California middle class homeowners have long wanted green lawns
As Southern California’s water supplies run perilously low, more and more homeowners are doing something they might not have imagined even a few years ago: ripping out their lawns. As I reported this week, the shift away from thirsty grass toward native plants and artificial turf marks the twilight of one of Los Angeles’s most iconic fantasies — a vision of suburban homesteading that evolved over centuries. American lawns have their roots in 18th-century England, where wealthy people started to accumulate land and private property.