"American" lawns aren't actually American. The concept of the "lawn" was transplanted from England where grasses that you usually find in lawns find conditions better for growing, that is wet, temperate, and not as sunny. Unlike the majority of America, which is drier, warmer, and sunnier. We have to water our lawns to keep them green and we have to mow them frequently because of the sun. Our nation just isn't naturally suited to the American lawn. If we didn't do constant maintenance to our lawns, they'd wither away and die in the summers from excess heat and not enough water in most places, provided they weren't overrun by local flora that actually belonged there. In the spring and fall, if there's a rainy season, they'd overgrow.

The USDA and the American Golf associate didn't develop a seed mix that worked in most places in this country until 1915. Then we had to develop suitable herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers.

It's ironic. The picturesque suburban landscape belongs in Merry Olde, not here. It's not American at all. It couldn't survive in America on it's own. Americans have to spend tons of money on seed, fertilizer, lawn equipment, and labor in order to have a picturesque lawn. That doesn't even count the environmental factor of water use, lawn chemicals, gasoline use for lawn mowers.

Of course, in Merry Olde, the well groomed lawn has always been a sign of wealth and prestige, so naturally we had to have that here, too. Still goes. A weed choked yard is a sign of declining property values. A house landscaped with local flora isn't as valuable as a house landscaped with a well groomed transplanted lawn. Irony.