CHAPTER II 

 How TO Make a Lawn Once For All 



Ground preparation — Starting work ahead of the builders — Uncom- 

 fortable newness — The bugbear of inert soil — Making new soil — 

 Barnyard manure and humus — Lime — Bad soil vs. bad seed — Diffi- 

 culty of reconstruction — Clearing — Ploughing — Harrowing — Corn 

 or potatoes as a previous crop — Cowpeas — Final Enrichment — 

 Weeds. 



Much is gained by deciding upon the site 

 for the lawn and completing the prelim- 

 inary steps for its preparation well in advance 

 of the time that building operations are com- 

 menced. Indeed, the aim should be to lay 

 out the lawn, roughly as to outline but com- 

 plete as to the preparation of the soil, a year 

 before the building contractors arrive. Un- 

 fortunately this is usually an impossible 

 course, and though it may be followed out 

 occasionally on large estates, where very 

 often there is a great deal of general con- 

 struction work to be carried out so as to fit it 

 for human habitation, yet it is so rarely a 

 practical possibility in connection with smaller 

 plots as to be unworthy of consideration now. 



