The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-09-18
TELLS HOW LAWNS MAY
Be REBUILT IN WINTER

Washington d. c., Sept. 1.-THE
work Of lawn repair. like that OF maxi
ing a new lawn. declare specialists
of the United States Department of
Agriculture. is best performed in early
September in the regions south of New
England and north of the Potomac
and Ohio rivers. To improve an old
lawn that has run down Is often moro
difficult than to make a new one, but
II reasonably good turf exists 1t can
be bettered materially by reseeding
and fertilizing. If the lawn Is patchy,
the small areas should be scratched
with a steel rake. dressed with loan
or compost, and the seed sown on this.
If large areas OF the lawn have a thin
covering of turf. it will be advantage
Gus TO use a disk seeder. After seed
ing, a second dressing OF loan or
compost should he applied and the
areas rolled lightly.
In New England and the other States
OF the northern tier. similar procedure
should be adopted in renewing the
lawn, but the work should be done in
spring Care should be taken in wat
ering and moving all new paintings
OF lawn grass not to disturb the young
plants.
Lawn Maintenance.
Careful attention Is necessary II an
esta blished lawn Is to be kept in good
condition. Most lawns need an occa-
slonal application of some good fer
tilizer regardless of the kind of soil
on which they ekisf. Thoroughly
rotted stable manure Is excellent for
this purpose. Another good dressin &
| Is a mixture of manure well COM
posted with sod and leaf mold and
sifted before using. 1t Is desirable
that the material be applied In such
condition that there is nothing to rake
off. Coarse humus or humus dress
| ing should never be used. as the grass
Is almost invariably killed In small
patches beneath the Jumps, The HUI
mus dressings should be applied in the
autumn or winter and again in the
spring. Bone meal Is one Of the best
commercial fertilizers for the lawn
When used it should be applied in the
late winter or early spring at a rate OF
ten to fifteen pounds to the thousand
square feet
Even after a lawn IL established on
heavy clay, 1t is not too late to Tighten
the soil by sand applications. Sharp
clean sand free from silt Is best and
Ishould DO applied to a depth of one
turf. 1t will work into the soil quick.
ly and will produce a lasting and de-
lctdedly beneficial effect.
Lawns are benefited by frequen,
clipping. During the rapid growing
season mowings twice a week are not
too frequent 1t usually makes little
difference whether the clipped grass
Is removed or allowed to remain or
tho lawn. 1t Ia coming to be consid.
cred the best practice to remove It
however. 1t IL neither necessary mol
Ix-g ~ all -
summer.
Lawns should be we'll watered dur.
Ing dry periods and should be soaked
thoroughly twice or three times q
week rather than lightly sprinkled a,
more frequent intervals. Late after.
noon or evening is the best time foi
watering on bright, hot days. Weeds
are troublesome in all lawns through.
out the growing season. but particu.
larly so from tho latter part Of June
until frost. Pulling or cutting these
plant pests from the turf II the mos,
satisfactory way Of riddfng 4 lawn
OF them. The control Of trailing weeds
and undesirable grasses can best be
accomplished by raking prior to now
ing. the intruders thus being raised
50 that the mower blades will clir
them The use Of chemical sprays
on lawn weeds has not given very sat
isfactory results On the whole, the
weed problem can best be solved by
making the conditions as favorable as
possible for the turf grasses and main
tanning strict watch at all times to
remove troublesome weeds as they ap-
pear. A grass-seed mixture rich in
red fescue will grow better In shady
places probably than other mixtures
BY thorough watering ana the liberal
use Of fertilizers and lime, however
the evil effects OF shade on the growth
OF all lawn grasses largely can be over
come in many cases.