THE FLOWER GARDEN AND LAWN IN MAY AND JUNE. 163 



THE FLOWER GARDEN AND LAWN IN MAY AND JUNE. 



MRS. F. H. GIBBS, ST. ANTHONY PARK. 



\\'hat is more pleasing to the eye after the long winter than to 

 look out and see the lawn a perfect bed of green. The lawn then, 

 should be the first to draw our attention. 



Of course, all lawns properl}- taken care of have had a covering 

 of old barnyard dressing or of some commercial fertilizer, and are 

 now, the first of May, in good condition. All low places should be 

 filled witTi dirt, and the grass will soon peep through. Places where 

 the grass has been killed should be raked and sown with lawn 

 grass mixture. In watering be sure and soak the ground down to 

 the roots, as a little is an injury rather than a benefit'. Clipping 

 with the lawn mower will help in spreading the roots. By looking 

 after these little things every spring, our lawn will always look well. 



Those planning new lawns will be better satisfied by sowing them 

 with a good lawn grass mixture than by sodding. To make a good 

 lawn, get the ground plowed and well pulverized, then rake smooth, 

 sow the lawn grass seed evenly and roll it well with a roller. If 

 the work is done thoroughly you will have a nice, even lawn, and one 

 that will always be green, because you have different grasses that 

 will come in their time, while sodding is usually only one kind of 

 grass and will dry out and get brown. The lawn should be made 

 before this time, but if it has not been it can be done now by giving 

 it more water than you would have done earlier. 



The next thing we think of are the trees and shrubs. To ar- 

 range trees, shrubs and flowers so that they will harmonize is a 

 work that we must study well. Trees and shrubs are not planted 

 in rows now, as they used to be, but in groups. Hydrangeas, spireas, 

 syringas and snowballs are very pretty used in this way. Spirea 

 Van Houttii is one of the most beautiful shrubs we have. There 

 should be at least one on every lawn. Rosa rugosa makes a very 

 pretty bush, singly or used in a hedge. Rubra being red, Alba white. 

 They show off nicely by using the two, as the foliage is a glossy 

 dark green, and they bloom nearly all summer. 



Among the trees we would have set singly are the hardy catalpa, 

 cut-leaved birch, mountain ash, maple and spruce. 



For a hedge, buckthorn or red cedar. The arbor vitae makes a 

 very pretty hedge or screen but must have a protected location. 



