II where the lawn became enshrined in the larger American landscape. Levittown, considered the prototype of planned suburban communities, set the standard of mass produced (and segregated) post-war housing. The architect of Levittown noted that “A fine lawn makes a frame for a dwelling” adding that “It’s the first thing a visitor sees. And first impressions are the lasting ones.”

Lawns are no longer confined to residential areas; they are everywhere in public parks, highway medians, cul-de-sacs and corporate office areas, ingrained and unquestioned in every facet of the American landscape. According to the U.S. Agricultural Research Service in 2004, turfgrass comprised 50 million acres of the United States. In the same release it stated that “turfgrass is the only crop industry that increases with urban development,” which means continued urban expansion equates to more lawns.

Lawn upkeep requires the application of copious quantities of water and chemicals to promote their growth, maintain their appearance and control “weeds.” Developing and maintaining this homogenous landscape is a multi-billion-dollar industry. American lawn care services are projected to have sales of 184 billion dollars in 2025, according to IBIS, a market research firm. 

Opposition to Lawns

Much of the opposition to lawns stems from their environmental impact including nitrogen and phosphorus runoff, water consumption, loss of biodiversity and wildlife habitat, and emissions from gas powered lawnmowers. The excess application of fertilizers, for example, is associated with drinking water contamination, while runoff into streams produces excessive growth of algae and other aquatic plants (known as eutrophication). High levels of nitrates in drinking water are known to cause methemoglobinemia (blue-baby syndrome) in human infants.

Walking past a lawn with warning signs from a pesticide or herbicide application serves as a reminder that lawns can become a health hazard for humans and nonhumans, particularly pets. A well-manicured lawn provides next to no value to local biodiversity since insects, birds and other creatures avoid it. In 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the Monarch butterfly on the Endangered Species Act noting that the eastern migratory population is estimated to have declined by approximately 80% since the 1980s, while the equivalent figure for the western migratory population is 95%. Among the reasons cited for the decline is exposure to insecticides.

No Mow May

No Mow May originated in the U.K., the home of the lawn. Members of an environmental organization concerned about the impacts of lawn mowing promoted the idea of not mowing for a month in order to encourage pollinator populations. The idea quickly spread and residents of the city of Appleton, WI persuaded the City Council to suspend its weed ordinance for a month. The experiment began in 2020 and 2021 and was made permanent in 2022 after samplings of No Mow May lawns showed an increase in bee abundance and bee diversity compared with lawns mowed regularly. In 2024, after complaints that some residents were using it as an excuse not to maintain their property and the city was looking shabby, the program was replaced with “Slow Mow Summer,” which encourages residents to mow only when their lawn reaches 6 inches in height, eliminate or reduce chemical usage and plant native flowering plants.

The State of Lawns in Marquette

Lawn care and a planned natural landscape, (“an area of native grasses and wildflowers intended to serve as a pollinator habitat”), is covered by Section 22-102 of Marquette’s municipal ordinance. Turf grass is restricted to a height of six inches, while a planned natural landscape or rain garden shall not exceed more than 48 inches. Failure to adhere to this ordinance can lead to a violation warning and subsequent fines in accordance with Sec. 22-103 and Sec. 22-104. Marquette does allow exemptions for yards deemed pollinator and native habitats when a sign indicating such is present. Similar municipal ordinances are present among most US towns and cities, while homeowners housing associations have their own lawn standards.

Figure 1: Typical lawn landscape.

Figure 2: New homes on city's south side with front lawns.

Figure 3: Flower and shrub landscape.

Figure 4: Flower landscape including some native plants.

Figure 5: Example of flower garden in the terrace area between the sidewalk and street.

Figure 6: Example of a pollinator-friendly portion of a lawn.

Figure 7: Example of a wild terrace area.

Figure 8: Example of a wild front yard.

A stroll through residential neighborhoods on the city’s South and Eastside reveals a variety of lawn adaptations. Among newer homes on the Southside, the most common lawn type is that envisioned by Olmstead, cropped grass that extends from one home to another (Figure 1). The same landscape is evident in one of the city’s newest subdivisions (Figure 2). In contrast, among older neighborhoods with a smaller frontage it’s more common to see front lawns replaced with flower gardens and shrubs (Figures 3 & 4) while the terrace area between the sidewalk and the curb is often planted with flowers (Figure 5).  

The influence of “No Mow May” is evident with some homeowners electing to fence off a portion of their lawn thereby allowing wildflowers to proliferate (Figure 6), a sign that states “Pollinator Friendly Garden” serves as an important education function, while others have left the terrace area unattended (Figure 7). In some instances, almost the entire front lawn has not been mowed (Figure 8). 

Conclusion

Although the traditional lawn predominates throughout much of the city, there is evidence that some homeowners may be prepared to risk the wrath of their neighbors or the city, in order to promote a more sustainable and less chemical intensive landscape. As Douglas Tallamy, the advocate behind homegrown national parks argues: lawns should not be the sole representative of green space (https://homegrownnationalpark.org/), instead there is a need for more plants and less lawn. 

Note: For persons considering replacing a portion of their lawn with native plants the Marquette County Conservation District is a valuable resource (https://marquettecd.com/).