BOOK REVIEW
Civilising Grass : Jonathan Cane ’ s study is thought-provoking , entertaining , interesting and provocative
Kathy Munro
Current Address : The Heritage Portal Reprinted From : http :// bit . ly / 3cm2aW7
The title , Civilising Grass - The Art of the Lawn on the South African Highveld , intrigued and immediately raised questions . What is the difference between grass , veld and lawn ? Why is there an art in its cultivation ? What does a lawn mean ? Why do some people spend precious leisure time mowing a lawn ? Why do lawns matter and what do they represent ? If you read this book you will find some of the answers . This is certainly a book to set you thinking . We all benefit from the author ’ s scholarship ( the bibliography is vast ). His interest lies particularly in the art and literature of the lawn . He is strong on contemporary political ideology and the makeup of the urban landscape and what part a lawn may have played in taming Africa .
The lawn in the view of the author , Jonathan Cane , was and still is a colonial idea and imported from somewhere else . It is an essentially English idea that has no place in Africa . The lawn is something difficult to maintain , it is hard work to mow a lawn , the lawn is a family thing and a feature of the heterosexual world view but ultimately the lawn fails . Now I know - we are cultivating the wrong vegetation in the wrong spot . Johannesburg and the Highveld are ecologically not right for lawns . The central thesis is that suburbs have lawns but townships do not . Why and how did this come about ? Colonial conquest of the ridges of the Witwatersrand holds the clue but it is more complex .
Figure 1 : Suburbs and townships from above – sourced by Kathy Munro f you are someone who lives in a suburban Johannesburg house and are privileged enough to possess a private garden you are likely to have a lawn . You will be interested in the title . I bought this book at the time of publication because it looked like a promising addition to my collection of Johannesburg books and perhaps it had a lesson or two about the art of the lawn . The coloured photographs alone are worthy of close study – there are 26 plates .
Owning a house with a lawn in Johannesburg induces a love-hate relationship . The first lesson from this book is that a lawn is a luxury and the epicenter of a garden – a soft green visually appealing surface into which you sink your bare toes . You possess an exquisite green velvet carpet for play , picnics , the sundowner on the lawn alongside the turquoise pool . But cultivating a lawn requires effort , energy , and time . To grow a lawn requires planting grass seed , watering the seed or buying squares of kikuyu sods when out doing drive-by shopping . This lawn may well not be a privilege but may be a duty and a responsibility . Beyond the ultimate status symbol of the suburbs of Johannesburg , there is a burden of responsibility .
Figure 2 : Civilising Grass – Book Cover
Grassroots Vol 21 No 1 March 2021 48