'126 LAWNS 



traffic across the lawn will also have a ten- 

 dency to batter down the edges. Once a 

 week, when mowing is taken in hand, the 

 edges should be carefully examined, and with 

 the garden rake, turned upside down, any 

 broken portions may be easily rebuilt. If 

 this little detail is attended to regularly, and 

 the damage not allowed to become exagger- 

 ated, it is surprising how little time and work 

 will be occupied in maintaining a decent 

 appearance. 



The lawn mower will not cut the edges, and 

 although there are attachments made for 

 certain styles of mowers and even special 

 edge cutters in machine form, it cannot be 

 said that they have proved practically suc- 

 cessful. They easily become clogged with 

 dirt or pick up stones and the cutting edge 

 is damaged. Then the irregularity of the 

 height of the lawn above its surroundings 

 renders it somewhat difficult to exactly gauge 

 the depth to which such a cutter should be 

 set. In actual practice, even on the very 

 largest estates, it is found better to use what 

 is known as edging shears for trimming. The 

 man handling the shears usually follows the 

 man with the mower. These shears, which 



