114 PBAGTIGAL GUIDE TO OABDEN PLANTS 



In the pages of this work many plants are mentioned as being 

 suitable for lawn decoration. It must not, however, be taken for granted 

 that each and every plant thus mentioned is to be grown on the lawn. 

 It would be far better to leave the lawn quite free from all except its 

 natural vegetation than to spoil it by dotting groups of plants, or 

 solitary specimens, all over it in a meaningless kind of way. The lawn 

 should not be treated as if it were an orchard or a shrubbery, and 

 anything that tends to interfere with its repose, or jars upon the taste, 

 is to be avoided. 



Making a Lawn. — Lawns are made in two ways — ^either by sovdng 

 seed or laying turf. Both ways are good, but some have a preference 

 for one rather than the other. When a lawn has been made by sowing 

 grass it takes about three years before a really good foundation has been 

 made, and during that period numerous rollings, cuttings, and waterings 

 must have been given. The advantage of making a lawn with turf is 

 that a good one can be obtained practically in one season — with the aid 

 of frequent cuttings, rollings, and waterings. If the turf is good and 

 free from weeds it is on the whole a better and quicker method of 

 producing a lawn. 



Whether seeds or turf are used, the first and all-important point is 

 to have good soil with a surface properly levelled and quite free from 

 hillocks and hollows, however slight. The soil should be well dug and 

 manured and afterwards trodden down with the feet, or rolled ; but the 

 roller should not be too heavy — one weighing about one cwt. wiU be 

 suificient, or the ground will be pressed into a caked condition, more or 

 less impervious to the passage of water. 



Levelling. — This is readily accomplished by means of a spirit level 

 attached to the edge of a level board. Special implements are used 

 for the purpose, but a stout quadrangular pole, about 8 ft. (or half a 

 rod) long will do equally well, provided its edges are perfectly level. 



Where the lawn is to be of some size, wooden pegs must be driven 

 into the soil at such intervals that the levelling rod can reach from one 

 to the other. Having fixed one peg at what is to be the ultimate height 

 and level of the lawn, all other pegs must be fixed or driven into the 

 soil until the top of each peg is on a level with that of the next. This 

 can be easily ascertained by means of the spirit level. 



The ground itself should also be carefully gone over vdth the level, 

 resting the rod in all directions with a view to finding any risings or 

 depressions. Where such occur they must be reduced or filled up by 

 means of the rake until the entire surface is as flat and as level, but not 

 necessarily as smooth, as a billiard table. 



