From Minnesota to New Mexico, Americans love their lawns. But the uniform sea of two-inch green stalks that washes over subdivisions across the country is hardly natural or necessary. Lawn care has become a national pastime, and each year, Americans waste billions of dollars and their limited free time in a never-ending struggle to maintain the perfect lawn. In the Southwest, lawn maintenance is no less than absurd given that drinking water in often in short supply. And in places like Michigan, where water is plentiful and the climate is temperate, grass is still impractical and time-consuming, and lawn maintenance...