GARDENS NEAR THE SEA 



permanent lawn. Too much care, however, cannot 

 be given to the quality of the sods thus employed. 

 It is as necessary to see that they are of an enduring 

 variety of grass and free from weeds as it is to plant 

 rose bushes that are untouched by disease. Lawns 

 formed in this way are naturally more costly than 

 those produced from seed. 



Deep culture of the soil is of the utmost advantage 

 to a lawn about to be made with seed; that is, the 

 ground should be dug or plowed over to the depth of 

 about a foot, stones and all objectionable matter should 

 be removed, and the roots of weeds, especially, should 

 be taken away and burned. Then, not until the soil 

 has been repeatedly forked and worked and the last 

 weeds despatched, is it time to cover it liberally with 

 well-decomposed manure. 



But before this work is done the ground, as pre- 

 viously intimated, must have been graded, and, if 

 necessary, drained, which fortunately is not usually 

 required. When plans are made for small lawns they 

 very seldom need much grading; but when they are to 

 be large, the work should be guided by a master hand, 

 or at least by some one who has made a close observa- 

 tion of lawns. 



The most attractive lawns are not always those 

 that are the most level. Slight undulations of the 

 ground leading, perhaps, to some recognized point of 

 interest are more in accordance with the varying lines 

 of nature, showing little that is rigidly executed. 

 Pronouncedly steep slopes are rather to be avoided, 

 since they take away from the sense that a lawn is a 



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