74 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



SODDING 



The spaces along the walks and drives should be sodded to 

 maintain the edge. It is well, too, to sod the space directly against 

 the house, to prevent any soiling of the wall surfaces by splashing. 



SEEDING 



Time of sowing and the best seed are subjects of equal impor- 

 tance. Unless we look well to these two essentials we may have 

 our trouble in the manuring and preparation of the ground set to 

 naught. Spring and Fall are the best seasons for sowing, prefer- 

 ably the months of April and September. Lawns seeded late in the 

 Fall should be given a mulch as a Winter protection. 



GRASS SEEDS 



The varieties of grasses suitable for the making of a good lawn 

 are limited. The general desire is for a close turf of pleasing color. 

 Soil and chmatic conditions will enter largely into the right selec- 

 tion. (The recommendations which follow apply to the Atlantic 

 coast region north of Washington, D. C, and the Allegheny region 

 as far south as northern Georgia.) 



Kentucky Blue Grass is the best all-around lawn grass and will 

 thrive in any good lawn, providing it receives a generous but not 

 excessive amount of moisture. 



In soils of very light character Red Top, Rhode Island Bent, 

 Creeping Bent or White Clover are good. 



On account of the varied conditions met with, a mi.xture including 

 the above named kinds in varying proportion, is usually most satis- 

 factory. 



Seed of the highest grade from a reliable house should be pur- 

 chased and sown at the rate of five bushels (100 lbs.) to the acre; or, 

 one quart to 300 sq. ft. This will allow for a very generous seeding, 

 which is much to be preferred to seed sparsely scattered. 



Grass seeds will vary in weight as to the number of pounds to the 

 bushel. In recleaned seeds of a high grade. Blue Grass should run 

 from twelve to fifteen pounds to the bushel; Red Top extra re- 

 cleaned, thirty pounds to the bushel; Creeping Bent, twenty pounds; 

 Rhode Island Bent, fourteen pounds; White Clover, sixty pounds. 

 A good grass seed mixture should average twenty pounds to the 

 bushel. 



A calm day should be chosen for the seeding, otherwise it is 



