I’m producing One Nation Under Sod, a documentary about the ridiculous grip lawns have on this country. I'd love your input!
My goal is to inspire more people to ditch their lawn mowers, but without the usual lawn shaming. This film will be fertilized with humor and meet audiences where they are, whether they’re hardcore lawn lovers or just kill-lawn curious.
How you can help:
– What do YOU want to see in a documentary about lawns, native plants, and the fight against outdated landscaping laws?
– Interested in joining a virtual focus group to share your thoughts? Let me know!
– Know someone we should feature? We’re looking for:
- Lawn fanatics who treat their turf better than their spouse
- Native plant warriors battling HOAs or city councils over outdated ordinances
- Anyone taking on a bold, hilarious, or over-the-top lawn-related project
Drop a comment or email [onenationundersod@gmail.com](mailto:onenationundersod@gmail.com)—I’d love to hear from you!
EDIT: Thank you all for the great ideas! If you would like to stay up-to-date with the film in development you can enter your email address here: https://forms.gle/6CaFaWaor5pkDNDC8
by OneNationUnderSod
27 Comments
Geographic region: we’d like to cover different climates across the US and perhaps Canada as well, so not zone specific
This is a super cool idea and I’m glad I’ve been able to watch this entire movement grow from when I first discovered it doom scrolling during COVID to actually applying it to my property I just purchased late 2024.
I think it would be great to see how “average” people go about converting their traditional lawns while on a budget, especially acquiring materials (plants, wood chips, rocks, etc).
My yard is pretty barren but I’ve been utilizing resources like chip drop, plant swaps and Facebook marketplace to find cheap/free materials. You wouldn’t believe how many people have river rock they want to get rid of and I’m in the process of making a rain garden that I’ll need a lot of river rock for.
Converting a lawn yard can be daunting but it doesn’t have to break your wallet either
Something about lawns & laws replacing a person’s ability to grow food at home, and the transportation-carbon-footprint it takes to get your groceries to your home from its place or origin
Not enough people know that the insect world is the foundation of our planet through things like pollination, decomposition, and the food chain among others. With that being said, a lot of people don’t know that most insects only eat a select few plant species that they evolved alongside. We need to bring back those keystone species in order to restore some sort of balance to bring back wildlife
One of the issues I’ve been thinking about is the idea of “normal”. The American lawn is so standard, so default, that most people don’t even think about it let alone could fathom it is a bad thing. How could it be? It’s ubiquitous and it’s been around for all of living memory. And then there is a multi billion dollar industry that reinforces that idea ad nauseam. How do you convert someone who isn’t remotely aware there is a problem?
A landscape architect, Chris Grampp, wrote the definitive history of the American yard called “From Yard to Garden” 2008, (ISBN 978-1-930066-74-8). He also happens to be my design instructor. It is neither for nor against lawns-it’s just history. He traces the development of the lawn aesthetic through several chapters.
If you can find someone who has a lot of native edible plants, that might be another angle to show case—look “no care” food!
Currently battling to get a law passed in Virginia so that HOAs can’t force people have lawns. Similar laws have been passed in 7 states, 2 of which happened while we were working on Virginia.
There’s a story behind every one of those laws!
I think it’s important to educate- show the origins of the all (non native) grass yard including the societal pressures to have that and how it reflected your status etc, when lawnmowers became available to the masses, etc. why there was such a a push for these manufactured lawns, who benefited from that. Then lean into the harm they cause, when and who started to push against that, where the no lawn and native plantings started and where those movements currently stands and the threats against them ( non eco responsible hard scaping, plastic weed barriers etc).
I would like to see the history of how we got to the point of “green lawns.” As far as I understand the history; 18th century Europe used green lawns of signs of their crazy wealth. Prior to WWII in the US clover was a staple of Lawn Seed mixes because it fixed nitrogen and improved the grass growth. After WWII they had all these chemical plants left, so they turned their eyes towards herbicides and created the narrative of the green lawn being the perfect lawn to sell chemicals.
It has always fascinated me because it mirrors how Diamonds only became THE ring for marriage due to marketing but the lawn history is barely talked about.
Region: NW Indiana. Zone 5b
I moved to the Midwest from California 15 years ago and I absolutely couldn’t understand the lawn Nazis. It’s kinda scary how they all have the same exact schedule for everything to with laws all year. Lawns are gross and stupid. They damage our environment. We have all the information we need on this. I can’t understand why the destructive hobby persist. Lawns should be illegal. Grow food not lawns.
Shine that spotlight on HOAs’ and municipal governments’ war against homeowners who landscape with permaculture and edible plants.
It would be great if rewilding your yard got much more popular, but people need to know they can take baby steps too. Maybe they could expand their flower beds, maybe cut out chemicals (HOW THE HELL IS ROUNDUP STILL LEGAL!?!?!) and embrace clover and dandelions!
Show an example of a neighborhood that was a lawn desert transformed back into something approaching Wild. Obviously, the after must be gorgeous.
If you need someone to be an asshole and tell everyone that the reason there’s grass in my yard is to show poor people that I can afford not to grow potatoes…. I’m your guy. My wife would love to put me in a particularly dumbass costume.
Please check out this excellent book. I know the author is willing to do interviews and seminars
https://a.co/d/eSOYCUC
Nature’s Best Hope
Please talk about the bugs and the birds that NEED it. People don’t often think that nature can thrive in urban environments but it can
I want these grass people to know their lawn is UGLY and BORING and CANT COMPETE with seeing hummingbirds and butterflies and eating home grown food!
You could feature a really great non-profit in Ogden, UT – Foodscaping Utah. They use volunteer labor to replace front lawns with fruit trees, vegetable gardens, & water-wise ground cover. I’ve been a volunteer and client for several years. Google them & check out their YouTube/insta channels
Be sure you touch on how pesticides are harmful to arthropods!
Talk about how lawn care is also harmful from a noise pollution aspect (constant mowing, leaf blowing). I think a lot of people think it’s “just noise” so not a big deal, but it’s so unnecessary! (Thank you to people who use electric tools that aren’t so loud.)
Get Joey Santore from crime pays but botany doesnt
Just want to recommend the great book Lawn People by Paul Robbins, and I would love to see Joey Santore (of Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t and Kill Your Lawn) in the doc.
Two articles that are a good read below… I’m fascinated by how many people I come across in land management consulting that can only see one part of the benefit or disservice at a time. Like most things, it’s a multifaceted environmental challenge.
Green spaces and sustainability:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2023.127932
Ecological disservice:
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0264-8377(03)00006-1
Agree with what everyone else has suggested but I think showing the breadth of what a No Lawn can look like – even some fairly “traditional” landscaping principles but with natives. And how beautiful and intentional it can be too – Piet Oudolf would be a great get.
I’d like to hear from folks who turned their yards into food forests to fight food insecurity, an investigative segment into Monsanto and Round Up, and people living in drought prone places like Arizona and SoCal.
Some key points that effectively convince men to do this. The latest comment from my husband just today was “I hate ground cover”.
Inspiration from other people’s no-grass yards. That’s a top priority to me because few people will want to get on board if they don’t see an alternative that they like. And definitely some thorough advice for beginners wanting to put it into practice.