The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1912-09-20
HOW TO MAKE A GOOD LAWN
1t is Not Only Thing of Beauty But a
Thing Worth Money

life more cheerful. 1t adds neat
ness to the scene and prompts ambi-
ton to keep all other surroundings in
a good attractive condition. Rural
life becomes more tempting when there
is order and neatness about the prem
ises. A we'll kept lawn, graveled walk
and beds Of flowers become invest
ments of beauty that are worth in hap
piness and contentment more than
dollars and cents can reckon.
For a good lawn the soil should at all
times have a good moisture supply,
with full power to handle an excess
during a rainy season by drainage, as
we'll as to store up moisture from its
depths during a drouth.
A dense sod is obtained in clay soils
when productive; an excellent green
sward is secured in clay loan soils
when carefully handled and well
drained; a silt loan soil, if properly
drained and amply supplied with Or
ganic matter; the same conditions in a
loan soil will also maintain a good
lawn.
In sandy soils there is a study. A
coarse sandy soil makes a very poor
lawn. A fine sandy soil when accom-
panied by clay or clayey sub-soil,
gives a good permanent lawn, when a
mixture of suitable grasses is used.
Sandy loan soils make excellent lawns
if properly drained and amply supplied
with organic matter. Such soils, with
clay or sandy clay sub-soil, frequently
produce lawns that rival those made in
a clay loan or silt loan.
1t is important, for good lawn, that
the subsoil be not too near the surface.
The soil itself should be from six
inches to a foot or more in depth for
the reason that subsoil, however good
it may be, is poor substitute for a
surface soil. The subsoil, in its gen
eral character, should be very much
like the surface soil, !but heavier in tex
ture when underlying sandy soils, when
the subsoil should allow good drainage,
yet at all times it should be moist.
During the wet season it should con-
tain plenty Of water which, later, dur
ing dry spells, it should be able to fur
nish to the surface soil and the roots
therein.
In the case of subsoil being of a
bad texture, as, for example, an imper-
vious clay, the drainage will be bad
and the soil cold and wet, unmanage-
able and unproductiye. If the subsoil
consists Of a loose, sandy material, it
will, being too leachy, become too dry
and therefore unable to store up water
in it, or draw up through it from
greater depths. This will be espec-
tally so during the dry spells.
Hardpan formations are other bad
soil conditions. and are usually layers
of soil cemented together by lime or
iron compounds, thus acting as an eff
fectual barrier to the movement of
moisture, either upward or downward.
Such conditions which, however, are
not by any means common, can be
used for lawns.
The growing grass secures, through
the medium of the soil fluid, the
products of solution OF the soil mater
ials inorganic and organic, good and
bad. Potassium, calcium, magne-
stun, phosphorus, nitrogen and other
elements required for its nutrition are
obtained from the soil fluid. 1t takes
these away from the soil fluid by the
process of absorption by the growing
root, and when the soil is in a healthy
condition this absorption proceeds in a
normal manner. If, however, it should
be imperfect the absorption Of the
plant is seriously interfered with. The
water Of the soil fluid itself is the most
important, for this is absolutely re-
quired for grass growth, 1t must be
remembered that the greatest draw
back to the establishment of a good
lawn is an inadequate supply of water
during periods of prolonged dry
weather. A heavy retentive subsoil
acts as a soil reservoir to supply the
soil on the surface with water when
badly needed.
A coil that ;e randarataIu y,ooief and