Evening star., 1936-07-08

Of many home owners that to water
the lawn is worse than nothing. Such
watering. they feel, actually harms grass
It is true that unwise daily sprinkling
of a lawn tends to make it dependent
upon such practice, but 1t also remains
true that water added to q dry lawn,
even If 1t comes from the nozzle, is still
q good thing, provided the lawn actually
needs watering at the time.
Thus, II there are bare spots, where
the grass is actually dying out, 1t is
only common sense to supply water
Immediately.
# the bare spot is not caused by a
rock cropping up to the surface. or some
disease, such as the web worm, so
called, the addition OF plenty OF water,
especially In the evening, will do a
world Of good.
Rather than water an entire lawn,
look the situation over and decide which
areas really need water. Then confine
the attention to them. This method Of
grass care saves lot of work and really
gets results. Water is given where needed,
but those sections Of the grass which do
not need it are permitted to get along
by themselves. This "self-reliance" is
kOOu AOA Vic 81 uco, J4ot 40 ~ 40 4OA q
human being. In time the entire lawn
may be so trained" In a sense, that
1t will need very little water except that
which Nature supplies, except, OF course,
in the most extremely dry seasons.
The use Of artificial watering is essen
tial, however, with most garden flowers.
ANIMALS, In particular, need plenty of
water, especially at the growing time,
when the flowers are to be budded.
There is perhaps no aspect OF gar
dening in which there is more miScon-
ception than in watering. Some gar
deners soak all the time, some do not
give enough water, but the happy me-
dunn Is not so dificult as it would SEEM
Common sense plays q part here, too, as
elsewhere. A study Of each plant and
its needs must be made. then actual
observation must be made daily to see
how the plant is coming along. More
water must be given, or less, according
to the reactions of the plant. The
who tries to do the work without con-
to run into trouble.
mdIly uilSCOAlCCPblOIlo aUOuL watering
are caused honestly enough. Most peo-
pie think that Japanese iris should be
planted with the roots standing in water,
but this idea Is mistake. 1t arose be-
cause years ago many photographs Of
these iris growing in Japan showed them
standing in shallow pools. 1t seems that
at Towering time, and at this time only,
those fine gardeners food these pools,
just as one would supply water to cut
flowers in vases, but both before and
after Towering these iris are grown as
any other plants. The truth is that
excessive water at the roots-and the
Japanese iris have real roots-is as
harmful to these plants as it Is to all
except true bog plants. These fat
headed iris are grown best in ordinary
garden soil.
The zinnias, and almost all other an
nuals demand plenty of water during
growth and at Towering time especially.
1t is just as well, however, to conflne
the water to the ground and keep 1t
of the foliage, except for fine spray
occasionally. Many ANIMALS, and these
include the zinnias, are subject to a
rust, if too much water gets on the leaves.
Do not deSpiSe the ANIMALS. They
have legitimate place in the finished
garden, just as they have a paramount
position in the first year. or beginning
garden. Among them, the modern zin-
MIA Is one Of the very best, along with
the splendid new petunias and marigolds.