THE LAWN: ITS FORMATION AND 



MANAGEMENT 



FEW gardens are without grass of some kind. To call this 

 11 grass" in all cases a lawn is incorrect. Many lawns are 

 patches of bad turf, but everyone appreciates the close, deep 

 green "velvet pile" that good seed and good management 

 will give. 



In Forming a New Lawn the ground must be carefully 

 prepared. An open, level piece is preferable, but where this 

 is not obtainable the soil must be removed from the highest to 

 the lowest parts until the surface is quite level. If the ground 

 is wet and retentive, drain pipes 3 inches in diameter should 

 be laid in 2\ feet deep, each row of pipes being 12 feet apart. 

 These will carry off the surface water. The pipes must have 

 a gentle fall, and be connected with a cross main drain with 

 a safe outlet. 



The ground must be well dug to a depth of 18 inches 

 or 2 feet, and if poor, enriched with well-decayed farmyard 

 manure. Digging completed, tread and rake the surface, 

 finally well rolling it to make it firm. Where the natural soil 

 is not of sufficient depth more must be added, and it should 

 be wheeled, not "carted," on to the plot, as the cartwheels 

 make hard ruts, and where the soil subsides an uneven surface 

 is left. Planks should be laid down for wheeling on. The 

 surface soil to a depth of 3 or 4 inches should be of a 

 rather fine character, as the seed germinates more quickly 

 and the grass gets a better start in such a medium than in one 

 of an opposite nature. In any case several weeks ought to 

 elapse after preparing the soil before sowing the seed to 

 allow the new soil to settle down. The quickest and probably 

 the best means of securing a good lawn is by covering the 

 plot with grass sods, but unless they are of first-rate quality, the 

 more common method of sowing lawn grass seed should be 

 resorted to. The sods may be laid down any time during 

 fine weather from October to April ; if laid later, they are 

 apt to suffer from drought during a dry spring. From ij 



to 2 inches is a good thickness for the turves, and they 



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