Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-13
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRAcEWELL.

ant it must be, to be landscape gar
dener!
This will be a good season, too, to
buy grass seed for specific purposes.
Instead of securing lust grass seed"
buy various mixtures intended for va
rious purposes.
For the lawn in the open, get the
best mixture of ordinary lawn grasses
you can afford. For the terrace that.
needs reSeeding, buy mixture intended
for that particular purpose. For the
shady nook, get such a mixture. These
are three classes which contain appro-
pirate grasses for their purposes. IF
one fancies plenty of the so-called
Dutch white clover, he can add an
ounce of it to each pound. White
clover thickens up the bottom" of the
turf, and helps keep things green dur
ing the heated spell. Some people re-
gard 1t as nuisance, but that Is be-
cause they do not use the lawn mower
often enough. 1t is true that cutting
will not entirely do away with the
white blossoms, but one is unfortunate
who diSlikeS them. The best way is to
regard white clover as offering varia-
ton in grass which would be monot-
onous without 1t.
There are scores of varieties of grass,
the larger seed houses. 1t would be
interesting to experiment with home
made mixtures, ii one had the money,
the patience and the ground. For most
amateurs, 1t will be sufficient to buy
enc or more of the three general-pur-
pose kinds named above. A good put
ting green mixture might be added, for
places which one knows will get pecul-
iarly hard treatment. Perhaps no one
x,y1,x. l. fR1Na 1a,r I.,,f
has wished to experiment with the bent
grasses.
The exact effect of last Summers
inimical conditions will not be known
until the beginning of this. If plente-
Gus Spring rains supervene, the chances
are that lawns everywhere will get back
to former conditions, whatever they
We're. Grass is an amazing product of
Nature, and can stand the most adverse
conditions, provided that water finally
comes to the rescue. Rain Is what
good grass must have. Too much water
may injure some crops and flowers, but
1t is almost impossible to get too much
of it for lawns. They positively gliSten
as the result Of incessant baths.
In case of a continuance of the
drought, which Is to be feared, home
owners will be put to it to keep up their
grass plots. Lack of both rain and
yQl ait WdtCl wall a OAOH W
all those who love good-looking lawns.
Let it be stated here that not every
one does. It does not come any more
natural for some people to admire fine
grass plots than it does for others to
like fine paintings or genuinely be fond
Of great music.
Admiration for good grass is a gift.
If you do not believe it, go around the
city and note the bare, unsightly grass
plots which stand in front of many
houses. The strange thing is that those
who have the smallest plots seem to
take the worst care Of them. Perhaps
they figure that they have so little it
makes no difference how it looks. But
it is amazing how one muddy terrace
in a neighborhood can spoil the APP
pearance of an entire block for those
who are sensitive to such things. Pigs
Of course. can live in mud and probably
admire things so.
A lawn enforcement committee could
do a great deal to make this or any
other city beauty spot. For the truth
is that a good lawn looks better in
Winter even than a poor one. Civic
builders are sold on the desirability
of fine lawns around great buildings,
but there are thousand times as many
smaller buildings, including homes, and
raggedness in their frames (lawns), or
backgrounds, is all the more noticeable,
especially to visitors.