LAWN. 



162 



LAWN. 



which are more or less showy, and 

 being of vigorous growth are well 

 adapted for broad borders. They will 

 grow in any common soil ; the an- 

 nuals are propagated by seeds, and 

 the perennials by division of the 

 root. 



Laurel. — See Ce'rasus. 



Laurus. — Lauracece. — The Sweet 

 Bay, L. nobilis, is a very handsome 

 evergreen shrub or low tree, with 

 dark green leaves. It is somewhat 

 tender, and requires a sheltered situ- 

 ation. The male and female flowers 

 are on different plants ; and the for- 

 mer, which are of a rich yellow, are 

 by far the most showy. It will grow 

 in any common soil, and it is propa- 

 gated by layers. The leaves are used 

 to flavour custards. The fruit of the 

 female plant is a round dark purple 

 berry, produced in abundance in fine 

 seasons ; but, unfortunately, in nur- 

 series, the male plant is by far the 

 most common. 



Lava'ndula. — Labiates. — The La- 

 vender is a low suffrutescent bush, 

 well known for the fragrance of its 

 flowers, and for an oil which they 

 yield by distillation in water. L. 

 Stoechas, the French Lavender, is a 

 more ornamental plant than the com- 

 mon kind, but somewhat tender. 

 Both require a dry calcareous soil, and 

 an open airy situation. The common 

 Lavender is cultivated on a large 

 scale at Mitcham, and also at Henley- 

 on-Thames. At both places it is 

 propagated by cuttings of the young 

 wood planted in autumn, and seeds 

 are sold in the seed-shops. 



Lava'tera. — MalvacecB.—A very 

 showy annual, common in flower- 

 gardens, which only requires sowing 

 in the open border in March or April. 

 There are also two shrubbery kinds. 

 See Tree Mallow. 



Lawn. — Smooth mown turf, when 

 of any extent in pleasure grounds, is 

 called a lawn ; and its chief beauties 



are the uniformity of its surface, and 

 uniformity in the kinds of grasses which 

 cover it, and which produce an uni- 

 form tone of green. These objects 

 are produced by first preparing the 

 soil, which should be a sandy loam, 

 or a loam slightly inclining to sand, 

 of a foot or more in depth, and equal- 

 ly drained throughout, so as every- 

 where to retain the same degree of 

 moisture. Next the same mixture of 

 grasses should be sown throughout, 

 and lastly they should be mown at re- 

 gular intervals, say of a fortnight 

 during the summer months, and a 

 month during spring and autumn. 

 Whenever coarse grasses, or broad- 

 leaved plants of any kind appear, they 

 should be taken out with the spud ; 

 and whenever any spot becomes bare, 

 the soil should be renewed, and 

 pieces of fresh turf introduced, or 

 seeds sown ; also, when worms dis- 

 figure the surface, the castings which 

 they throw up should be scraped off, 

 and the surface watered with lime- 

 water, by which all the worms will be 

 destroyed. In general, it is impos- 

 sible to produce a fine lawn, except 

 in an open, airy situation, with a 

 soil which will retain moisture during 

 summer; for in close pent-up places, 

 surrounded by walls or hedges, and 

 under the drip of trees and shrubs, no 

 kind of grass will grow. In such 

 places, all that can be done is to en- 

 courage the growth of moss, which 

 will spring up naturally wherever the 

 soil is kept sufficiently moist ; but 

 where it is very dry, the branches of 

 the trees and shrubs shonld be allow- 

 ed to trail on the surface, so as com- 

 pletely to cover it. In some situa- 

 tions, where the branches of the trees 

 and shrubs do not lie close to the 

 surface, or where they are chiefly of 

 deciduous kinds, the surface may be 

 clothed with ivy or periwinkle. In 

 very small gardens, grass plots are 

 generally formed by rolls of turf taken 



