Evening star., 1947-09-05
This and That
Bv Charles Z. Tracepell.


This is the best time of year for planting lawn
grass seed.
Put it in the ground now, and forget about
1t until spring.
Almost forget, that Is.
Once the seed is planted, it will take little
care, but in the end will give good stand of
fresh grass plants, ready for the winter.
Autumn planting Is best in this section of
the country, according to all the experts.
Ordinary mortals, who do not worry about
experts, find out the same thing, if they do
little experimenting on their own.
Wait until spring to plant grass seed, and the
hot weather comes so quickly that 1t may die
out.
Plant now and watch the cool autumn treat
it kindly.
Grass plants of the sort that come from the
mixtures good for this vicinity, with plenty of
Kentucky blue grass, are hardy in most Of
our winters.
BY filling in the bare spots now the lawn
goes into the winter with good stand.
This means a little extra cutting, at time
Of the year when the owner has grown tired
Of his lawn mower
It means such fine stand of grass, however,
that he can buckle down for few more weeks
to pushing the old mower.
Sow the seed, press it in, then cover lightly
with sheep manure, bonemeal, lime or other
fertilizer.
Care must be taken to shake the fertilizer of
the blades Of grass already present.
Then water the whole.
The one drawback, as most persons see 1t,
to planting grass seed at this time of year, is
the necessity for extra watering. in case the
rains do not come.
This Is essential.
After the seed has been planted and watered,
extra water must be put on every other day for
at least two weeks.
The better lawn will be worth 1t.
When the crab grass dies out, one way to get
rid Of it is to plant seeds of better grasses
If put in thickly, they will tend to crowd out
the unwanted type.
In its season, crab grass Is not a bad grass,
however.
1t is thick, green, luxuriant. The great fuss
made about it in many households is relic
of sections of the country where lawns are
easier to make and keep.
But if one minds crab grass too much, 1t may
be rooted out with dificulty), or 1t may be
crowded out, as above, with better grass plants,
or method sometimes practiced may be used.
This consists of covering the area with thick
paper for few days. The lack of light is
supposed to kill the crab grass. but not harm
the other types. These will come back, once
the covering is taken off, but the crab grass
is gone.
Wonderful, If true!
For most persons, the drab appearance Of
the lawn after this process Is very much against
it.
Green is what they are after. They find the
green of the crab grass as pleasing to the eye
as the green of the better types
In fact, once gardener gets into his mind the
love Of green, he is willing to let even weeds
stay, so long as they are good and green.
The green place is his ideal, and what Is
green stays. So he says. to himself, and that
is why he wants to get in fresh grass seed at the
best time, in September. when it viii come up
nice and green.
The wonderful thing is that with any luck at
all the new grass will flourish and stay green
all winter. This gives the owner some OF this
precious color at the time he appreciates 1t
most These are hardy young plants. and stand
our Washington winters better than the tired
old cneA