CHAPTER rn 



THE LAWN : HOW TO MAKE AND PRESERVE IT 



HITHERTO little more than passing references have been 

 made to the inclusion of grass plots, or lawns to give 

 them their more dignified designation in the scheme of 

 the garden. But the provision of a broad smooth area of well- 

 kept lawn is so indispensable an adjunct to the British garden that 

 its care and treatment deserve a special chapter. 



The lawn adds a finish to the appearance of the most efficiently 

 tended beds and borders. Without it their beauty and charm are 

 heavily discounted. How often does one see the plot of grass 

 neglected and allowed to degenerate until it becomes the breeding 

 ground of innumerable unsightly weeds, or perhaps be dotted 

 here and there with ugly bare patches as the inevitable result of 

 inattention and neglect. Yet how readily does the lawn respond 

 to the expenditure upon it of a little labour and care 1 Nowhere 

 else in the world can you find grass so rich in colour, so soft in 

 texture, so smooth and velvet-like to the tread as on the emerald 

 green carpet lawns of England. They are the envy of every 

 Continental visitor. I was a guest a few years ago at a garden- 

 party given by a Prussian diplomatist in Hamburg. The month 

 was June, when here in England our lawns are at their best. 

 Nothing impressed me more during my brief sojourn in my 

 German host's garden than the distressing appearance of his lawn. 

 The grass had sprouted in isolated blades ; it was long and straggling, 

 and it appeared as though the first touch of summer heat would 

 wither and kill it irretrievably. One was afraid to walk on it, 

 for the feet sank inches deep in the soft, sandy soil in which the 

 seed had been sown. That garden-party, I am afraid, ruined 

 the diplomatist's " lawn." Our fickle climate is often a subject 



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