Photo 138. 



grass seed is always a success. Late 

 spring and summer sowings are not 

 reliable; the question of their tender 

 roots standing the torrid heat of July 

 and August will be determined by the 

 frequency of showers and cloudy 

 weather. If you grade your lawn in 

 the late spring or summer, let it lay 

 and work it over once in two weeks. 

 This will kill weeds and all will be 

 "settled" by the first week in Septem- 

 ber. Then sow your seed and rake in 

 and roll. 



WHAT IS THE BEST KIND OF SEED? 



Kentucky blue grass is the very 

 best to form a tough sod. White clover 

 will fill out and make your lawn like a carpet. It is no use to sow the clover except in the 

 spring. If you sow in the summer it will burn out. If you sow in September it will 

 start nicely, but most always winter-kill. Don't use the common red clover. The red 

 and white are both shown in photo 139. The plant to the right is the coarse-growing, 

 red variety; that to the left, the Dutch or ivhite clover, specially adapted for lawns, In 

 photo 138 to the left is a bunch of Kentucky blue grass. This multiplies by running in 

 the soil and shooting up new blades, like the lily-of-the-valley. This in itself is pre- 

 eminently the best lazun grass there is. The plant to the right is timothy. We have 

 often used it in the summer, as it germinates easily and is a strong grower. Sowed with 

 blue grass the timothy works all right, as the timothy will give out in a few years and 

 the blue grass will have full sway. The lawnmower, however, must be kept at work or 

 the timothy, being so much ranker, will crowd out the blue grass. Red top, also, is a 

 good lawn grass, especially adapted for low, heavy soils. Make your own choice of what 

 seed you use, but don't use the red clover; too rank. You may get some idea how thick 



to sow when I say your seed should lay on 

 the ground so that (in a rough way of guess- 

 ing) if averaged up, they would be from a 

 half inch to an inch apart. The experienced 

 landscaper, the moment he sees a yard to be 

 converted into a lawn, has the main points 

 right before him. The points are the bottom 

 of the cut stone in the house as a starting 

 point, and his drops to the drive, sidewalk, 

 street, etc. Then he has to study how to 

 carry out a gentle roll, like the brow of a 

 hill, then to sweep down as if a ivave had 

 receded, and in a variety of ways reproduce 

 a natural appearance. 



The landscaper is in his glory when he 

 can branch out in parks and other public 

 grounds. There his creative faculties are 

 brought into play. The camera could be of 

 but little use to teach the art of landscaping 

 on public grounds. It could not take in 

 enough to be of any particular service. I 

 have selected a few small properties to con- 

 Photo 139. vey the lessons on the main principles of 



66 



