Interesting read in the Daily Mail, journalist and broadcaster Quentin Letts has recorded a programme about lawns, it plays on Radio 4 7th Aug.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2383912/My-love-affair-great-British-lawn-Other-nations-mock-obsession-grass-theres-blissful-way-restore-spirits-getting-mower.html