24 



THE COMPLETE HOME LANDSCAPE 



TO RENOVATE AN OLD LAWN 



It is not an easy matter to "patch up" an old, spotted lawn. It is 

 most improbable that the same mixture of seed will be used as was 

 sown originally, and hence the texture of the turf will differ. How- 

 ever, where it is not feasible to dig and remake the lawn, the bad 

 spots can be improved. Fork over these places to a depth of five or 

 six inches or deeper, taking out all stones and rubbish that may be 

 found. Add some good, well rotted manure, scatter the proper pro- 

 portion of lime (as recommended in "Soil Preparation," page 17) and 

 rake thoroughly. The seed can then be sown rather more thickly than 

 suggested before and the patch watered, rolled, and shaded from the sun. 

 Another easier method of renovating an old lawn would be to rake over 

 the impoverished places with a sharp, steel tooth rake. This will not 

 injure the yoimg grass that may be there, but on the other hand, will 

 rake out old dead material. Seed can then be scattered evenly and 



thickly over these 

 areas, and thorough- 

 ly roUed with a fairly 

 heavy roller. If this 

 work is done in the 

 Spring and the lawn 

 is, therefore, Hkely 

 to be subjected to 

 the hot suns, it 

 would be well to 

 cover the newly 

 seeded areas with 

 cheesecloth, burlap, 

 or some other mate- 

 rial to break the 

 sun's rays. They 

 must, of course, be 

 kept moist. 



Fig. 21— Where the shape 

 of the lot and the location 

 and arrangement of the 

 house combine to make 

 a long, straight path un- 

 avoidable, the latter can 

 be bordered by specimen 

 plants, such as clipped 

 Privet bushes, low ever- 

 greens, etc. 



FFimr 



UBRARlf' 



