#territoires

The American suburban lawn is an extension of territorial claims within suburban housing, acting as a cultural medium to present certain values and maintain the status quo of grasping some sort of ‘American Dream’:

If I keep a clean lawn then I am a respected member of the community, I look down on those who haven’t mowed their lawn. 

As a uniform plane the lawn provides a medium for non-productive landscaping namely for poaceae or gramineae AKA grass, providing no positive ecological, social, or economic value; with its costs and effects on the environment being a driver of climate change. (1) Kentucky Bluegrass is currently the main ecology of a sub-urban biota, being the most prominent and most fertilized crop in North America. The species is so prominent and a defining feature of suburban lawns it’s hard to think of it as being anything other than native, however blue grass is an invasive species that is a remnant of settler colonialism’s ties to the biota and the frontier; having been brought and mixed into the existing biota by early European colonizers. (2)

Deterritorialization of the sub-urban lawn would require a disruption of the existing fabric through an insertion / replacement of blue grass with native plantings. The ideology of ‘every lawn is a farm’ needs to be adopted. I mainly pull on the images of Keith Krumweide’s Atlas of Another America, as a reimagining of suburbia. While Krumweide’s main fictional endeavors revolve around developing the single family home into communal super homes; the pastoral themes and romanticized paintings that serve as the backdrop for these homes are white and settler colonialism in nature, however his representations still address the environment in which suburbia is placed. While a full productive farm in a sub-urban would be radical and a worthy goal in its own right, it’s limited to those who can afford to own the existing territory. 

For this experiment we must turn to the drosscape found within the urban fabric, where the lawn is still an ever present medium, making up public parks, institutions, and multi-family housing complexes that continue to promote sub-urban ecology. The seed bomb becomes an indistinct and affordable method to practice anti-lawn methodologies. A seed bomb, aka a seed ball, is a self-contained weapon used by guerrilla gardeners, containing seeds and compost that can be throw on lawns. 

Recipe (3)

Start with three parts dried compost, one part seeds, five parts soil and one or two parts water. 

Sift the dry ingredients together, add the water and roll the mixture into balls. Let them dry for one or two days.

The preferred seeds are native to Minnesota, including sunflowers, black-eyed Susans, coneflowers and clover.

Initial test coming soon. Recommendations and tips are encouraged.

Son, Jiahn. 2020. “Lawn Maintenance and Climate Change - Psci.” Princeton University. The Trustees of Princeton University. May 20, 2020. LINK

Duble, Richard L. n.d. Kentucky Bluegrass. Texas Cooperative Extension. Accessed May 18, 2022. LINK