Green Pasture From Past to Present

The Evolution of Lawn Mower

Green Pasture From Past to Present

Lawns were originally seen as beautiful when they were full of weeds, tall, uncut grass and

full of flowers. The first time that lawns started to become trimmed for a purpose was when

aristocrats needed the lawn cut short in order to play lawn sports. It was a luxury that only the

wealthy aristocrats could afford due to the need for labor and wet scythes to cut the lawn. The

development and mass-production of lawn mowers made possible the development of lawns,

providing an affordable alternative to a fleet of servants.

Edwin Budding developed the first lawnmower in 1830, and by the 1890s, lawn mowers were a

fixture of the American landscape. The history of the lawn mower in America has continued to

expand since Budding’s invention of the first lawn mower. In the mid-19th century cities grew

and became increasingly industrialized, city beautification campaigns became common, and

the “park” was born. This term had originally referred to the acres of lawn with carefully tended

trees around wealthy English homes.

Due to this growth in lawn mower technology, the lawn has developed a new meaning in

modern day America and has become a public area characterized by landscaped lawns, trees,

shrubbery, and water (fountains, streams, ponds, and lakes). Often, these pieces of lawn are

better known as parks, and they still serve the purpose of bringing together the community. Re-

defined and democratized, the park became ample in North America. Anyone who has driven

across the United States or southern Canada knows that even the smallest town has its park:

a block or two devoted to grass, trees, a sandbox and swing set, a few benches, a picnic table,

and a water fountain. If all of those items were removed save the first, grass, then it would still

be recognizable as a community lawn or park.

Over the years, the lawn has evolved from an open piece of land with no maintenance to a

heavily maintained and manufactured gem. The lawn is currently used as a way to bring

individuals together to appreciate each other’s company as well as to visually symbolize their

social status.

The Evolution of Lawn Mower

Green Pasture From Past to Present

Scythes can be

traced back in Egyp-

tian history to slaves

that were depicted

working with scythes

on temple walls.

There is historical

mention to the use

of scythe by aris-

tocrats to cut their

lawn to play sports.

The first lawn

mower is created

by Edwin Budding

from Gloucester-

shire, England.

1500s BCE 1700s CE 1830 CE

Horse Drawn Mower

is created to lessen

the workload by not

relying on the horse

to pull the mower.

Chain Driven

Mower is created by

Thomas Green.

Elwood McGuire

creates Push Mower

for public use.

1841 CE 1859 CE 1870 CE

James Sumner of

Lancashire patented

the first steam-

powered lawnmower

in 1893. These were

heavy machines,

that took several

hours to warm up to

operating pressure.

The Ransomes’ lawn

mower was based

upon the powered

by an internal com-

bustion engine mak-

ing the steam based

models obsolete.

Edwin George cre-

ates the Gas Mower

for public and non-

commercial use.

1890s CE 1900s CE 1919 CE

Lawn mower popu-

larity was starting to

grow fast due to the

cheap price and

vast number avail-

able; thus it could

easily reach the

common man.

The more so modern

day lawn mowers

such as ride ons and

robotic lawn mowers

are first created.

The Flymo Hover

Mower was created

by Karl Dahlman,

from Sweden. This

lawn mower was

the first futuristic

looking model.

1950s CE 1960s CE 1963 CE