J42 



THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



ing more to do but give the sod a good 

 soaking of water. In a few days pass 

 the mowing machine over it and you have 

 a lawn pleasing to the eye, and if you 

 are a reasonable person your eye will 

 not see it as it is today, but will picture 

 it after a month s growth and several 

 cuttings, and your prophetic vision will 

 be looking on something like the surface 

 of a billiard table. 



Where there is any quantity of lawn 

 to make or renew, seeding is always 

 preferable to sodding. Not alone does it 

 make a better looking lawn, better grass 

 and better quality all around, but it is 

 far cheaper. The same care in digging 

 deep and manuring is essential, and the 

 top two inches of surface should be of 

 good, friable soil, that the delicate little 

 plants may get a good start. 



You can, when preparing for seed, put 

 on an absolutely perfect grade, whether 

 it be for a bowling green, which is level, 

 or a gradual fall to any point, or a pleas 

 ing slope in any direction. When I say 

 you can, I mean you can if you have an 

 eye and know how to handle the rake, 

 and you are not supposed to be leveling 

 or grading if you can t. Some men have 

 a great gift at this kind of work and 

 some are created to play golf gaawf. 



In small, defined areas, when seeding 

 it is a good plan to lay a strip of sod 

 around the margin. Sometimes a bed for 

 flowers or shrubs is laid out on the lawns. 

 If a strip of sod, say a foot wide, is laid 

 around these at a correct grade, they are 

 a good guide when leveling, or what may 

 be called &quot;putting on the finishing 

 touch for intervening spaces. 



I may have rather an elaborate way 

 of sowing grass seed, but it answers 

 well. When you have finished raking 

 and have the surface as nearly perfect 

 as your eye tells you, give the whole a 

 light rolling. You will see much plainer 

 then any little inequalities than when 

 the ground was left rough by the rake. 

 Mend any imperfections and roll those 

 places again where you disturb the soil. 

 Then sow the seed on the smooth surface. 

 Next pass over the surface with a rake, 

 not raking as if you had stones and rub- 

 &quot;bish to rake or leveling to do, but let 

 the teeth of the rake pass backwards 

 and forwards lightly over the surface. 

 This will just work in the seeds, or 

 enough of them, for if one in a hundred 

 grows you have enough. After that light 

 raking pass over again with a light 

 roller. 



Just one digression. How pleasant it 

 is to see a man with his back bent (or 

 your own) and handling the rake as an 

 expert, for expertness can be exercised 

 with a rake as well as with a bat, a ball, 

 or a billiard cue. Don t handle the rake 

 like the interesting schoolmarm among 

 the hay fields of her country cousins dur 

 ing vacation. Men that are expert with 

 these simple tools and keep sober are 

 never out of employment. 



Sodding is done as soon after frost 

 as the ground is dry till about June 1, 

 and again in the fall if the weather is 

 not too dry to cut it. Seeding is also 

 done in early spring, but not safe to 

 do after the end of May, as we frequent 

 ly get a dry spell, and unless you can 



reach it with the hose it may be a fail 

 ure. The very best time of the whole 

 year to seed a lawn is from the last of 

 August to middle of September; even a 

 little earlier in August is all right. We 

 are almost sure to get some showers the 

 last of August, and if within reach of 

 the hose you are not dependent on show 

 ers, and if sown at that time or very 

 early in September you have a lawn well 

 established before winter sets in. 



Further experience has taught us that 

 lawns can be made from sowing seed any 

 time during the entire summer, from 

 spring till the last of August, providing 

 you are within reach of the hose. When 

 the delicate little cotyledon first emerges 

 from the seed a severe drought, if only 

 many of our florist s plants suffer in the 

 for a few hours, may destroy it, as so 

 seed pans, but if the surface of your 

 grass plot is kept continually moist no 

 harm is done, and in two weeks you have 

 a lawn even in the hottest weather. 



In fall sowing, which is the best, there 

 is no need of sowing anything with the 

 grass seeds. Sometimes in spring sow 

 ing a sprinkling of oats or rye is sown, 

 which germinates quickly, and by its 

 growth shades and protects the little 

 grass spears till they are up a few inches. 

 In a few weeks the oats are mowed off 

 with a scythe and the grass takes care 

 of itself. This, of course, is quite un 

 necessary where you sprinkle occasion 

 ally. Our climate is uncertain no two 

 seasons alike but although I have seen 

 many acres sown for a lawn in August 

 which was a disappointment because 

 there were no rains, yet it is by far the 

 surest and best time to sow. 



There are many seedsmen, leading 

 firms, who give great attention to the 

 preparation of lawn grass seed, and when 

 ordering you should say whether the soil 

 is a clay loam or sandy, whether it is 

 boggy or moist, or high and dry. Some 

 grasses are more suitable for shade than 

 others. Most of the reputable firms 

 charge a good round sum for their 

 extra superfine lawn grass mixture. 

 Possibly it is not the seed that costs 

 so much as the &quot;extra superfine,&quot; for 

 which you always have to pay high, 

 whether it be in a coat or in cod-liver 

 oil. 



If I am asked to lay down a lawn, I 

 just buy a good clean sample of red- 

 top (Agrostis vulgaris), and add a few 

 pounds of white clover, which is best 

 sown separately, as the little weighty 

 seed will find its way to the bottom of 

 your bag or box and not be distributed 

 evenly with the grass. The fine mixtures 

 of the seedsman are all right and a few 

 dollars are of little consequence in such 

 an important and permanent undertaking 

 as making a lawn. 



Most of the grass seeds are very light 

 and will fly in every direction, much pre 

 ferring the openings in your face to the 

 ground. When there is a very gentle* 

 breeze blowing steadily in one direction 

 is a good time to sow. You will soon 

 find out then where your seed is settling 

 and gauge your distance accordingly. 

 About thirty to forty pounds of grass 

 seed are usually sown to the acre and five 

 or six pounds of white clover. If a 

 small plot of ground, it is easy to know 



when you have sown enough. And don t 

 be afraid of sowing too thickly. There 

 may be two little plants spring up where 

 one would do, but it will be a case of the 

 survival of the fittest. The stronger will 

 crowd the weaker out. Therefore sow 

 plenty of seed. Neither in spring nor 

 fall is it advisable to keep the newly 

 made lawns mowed closely, so you must 

 waive appearance for the benefit of the 

 grass, at least for the first season. 



The care of lawns is something I have 

 thought and talked about for years, for 

 I am convinced that in two features our 

 city and suburban lawns are greatly mis 

 managed. The only time our lawns want 

 rolling is in the spring. Then they cer 

 tainly need it. Winter and heavy frosts 

 have* heaved up places here and there, 

 and, more than that, have heaved up the 

 roots of the grass, much of which per 

 ishes if not pressed back by the roller. 

 Rolling (and this time it should be done 

 with a good heavy one) must be done 

 when the ground is drying after the 

 Irost has left it; when it is soft and pli 

 able but not wet and sticky. The mow-- 

 ing machine will do the rest for the re 

 mainder of the season. Boiling is all 

 right, and if you have time roll often ; 

 no harm done. 



The practice of strewing stable ma 

 nure on the grass in November, with the 

 idea of protecting it, is all nonsense. It 

 brings you a great crop of all kinds of 

 weeds, and that s about all it does. If 

 you put it on with the idea of nourishing 

 the roots you are mistaken. The fertiliz 

 ing properties of the manure have passed 

 through the soil while the roots were in 

 active and have not benefited the plants. 

 With excessive watering the roots are 

 often brought near the surface and at 

 the same time continually sprinkling im 

 poverishes the surface soil. 



So one inch of good loam to which has 

 been added one-half pound of bone meal 

 to the bushel, and this soil thrown on the 

 surface of the lawn and worked in by 

 the back of the rake just before rolling, 

 or even after, will do more good than all 

 the manure you can put on. Then you 

 have given the grass something to feed 

 on and you will see great results in a 

 few weeks. Although an inch over the 

 whole surface may seem burying the 

 grass, it will soon disappear when moved 

 about by the back of the rake, and after 

 the first good rain you will not notice it. 



The other feature I object to is this 

 continual sprinkling, and many of our 

 citizens who have grass surrounding 

 their houses are insane over the matter. 

 Henry, you had better put the sprinkler 

 on the front lawn. I have seen this 

 done while yet the rainbow was in the 

 sky, the effect of a receding storm that 

 had an hour before poured out its liquid 

 gifts in copious quantities. 



The grass that suffers most with this 

 idiotic treatment is that beneath the 

 shade of trees and buildings. We know 

 scores of places that are resodded or 

 seeded every season, or at most every 

 alternate year, and simply because it is 

 drowned out. I can t get the grass 

 to grow under the trees,&quot; is the contin 

 ual plaint. It grows under the shade of 

 trees in our orchards and so it does in 

 our large cemeteries and public parks, 



