Ornamental Planting. 



899 



Where ground is to be graded, it is best wherever possible to pile 

 up enough of the surface soil so it can be spread over the surface of the 

 bare clay when the grading is finished. If the grading is done in the 

 fall, a dressing of fresh, strawy, stable manure should be given through- 

 out the winter to prevent the soil from washing. 



Seeding the lawn is best done in early spring. The seed may be 

 sown along with the last snows and allowed to be carried into the soil 

 by the melting snow. It is safest, however, to seed two or three times 

 in a single spring. Dry weather may foUow the first seeding and dry 

 out and kill the young grass before it has time to get a start. If three 

 successive sowings are made, moist weather is almost sure to follow 



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Figure 4— Open lawn In front with effective massing at sides and rear of building. 



some one of them, so the grass will become established before a drought 

 sets in. Seeding that is done after the last snows should be followed 

 by a very light harrowing, raking, or brushing of the soil so as barely 

 to cover the lawn grass seed. 



A dressing of fresh, strawy, stable manure on spring sown lawns 

 is helpful. It prevents washing of the soil, keeps the seed from drying 

 out, helps prevent crusting and baking of the soil and furnishes ready 

 plant food for the young grass. 



Furthermore, stable manure usually contains much grass seed. 

 Such seed usually germinates very promptly, as the digestive juice of 



