# Why do we have to mow the lawn? :) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301 "2003-08-15T01:57:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wongaloidz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/db5fbb/32.png) [@Wongaloidz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wongaloidz)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/1 "2003-08-15T01:57:11Z")
Hello everyone! We are the Wongaloidz… pardon the alias… anyway we really have derived hours n hours of enjoyment out of this message board and website and we always approach it, ever-so-humble as students, hoping to gather more knowledge from the teeming kajillions 🙂 Here is our humble question, if someone could please help us find a real answer to this besides the few tidbits of mumbo jumbo we have Googled for: **WHY DO WE HAVE TO MOW THE LAWN?** **WHY DO YOU HAVE TO MOW YOUR LAWN?** **WHY DO WE HAVE TO MOW OUR LAWNS?!?** As you might imagine we are rather concerned about the detrimental health effects (sore backs, sniffing petrol, sunburn, GOING DEAF!!!, etc.); but more fundamentally, we have had to (correction, one of us has had to) mow the lawn for a very long time and we actually are into “bushido warrior” style-grass but parental units disagreed otherwise. So why? It’s not like grass is malicious and is going to take over our house. In fact, we’d imagine it’d help shade us and convert more carbon dioxide into oxygen! Weehee! So why do we keep harming our grassy millions of friends in the backyard!?!?!? Oh the INSANITYYYYYY. Knowledge-able reply, or replies to this would be SO appreciated. Thanks a lot :D! -Tha Wongaloidz ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/2 "2003-08-15T02:07:09Z")
Have you ever seen grass that has gone uncut for months? I have, and I wouldn’t want it in my yard because it just looks ugly. So my take is not that there’s some sort of powerful, hidden meaning to our ritual mutilation of poor, defenseless grasses. It just looks better short. > [@](#): > > **In fact, we’d imagine it’d help shade us and convert more carbon dioxide into oxygen** Well, it wouldn’t get tall enough to shade you. Also, fully grown plants do not produce more oxygen then they consume; that only happens while the plant is growing. So I’d imagine that regularly cutting your grass (to keep it in a constant state of growth) would free up more oxygen than letting it grow long would. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/3 "2003-08-15T02:42:59Z")
Here in the desert, if you don’t mow your lawn, the grass gets high and sparse because it goes to seed. If you cut it regularly (but I wouldn’t take it down under 2 1/2" or 3" if I didn’t have to), then it spreads via the root system and gets lush and thick. Or so I’m told. I personally stopped watering mine this June, and I’m telling the neighbors I’m letting it die preparatory to putting in a xeriscape. Next year. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bb73d2/32.png) [@Wolfrick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfrick)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/4 "2003-08-15T02:56:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joe Random \* > \*\*Also, fully grown plants do not produce more oxygen then they consume; that only happens while the plant is growing. So I’d imagine that regularly cutting your grass (to keep it in a constant state of growth) would free up more oxygen than letting it grow long would. \*\* Would you please defend this assertion? ~Wolfrick ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/5 "2003-08-15T03:00:46Z")
I have recently inherited several hundred old photos and this mowing the lawn thing appears to be a relatively new thing. Several of the photos show the Family Homestead in the first part of the 20th century with tall grass around it. Granted, they didn’t have your basic John Deere back then but I would have thought a sickle or a goat would have kept the grass down. I guess not. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/6 "2003-08-15T03:24:40Z")
Why do men shave? It’s all nothing but fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/7 "2003-08-15T03:27:36Z")
Well, one reason is that if you keep the lawn cut short, weeds never get to flower and reseed themselves. You’ll also keep seedlings from trees and fast-growing bushes like sumac from sprouting. Unmowed fields attract rodents. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/8 "2003-08-15T04:06:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wolfrick \* > \*\*Would you please defend this assertion? > > ~Wolfrick \*\* Photosynthesis in plants uses carbon dioxide, water and light energy to produce plant tissue/sugars and oxygen. Plant respiration uses oxygen and sugar to produce carbon dioxide, water, and energy. Photosynthesis results in an increase of plant mass. Respiration (in a plant) results in a decrease in plant mass. Only in plants that are growing (i.e. have a net increase in mass) does the production of oxygen via photosynthesis exceed the production of carbon dioxide via respiration. This is a “dirty little secret” of many tree-hugging environmentalists. Mature plants, including old-growth trees, produce far less oxygen (per unit mass of plant) than developing plants. Cites: [http://www.esb.utexas.edu/mbierner/BIO406D/lectures/sp03/Food-Energy.pdf](http://www.esb.utexas.edu/mbierner/BIO406D/lectures/sp03/Food-Energy.pdf) [http://www.hort.vt.edu/faculty/williams/hort2144/photosynthesis.pdf](http://www.hort.vt.edu/faculty/williams/hort2144/photosynthesis.pdf) P.S. I actually love trees. I have several hundred on my property surrounding my home. ---
**Author:** ![NevarMore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7feea3/32.png) [@NevarMore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NevarMore)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/9 "2003-08-15T04:24:04Z")
Hey my high school job pays off again, intellectually. Monetarily would be nice, but this will do \. There are some varieties of grass that have been bred to be shorter. IIRC Zoysa (sp?) was the big one. The problem was is that it was really expensive (10lbs for the same price as 50lb of a good fescue), it also grew like a weed and was prone to invading gardens and other planting beds. ---
**Author:** ![LucysLogic101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19b73/32.png) [@LucysLogic101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LucysLogic101)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/10 "2003-08-15T04:24:21Z")
why do we mow the lawn? because if we didn’t, those sons o bitches across the street would complain that we’re bringing down the value of the neighborhood with our “jungle” growing in the front yard. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/11 "2003-08-15T04:30:11Z")
Because we can and because if we don’t we’ll get a nasty letter from the HOA. ---
**Author:** ![jesleigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@jesleigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesleigh)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/12 "2003-08-15T04:48:23Z")
Short grass make is harder for snakes to hide out in the front yard. At least, that’s a big motivator for us in Lower Alabama (AKA, God’s Country 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/13 "2003-08-15T05:11:53Z")
I cut my grass to give the family a safe place to play without getting eaten alive by insects. Do this simple experiment: Go out to a nicely cut and well taken care of lawn. Pick out a shady spot, sit down on a lawn chair, and read a few sections of the Sunday paper. The next day, go out with the same stuff and sit out in a vacant lot with high unkempt grass for the same amount of time. In warm weather Texas, you will have welts all over your body after the second day (ants and chiggers mainly- maybe even less mosquito bites I reckon). I would imagine there would be less mice, rats, snakes for your house as well. Oh yeah, it gives you more usable space and it looks better too. ---
**Author:** ![DasUnterMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DasUnterMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DasUnterMensch)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/14 "2003-08-15T06:07:53Z")
Because the Joneses across the street do and I’ll be damned if they has a nicer lawn than mine! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/15 "2003-08-15T12:47:42Z")
I don’t cut my lawn. I’m no ‘lawn barber’. I style it. I’m a lawn stylist. Reasons: Grass thrives when cut properly, choking out weeds, reproducing through stolens and rizomes, which is providing even more grass plants per acre, provides less breeding grounds for insects (skeeters), rodents… …and properly cut grass (leave clippings) returns fertilizer (nitrogen) back to the enviroment naturally, adds organic matter, which benefits earthworms, surrounding trees/shrubs and cutting properly promotes a healthy naturall carpet which traps dust and pollen from entering your home, among other things. We cut grass because we plant grasses that thrive when cut, but there is a large scale push out west to plant grasses that stop growing at 2-4 inches, and only need mowing a few times per year (for cosmetic purposes only). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/16 "2003-08-15T12:59:15Z")
Untended grassland can revert to forest in a matter of a couple of decades. (It starts to look really untidy a lot sooner than that). ---
**Author:** ![Sqwerticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@Sqwerticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sqwerticus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/17 "2003-08-15T13:08:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*Untended grassland can revert to forest in a matter of a couple of decades. (It starts to look really untidy a lot sooner than that). \*\* Raises hand to second that one. Owing to back injuries our garden has been left ‘fallow’ this year. It has its merits - we have much more in the way of wildlife this year (not the unpleasant sort, but things like sparrows, blue tits, slow worms, butterflies etc) but it will need a flame thrower to sort it out come the autumn. Actually, on the wildlife front, I think I just saw a rhino… ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/18 "2003-08-15T13:10:38Z")
Around here, if you don’t cut it, the city will send someone out to cut it for you, then send you the bill. If I wanted to pay someone to cut it for me, I’d just hire the kid next door! Plus, it gives me an extra hour of exercise every week, though I’d much rather spend it on my bike. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/19 "2003-08-15T15:00:48Z")
I once asked ‘Why Do People Mow Their Lawns?’ here- [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=116295&highlight=Lawns](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=116295&highlight=Lawns) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301/20 "2003-08-15T15:07:00Z")
It’s an example of conspicous consumption. A lawn says “I can afford to maintain this piece of property in a totally non-productive way.” This is why kitchen gardens are supposed to be in the backyard, and flower gardens in the front. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-mow-the-lawn/195301.md?page=2)