In England, Scotland, and Ireland it more often called a "washing green" or "drying green" unless a shared and closed space when it might be a "washing yard" probably with a wash house or water trough. It is still a common practice to bleach cloths by laying them on the grass. On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 6:17 PM, Cynthia Mueller <cynthiasbulbs@hotmail.com>wrote: > Another kind of 'yard' that has almost gone extinct in America is the > 'drying yard.' It certainly appeared in household diagrams and writings of, > let's say, pre-WWII. These were often narrow side-yards with plenty of > shrubs in them on which to drape lace tablecloths, etc. or, there might be > stout posts with lengths of strong wire for hanging clothes. >