Rage against the mower

Undeniably certain places befit only the finest of lawns: Lords, Wimbledon, and the bowling green. But in our own back gardens when did maintaining a patch of grass become quite so complicated, and frankly, competetive? Why is the goal to achieve something sterilised and static, when the path of least resistance produces a far richer canvas for wildlife? To my mind, a meadow of long grasses and wildflowers wins hands down. City lawns are fertilised up to the hilt, promoting vigour in the grass at the expense of the poorer-soil-loving wildflowers. To drop this regime for even a year would give a chance to those seeds hibernating beneath. I say chuck the lawn feed, kick off your shoes, and chill with the bees in the long, long grass.