Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-08-23
CARE OF THE EAWNs
MISTAKES OF rHorI wSo 1Rr 10


Of Failure.
From the New York Sun.
About this time of the year the man, and
sometimes It Is womanr who sets out In
the spring to grow a fine lawn in front of
his house can contemplate theEesult of his
seasons work. Unless he Is one out of q
thousand he sees instead of the green vel
vet sward of his dream ragged surface
dotted with weeds and disfgured by bare
patches. II he is OF q hopeful nature he
will set himself at work to repair the DAM
age OF the summer and begin to dream of
what the lawn will look like in the spring.
This is the time when fall lawn-makins
operations begin.
His hopefulness and his industry are both
praiseworthy. There are In nature few
things more beautiful than a perfect lawn.
Yet his discretion is not altogether to be
commended. While 1t Is true that grass if
left to itself will grow within certain linn
Its almost anywhere, in the crevices OF
pinch Of earth, it Is also fact that IL your
object Is merely to spread q carpet pleasing
to the eye over certain space of bare
earth, you can accomplish 1t about as
easily by growing flowers as by growing q
lawn, and about as cheapiy. too.
Boastful Englishmen used to tell visiting
Americans who admired their lawns that
anybody could have one as good merely hv
cultivating it for several centuries. The
same statement is still repeated occasional
~ in the United States. AS matter of
fact the American lawn mower is of vastly
greater Importance in getting q fine lawn
than the cultivation of centuries That i'm
plement which has divided honors with the
paDy carriage among the humorists, has
enabled fnnumerable beautiful lawns to be
created, and with it's help under ordinary
wi
good lawn as one could wish, in much
less than lifetime. Nevertheless, flowers
Will be found easier to manage than per-
feet lawn.
Good Soil Essential.
1t is lack of appreciation Of this fact
that has filled suburban homes with dis
appointment. People seldom grasp the real
olfnculties of making two blades of grass
grow where there was one before, and,
ABOVE all. Of making that growth continu-
GUS. It will be observed that lawn-makinr
Is capable OF moral teaching. People fail
also to comprehend the amount Of prepara-
ton needed for the ground. and this Is the
great cause Of lack of success
In the first place, moderately rich soil
Is essential to good lawn, because grass
needs great deal Of nourishment. II the
nour1shment Is not already in the soil n
must be supplied In the form of fertilizers
The proper fertilizer to use Is q study by
itself, depending upon the deficiencies OF
the soil and various other conditions. Inn
portant as this food question is. 1t receives
In most cases only casual attention. Thai
Is one reason why grass does not grow as
1t Is expected to.
In the second place, the topsoil should be
broken up so finely that in a handful there
are few Jumps of any size, and the suhsoil
should also be broken up This Is chiefly
TO secure perfect drainage for the grass,
and Is part OF lawn making which Is al
most invariably sighted. AS rule. the
subsoil Is left undisturbed, SO that water
may collect there to the detriment of the
tender roots The treatment Of the topsoil
Is usually limited to breaking the earth into
Jumps by ploughing or spading and then
raking or narrowing the surface until It
is fine. Unless the topsoil is made fine to
q depth OF one foot Or fifteen inches at
least the best results in a lawn are scarce
ly to be expected. Imperfect treatment Of
the soil Is the second reason why so many
lawns are not what their owners would
like them to be. With ordinary workmen
1t is almost impossible to have the ground
properly prepared.
The troubles Of lawn makers are caused
largely by neglect Of these two preliminary
operations, and the difficulty of making a
good lawn may be Judged by the care with
which they must be conducted. The
ground being thus prepared, the Question
of supplying the grass is.~reached. This
may be done either with sods or with seed,
Soddtng Is the quicker method, but II liz
open to the serious objection that good sods
are very difficult to procure unless the
grass has been specially grown, and then
the cost is high. Ordinary good sod con-
tainS mixture of grasses, whereas the
finest lawn effects are obtained by using
only single variety.
Grown From Seed.
A lawn can be grown from seed within q
short period. and experts regard the result
as more satisfactory than that given by
sodding. AS for the selection Of the seed
used. there Is little room for choice under
ordinary conditions In this part Of the
country. Experts advise against using the
mixtures sold by the seedsmen. The best
lawns consist Of single variety Of grass.
The most that can be said for the mixtures
Is that one Of the varieties contained in
them will be found to be better suited to
the locality than any of the others and
Will eventually crowd the others out; but
the same result could be accomplished In
shorter time by using that special kind Of
seed.
For general use the choice is practically
limited to Kentucky blue grass, Rhode
Island bent and creeping bent. The SUI
premacy for color is usually awarded to
the deep rich emerald green Of The blue
grass. The Rhode Island bent is finer In
texture ana superior In turf-making quail
ties. It Is OF this grass that the lawns Of
the millionaires at Newport are generally
made. It costs two or three times as much
as the blue grass, which fact makes the
latter preferred. as rule other differences
being inconsiderable. It Is often the prao-
tice to mix with the blue grass some red
top clover or some white Dutcn clover.
Keep Down the Weeds.
After the grass has begun to grow there
comes an anxious and exciting time for the
proprietor in fighting weeds Eternal
vigilance Is the price OF a fine lawn.
80 the weeds have been fiourishing all
summer long in your lawn. which Is scat
tered with bare patches where you have
been pulling them up. This is the time now
when you should reseed these bare patches,
spreading over them some moderately rich
earth to encourage the growth Of the grass.
II the grass gets good start in the fall
before cold weather it win live through
the winter and win begin growing In the
spring before the weeds have q chance TO
establish themselves. Several years OF
such constant sustained effort viii give
you the lawn you want. It will take
lot OF patience. but the result will repay
the work. Unless the lawn is in very bad
shape 1t will hardly be worth while to at
tempt to make 1t over again wholly, even
II the ground has not been prepared prop