Talk:Lawn
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Reverted student edits
editI have concerns that recent additions by PrestotheUnicorn (talk · contribs) may closely paraphrase one of the cited articles, "The Lawn-Chemical Economy and Its Discontents".[1] Several of the points added are near-direct rewording of the article, but the larger concern I have is that the other sources cited are also a direct mirror of the Robbins & Sharp article.
Examples:
- Wikipedia article:
The tradition of North American lawns traces back to 18th-century English garden landscapes influenced by Italian landscape artistry.[1] These landscapes initially featured vast grassy spaces intermingled with hedges on opulent estates, evolving over time towards a more untamed and romantic aesthetic (see Stoppard 1993[2] for a compelling account).[1]
- Robbins & Sharp:
The North American lawn monoculture is rooted in English garden and manor-house landscape fads of the 18th century, themselves a product of Italian landscape painting. In these landscape designs, grassy pastoral spaces, interlaced with hedges, dominated estate horizons until their replacement by a wilder romantic aesthetic (see Stoppard 1993 for a compelling account).
- Wikipedia article:
Chemical-based care methods surged, diverging from earlier recommendations favoring natural weed control strategies.[3][4]
- Robbins & Sharp:
As late as the 1930s, lawn-maintenance texts insisted that toleration of weeds was reasonable, that hand-pulling and the keeping of chickens were the most practical solution for weeds and grubs, and that use of chemicals might detract from many of the lawn’s functions, including the source of edible greens (Barron 1923; Dickinson 1931).
This is especially problematic if the editor has cited these sources without checking themself that they back up the specific claims. Someone with a better understanding of Wikipedia's guidance on close paraphrasing may also be able to weigh in with advice!
(Also, in my edit summary, I said I was restoring to the "correct" version. That was a poor choice of wording; I meant that it was the version I had originally intended to restore.)
References
- 1 2 3 Robbins, Paul; Sharp, Julie (November 2003). "The Lawn-Chemical Economy and Its Discontents". Antipode. 35 (5): 955–979. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8330.2003.00366.x. ISSN 0066-4812. S2CID 154002130.
- ↑ Stoppard T (1993) Arcadia. London: Faber and Faber
- ↑ Barron L (1923) Lawn Making: Together with the Proper Keeping of Putting Greens. New York: Doubleday, Page and Co
- ↑ Dickinson L S (1931) The Lawn: The Culture of Turf in Park, Golfing, and Home Areas. New York: Orange Judd Publishing
Early Naming
editThe term "lawn", referring to a managed grass space, dates to at least the 16th century.
The word "laune" is first attested in 1540 from the Old French lande "heath, moor, barren land; clearing"
Not really:
( Beginning on Slade... )
Its nature is still more characterised in ‘Robert de Greneslade,’ that is, the green-slade; ‘William de la Morslade,’ the moorland-slade; ‘Richard de Wytslade,’ the white-slade; ‘Michael de Ocslade,’ the oak-slade, and ‘William de Waldeslade,’[115] the forest-slade (weald); ‘Sladen,’ that is, slade-den, implies a woodland hollow. As a local term there is a little difference betwixt it and ‘launde,’ only the latter has no suspicion of indenture about it. A launde was a pretty and rich piece of grassy sward in the heart of a forest, what we should now call an open wood, in fact. Thus it is we term the space in our gardens within the surrounding shrubberies lawns. Chaucer says of Theseus on hunting bent—
To the launde he rideth him ful right
There was the hart wont to have his flight.
In the ‘Morte Arthur,’ too, we are told of hunting—
At the hartes in these hye laundes.
This is the source of more surnames than we might imagine. Hence are sprung our ‘Launds,’ ‘Lands,’ ‘Lowndes,’ ‘Landers,’ in many cases, and our obsolete ‘Landmans.’ The forms, as at first met with, are equally varied. We have ‘atte-Lond,’ ‘de la Laund,’ and ‘de la Lande,’ while the origin of our ‘Lunds’ shows itself in ‘de la Lund.’
Bardsley: English surnames: 1875 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59959/59959-h/59959-h.htm
Wrong definition
editThe definition is wrong because lawn does not have to be cut. Many cities in the world don't mow their lawns at all or only some of them. Also, lawn does not have to have grass or other herbs. Sometimes all the herbs were trampled by people or destroyed by car tires, but it's still a lawn - ground where herbs used to be.Nemohuman (talk) 11:20, 25 April 2025 (UTC)
when André Le Nôtre designed Palace of Versailles
editAndre Le Notre died in 15 September 1700 according to your own article on him. It seems unlikely that the gardens of Versailles were designed by him in the 1700's. I am not familiar with how this works but I think someone should check on this date or replace "1700's" with "1600's to 1700's" if that is appropriate. ~2026-32035-51 (talk) 19:45, 30 May 2026 (UTC)