I imagine a lot of it had to do with sprawling suburbia post WWII, the rise of single family home ownership. But who decided green, flat, neatly trimmed turfgrass for everyone? It's nearly ubiquitous across the U.S., even in areas where it's maintained against what would naturally grow there.

Is there a Frederick L. Olmsted of residential landscaping? Was there a model suburb or development that all developers just copied?

Prior to this advent of green grass lawns, how did people maintain their yards? There was some kind of middle ground residential between city and farm post Civil War and during the Industrial Revolution. Or was just not a big deal? What grew, grew and what you didn't want, you chopped or burned?