Evening star., 1948-10-22
This and That
BIZ Charles 4. Tracetpell

A long bright October has given local home
owners plenty Of time to put in grass seed.
Many persons who come from districts
where grass growing is easier find that the
fall is the best time here.
Spring Is good, but autumn Is better Tor
then one runs q very good chance Of having
good green grass all winter long.
Nothing takes the place of grass.
1t is the basic green Of the good earth, Is
what makes the earth good, one may think.
Green is the fundamental color
It is the tint of vitamns and minerals
All the vitamins come. in the last analysis,
from the green growing things whether on
land or in water.
Green, rather than tan, Is the tint of health.
Eat plenty Of vegetables, we are advised;
and it is good advice; the more Of them We
consume, in reason, especially Of the green
and yellow ones. the better on we are.
That means we are getting our vitamins
every day, better out Of the good earth than
from q bottle.
People don't eat grass. but II they did they
probably would be the better of for 1t.
You can taste things with your eyes, too.
Drink to me only with thine eyes, was not
Just the odd title Of very beautiful old song,
but good advice from practical everyday
standpoint.
The green of the lawn is more than q field
for commonplace exercise for q lawn mower,
or a simple way of keeping up with the Joneses.
1t is something to rejoice over, because OF
its very color.
Put the stress on color, and you won't be
wrong
1t is the color that counts.
The simple secret of good grass in Washing
ton and vicinity is just this:
The color in lawn must be green, but 1t
may be green from anything
That is it.
Old hands learned 1t long ago.
Newcomers still fuss over crab grass and
q multitude Of small weeds.
It Is practically impossible to get them out.
30 why not let them alone, Just 80 long as
they are green?
No one but the most fault-nnding neighbor
can detect the difference.
Green is the thing, and when the weed Is
green and lush in growth it fills in the lawn
as we'll as the best Kentucky bluegrass.
The good point about the weeds Is that they
die out in the fall, and that Is when their
place must be filled in with good grass seed.
In time the weeds may be choked out as
the gardening expression has It, weeds can
choke out desirable plants SO why cannot
good plants choke them out in turn?
They can, and do, If given the opportunity.
Various grasses, as used in good seed mixtures,
grow amazingly quickly, and with fortune in
the fall will make q good stand in bare places.
These good stands running together, some
times cause lawn to look better in winter
than in summer.
It all depends upon the exact degree Of frost.
Exceptionally cold mornings will give the
winter grass . gray look but q vel owish look
only in the most prolonged and severe spells.
It is almost never too late, in this vicinity, to
put out grass seed.
Wait for day just before rain, ari put In
seed heavily, enough for growth and enough
for the birds.
Only three or four days are required for ger
mination. With autumns fortune at command,
the new grass will grow to certain sturdiness,
at least enough for present purposes.
This new grass, lasting until spring, though
attenuated, is there to begin growth at once,
even quicker than weeds.
Give up the idea of q perfect lawn. No one
has it. 1t is just dream of the catalogues, the
seedmen and the garden books. Even II one
could have 1t, 1t isn't worth the trouble Of get
ting 1t.
Be satisfied With anything that is green.