The amount of time and money you spend maintaining your lawn depends a lot on your idea of what a lawn should be --not necessarily on what your lawn actually needs. Early lawns--those of the Middle Ages--did not require much maintenance. That's because they were inspired by glades or grassy openings in the forest, not by golf courses or pictures in magazines. These meadowlike lawns, made up of grasses and flowers, were planted among fruit trees, vines, flowers, and herbs and enclosed by fences or courtyards. There was no mowing. Grass was kept from growing too tall by trampling it into a soft, woven matlike surface.