HORTICULTURAL DIVISION 



693 



(B), Pittosporum undulatum (B), Prunus ilicifolia (B), 

 Prunus caroliniana (B). 



LARGE TREES. Live oak_(B), silk oak, camphor (B), 



rubber (B), evergreen magnolia (B), beefwood, laurel 

 oak (B), Jacaranda (H), holly (B), Parkinsonia, many 

 palms including the royal palm (P). 



GRASSES FOR LAWNS 



GENERAL. Soil. Lawns require a deep, well-drained, 

 thoroughly enriched, moisture-holding, weed-free soil 

 whose bottom layers are compacted after plowing, but 

 whose surface is finely pulverized for 2 inches. 



Fertilizers. Preparatory fertilization should be done 

 with green-manure crops or carefully composted stable 

 manure. Substitutes are ground bone, fish scrap, cotton- 

 seed meal, or similar fertilizers at the rate of 500 to 

 2,000 pounds per acre. 



Propagation. Kentucky blue grass, redtop and white 

 clover are started from seed; carpet grass, St. Augustine 

 grass, mesquite grass, centipede grass and Bahia are 

 propagated from rooted runners; and Bermuda grass 

 and creeping bent may be started in either way. Lawns 

 started in the fall have less competition with weeds 

 during the critical period. Sow the seed three months 

 before freezing weather, or set the roots just before the 

 moist season begins, so that they will become established 

 before winter and the following hot, dry weather. 



Cutting. Cut the grass as soon as the lawn mower 

 will take hold. A good lawn will result on a good soil 

 liberally top-dressed, if the grass is cut frequently and 

 regularly and is well supplied with water. Grass clip- 

 pings should not be removed. Cut often enough to 

 allow the clippings to disappear about the roots in a 

 day or two. 



Watering. Make frequent, heavy waterings when 

 necessary. Light daily waterings are bad, though copi- 

 ous daily waterings may be necessary on leachy soils in 

 dry climates. 



Lawn problem. Only a few grasses form a close turf 

 suitable for lawns. The lawn problem, therefore, is 

 largely confined to making conditions congenial to lawn 

 grasses, rather than to selecting grasses suited to con- 

 ditions in different parts of the country, although some 

 selection is also possible. Outstanding characteristics of 

 the grass determine the method of handling. 



KENTUCKY BLUE GRASS. Requires plenty of moisture 

 and thrives in cool and even cold weather that is not 

 actually freezing. Hence a clay soil or a soil having a 

 clay subsoil is considered best, although a lighter soil 

 that has a permanent water table 2 to 4 feet below the 

 surface is almost equally good. Lime also is needed, if 

 the soil has any inclination to acidity. As Kentucky 

 blue grass takes two or three years to spread out enough 

 to make a good turf, it should be sown with a grass 

 that will give a quick temporary effect. It does well 

 in moderate shade. 



REDTOP. Most successful on gravelly soils. Seems to 

 thrive where Kentucky blue grass fails in regions where 

 climatic conditions are favorable to blue grass. Makes 

 a lawn the first year. For these reasons it is usually 

 sown with Kentucky blue grass. Use either equal parts 

 by weight or I part redtop and 3 parts of blue grass, 

 and apply 100 pounds per acre of either mixture. 



CREEPING BENT. Most used and best of the many 

 species of bent grasses. Adapted to warmer and drier 

 conditions than Kentucky blue grass, though thriving 

 throughout the blue-grass region. Especially recom- 

 mended for golf greens. As it spreads rapidly by stolons, 

 the practice of growing selected strains in nursery rows 

 and planting the stolons is being encouraged. These 

 stolons are dug two months or more before freezing 

 weather, chopped into I or 2 inch lengths, sown thinly 

 over well-prepared soil, so that pieces will be about 2 

 inches apart, and covered promptly with a layer of 



rich, friable soil, then well watered. Seed of a mixture 

 of bent grasses, including creeping bent, may also be 

 used. This mixture is sold as German bent. 



RED FESCUE. Probably the most generally satis- 

 factory shade grass, next to Kentucky blue grass, in 

 the cooler regions. Sow at the rate of 50 pounds per 

 acre. 



WHITE CLOVER. Often useful as a nurse crop for 

 Kentucky blue grass, making a temporary lawn for a 

 year or two on well-limed or naturally sweet soils. Sow 

 only in spring in the North, or in October on Bermuda- 

 grass lawns in the South, at the rate of 10 pounds per 

 acre. 



BERMUDA GRASS. Alost generally used lawn grass 

 south of the natural Kentucky blue-grass region, except 

 where special efforts are made to meet blue-grass re- 

 quirements. Essentially a warm season grass, turning 

 brown with the advent of cool nights even before frost, 

 thriving in hot weather, and standing much drought. 

 Spreads by stolons and becomes a somewhat persistent 

 weed in cultivated ground. May be started in the 

 spring, similarly to the way creeping bent is started, 

 with stolons collected from fields or plants. Set I to 2 

 feet apart each way and keep cultivated for a few 

 weeks. Seed may be sown at the rate of 20 pounds per 

 acre. Since Bermuda-grass lawns are brown in winter 

 it is a common practice to disk them in October, to 

 sow perennial rye grass or white clover, and roll, in 

 order to have a green winter lawn. The Bermuda grass 

 will establish itself the next season. 



CARPET GRASS. More attractive than Bermuda 

 grass, adapted only to warmer regions, is less persistent, 

 and grows in shade as well as full sunlight. It is set out 

 in the same way as Bermuda grass. 



ST. AUGUSTINE GRASS. Has a broader leaf than car- 

 pet grass and is useful on the light lands near the coast 

 south of Charleston, S. C. Planted in the same way as 

 Bermuda grass and carpet grass. 



BAHIA. Promising new grass with broad, dark 

 leaves and low habit of growth that is attractive. Es- 

 tablished like carpet grass. 



CREEPING LIPPIA (LIPPIA CANESCENS). Creeping 

 plant used as a substitute for grass in warm, dry regions. 

 Has a small, grayish foliage and in midsummer small, 

 purplish flowers. Will stand much trampling, grows 

 with little water and requires no cutting except re- 

 straining around the edges of the planted area. The 

 plants are set out I to 2 feet apart at the beginning of 

 the rainy season. 



GRASSES FOR DIFFERENT REGIONS. Grasses suited 

 to the different sections of the country are given by 

 regions as shown by the map. 



Region I. With watering, Kentucky blue grass, red- 

 top, creeping and other bents. For shade, Kentucky 

 blue grass, red fescue. With little or no watering, Ber- 

 muda grass and Lippia canescens. 



Region 2. With occasional watering, Kentucky blue 

 grass, redtop, creeping bent, German bent and native 

 grasses. For shade, Kentucky blue grass and red fescue. 



Region 3. With irrigation, Kentucky blue grass, red- 

 top, creeping bent and native grasses like mesquite. 

 For shade, Kentucky blue grass and red fescue. With 

 little watering, Bermuda grass and Lippia canescens. 



Region 4. With irrigation, mesquite, curly mesquite, 

 and other native grasses, Kentucky blue grass, redtop 

 and creeping bent. For shade, Kentucky blue grass and 



