January 31, 2010: Branch AGM

The attendees of the January Branch Meeting in San Mateo were delighted by Chris Grampp’s historical review of residential gardening in America. With photos and information about demographic trends, Chris explained how our country emerged from an agrarian society to the urban and then automobile friendly suburban landscape of today.

Did you know that the first zoning laws were enacted in Los Angles as a way of keeping Chinese laundries out of residential neighborhoods? Or that the lawn mower was invented by mistake by someone trying to make a carpet pile cutter? Chris had several answers to why our West Coast back gardens are fenced: here our newer population didn’t mind breaking the “rules” of the East Coast, we use our outdoor space for more “personal” activity because of our mild climate, and our lot size is only one half to one quarter of the US average, therefore our population density is higher.

Chris Grampp at the January meeting