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Fuck lawns

Sam Wallman

Sam Wallman is a unionist and cartoonist based on unceded Wurundjeri country. He is a member of the Workers Art Collective and the Maritime Union of Australia. His new book 12 Rules for Strife was produced in collaboration with Jeff Sparrow and will be published by Scribe Publications on May Day 2024. You can follow his work here.

More by Sam Wallman ›

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  1. Bill Mollison, the co-creator of the Permaculture design system, said pretty much the same thing over forty years ago Sam. Only a handful of folks listened and acted.
    Grasslands do act as a carbon sink and a habitat for many creatures, so it’s not all negative.
    If we turn over all lawns to herbs and trees where do we put our picnic blanket and how do we see the snakes coming? I lived in the bush for thirty years and that is a consideration.

  2. Moved into a place years ago which had the traditional back lawn – I’ve never mowed it and remains a couple of metres high – and is home for all sorts of growth and creatures – never been a fan of lawns but left it because it was a living thing living there – or as carl Sandburg puts it in ‘Grass’:

    Pile the bodies high as Austerlitz and Waterloo.
    Shovel them under and let me work –
    I am the grass; I cover all.

  3. My family and I have always enjoyed our lawn, and I have long been into growing my own vegetables in my own backyard veggie garden. I have long dug the persistent couch grass out of the veggie garden, transplanted into the lawn, and then mowed it with my (‘turn grass into lawn and enjoy it with a’) Victa. I will eventually replace said Victa with something like a Ryobi electric mower recharged from the array of solar panels on my roof.
    I prefer the lawn to long grass, as I once encountered an eastern brown snake (second deadliest on the planet) in my (Canberra) back yard during the 80s drought. I have encountered them over the years in the bush, along with the far less deadly king browns, black snakes and tiger snakes; all latter three species closely related. So on that point, I agree with Johnny (above.)
    But… Whatever floats your boat. And these days, a boat is always handy; particularly in riverside towns.

  4. I at times notice immaculate golf green style grass in the neighbourhood. It looks appealing and I suppose cool on a hot day. But I wonder about the amount of water and even chemicals a lawn like this consumes.

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