86 MANUAL OF GARDENING 



six to ten inches wide, in lines and cross-lines, and after filling 

 the spaces with good soil, sowing these spaces with grass-seed. 

 Should the catch of seed for any reason be poor, the sod of the 

 strips will tend to spread over the spaces between them, and 

 failure to obtain a good sward within a reasonable time is 

 almost out of the question. Also, if one needs sod and has no 

 place from which to cut it except the lawn, by taking up blocks 

 of sod, leaving strips and cross-strips, and treating the surface 

 as described, the bare places are soon covered with green." 



Sowing with sod. 



Lawns may be sown with pieces of sods rather than with 

 seeds. Sods may be cut up into bits an inch or two square, 

 and these may be scattered broadcast over the area and rolled 

 into the land. While it is preferable that the pieces should 

 he right side up, this is not necessary if they are cut thin, and 

 sown when the weather is cool and moist. Sowing pieces of sod 

 is good practice when it is difficult to secure a catch from seed. 



If one were to maintain a permanent sod garden, at one side, 

 for the selecting and growing of the very best sod (as he would 

 grow a stock seed of corn or beans), this method should be the 

 most rational of all procedures, at least until the time that we 

 produce strains of lawn grass that come true from seeds. 



Other ground covers. 



Under trees, and in other shady places, it may be necessary 

 to cover the ground with something else than grass. Good 

 plants for such uses are periwinkle (Vinca minor, an evergreen 

 trailer, often called '^ running myrtle")? moneywort {Lysi- 

 machia nummularia) , lily-of-the-valley, and various kinds of 

 sedge or carex. In some dark or shady places, and under 

 some kinds of trees, it is practically impossible to secure a 

 good lawn, and one may be obliged to resort to decumbent 

 bushes or other forms of planting. 



