242 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Lawns continued. 



shorter than it would be on an even surface. Lawn 

 preparations should be commenced in autumn, and, if 

 the site is not naturally drained, it must be made so 

 artificially, by the insertion of pipes, before anything else 

 is attempted. An undulation, or a gravelly sub-soil, 

 will alone usually insure a sufficient drainage. The 

 various levels of the surface should then be marked, and 

 the whole be dug over a spit deep, and as evenly as 

 possible. If the soil is of fairly good quality, and not 

 very heavy, there will be no difficulty in doing this, or 

 in the formation of the Lawn afterwards. Where it is 

 very poor and sandy, the addition of some that is heavier, 

 and of better quality, will be advisable, as there is a 

 great difference throughout the season in the appearance 

 of Lawns, according to the depth and quality of the soil 

 beneath. This may appear somewhat needless ; but the 

 work should be considered as one of a permanent 

 character, and after-results will well repay the extra 

 trouble and expense incurred. The soil, having been 

 thus dug all over alike, should be allowed to remain 

 until spring, if possible, when exposure to rain and frost 

 will have rendered it solid, and in good condition for 

 treading and raking down, in preparation for turf or 

 grass seeds, whichever may have been intended. If 

 good turf can be secured, a Lawn may be made at 

 once. It should be free from coarse grass and weeds, 

 and if the turfs have been cut uniform in thickness 

 and size, they may soon be laid, and the work finished. 

 Some fine light soil should be spread over and brushed 

 in, to fill up all the interstices, and the turf-beater a 

 tool made specially for the purpose, with a flattened 



FIG. 381. TURF-BEATKB. 



wooden head (see Fig. 381) applied to make a plane 

 surface. It is not advisable to mow too closely the 

 first summer, especially if the season be a dry one. 



When recourse is had to grass seeds, they should be 

 purchased from a reliable source, even though the price 

 be higher than that usually paid ; spurious stocks 

 being worse than useless, where a piece of fine grass 

 is of first importance, and the mowing machine is to be 

 kept in use. The best season for sowing is in March and 

 April, as the warm sunshine and showery weather then 

 usually experienced is more favourable than any other 

 for the quick germination of the seed. It will be neces- 

 sary to tread and work the ground all over, the same 

 as for turf, allowing the surface to be the full height 

 required for the Lawn. A verge of turf round the 

 outside is a good guide in preparing a Lawn for grass 

 seeds, as by its height a good deal may be determined 

 with the eye alone in levelling the inside part. The 

 seeds should be sown thinly, on a calm day, and lightly 

 covered by means of a wooden rake ; and, when the grass 

 is well up, a heavy roller may be drawn over it before 

 mowing. The next best season to April, for sowing, is the 

 end of August, as the weather is then cooler than in sum- 

 mer, and there is sufficient time for the grass to become 

 established before winter. From 401b. to 501b. to an acre 

 is about the quantity of grass seed required for a Lawn; 



Lawns continued. 



but so much depends on the quality that it is uncertain 

 whether this weight will be always sufficient. Mixtures 

 of strong-growing sorts are prepared and sold separately 

 for sowing under trees. Lawns which become un- 

 sightly may be renovated considerably by a covering 

 of about iin. of rich light soil in autumn or early spring. 

 A similar dressing of two parts loamy soil with one of 

 powdered lime, may be recommended for applying in 

 autumn, or at any time during showery weather, to 

 Lawns covered with moss. Nutriment derived from 

 such dressings by the old grass, and an additional light 

 sowing of new seeds, will tend greatly to bring old 

 Lawns into a much finer condition. Where plenty of 

 water is at command, it may be freely applied in the 

 evening, after dry days, in summer ; but mere sprinklings 

 are best left alone. The keeping of Lawns, when once 

 established, is work of a routine character, consisting 

 chiefly of mowing, rolling, and sweeping. All of these 

 operations require frequent attention, particularly in 

 spring and summer. 



LAWN SAND. A preparation said to have the 

 power of destroying Daisies, Eibbed Grass, Plantains, 

 Dandelions, &c., in lawns, and, at the same time, im- 

 proving the quality of the grass. It should be applied 

 in dry weather, evenly, through a dredging box; or about 

 a thimbleful may be put on the centre or crown, varying 

 the quantity according to the size of the weed. The use 

 of Lawn Sand is not here recommended, as, although the 

 crowns of strong weeds may be killed, their tap roots 

 remain alive, form three or four fresh crowns in due 

 course, and eventually grow with renewed vigour, thus 

 necessitating a second or third application. Wherever 

 Lawn Sand is carelessly applied, the grass becomes burnt 

 up, and very unsightly, in a few hours. Sulphate of 

 ammonium, which can be bought for 4d. per lb., has 

 much the same effect. 



LAWSONIA (named after Dr. Isaac Lawson, a bo- 

 tanical traveller, who published an account of a voyage to 

 Carolina in 1709). STN. Alcanna. ORD. Lythrariece. A 

 monotypic genus, the species being a stove tree. It 

 thrives in a compost of sandy peat and turfy loam. 

 Propagated by cuttings of ripened shoots, placed in 

 sand, under a glass, in heat. 



L. alba (white). Henna Plant. /. white, small, sweet-smelling, 

 disposed in panicles. I. opposite, lanceolate, quite entire. A. 6ft. 

 toIOft. Northern Africa, Arabia, Persia, and India, 1752. SYN. 

 L. inermis. 



li. Inermis (unarmed). A synonym of L. alba. 

 T-AX Loose ; not compact. 



LAXMANNIA (named after E. Laxmann, 1737-1796, 

 a Siberian traveller). ORD. Liliacece. A genus comprising 

 eight species of greenhouse perennials, with fibrous roots, 

 confined to Australia. Flowers white or pink, in ter- 

 minal, pedunculate or sessile heads, with imbricated 

 scarious bracts ; perianth persistent, but not twisted, of 

 six segments. Leaves narrow-linear or subulate, in radical 

 or terminal tufts, dilated at base into scarious, sheathing 

 appendages, which are often produced into bristles. Stems 

 short and tufted, or elongated, branched, and diffuse. 

 The species require a compost of loam and peat. Propa- 

 gated by divisions. L. gracilis and L. grandiflora are 

 probably the only species introduced. 



L. gracilis (slender). /. pink, very shortly pedicellate, or almost 

 sessile ; heads small, on slender peduncles of several inches. 

 June. I. crowded at bases and ends of branches, the short, 

 broad, sheathing bases imbricate, with a few woolly hairs on 

 their margins ; the blades filiform, erect or spreading, 4in. to lin. 

 long. Stems slender, branched, forming loose tufts of 1ft. or 

 more. 1824. 



L. grandiflora (large-flowered), f.. one, two, or three within 

 each bracl ; outer segments of perianth often very white ; outer 

 empty bracts scarious, with brown centres ; peduncles 6in. to 

 lOin. long. June. 1. crowded, lin. to 2in. long, the scarious 

 sheaths terminating in long fringed bristles. Stems tufted when 

 old, densely and shortly branched. 



