EXECUTION OF SOME OF THE LANDSCAPE FEATURES 85 



himself, while another cuts it loose with a spade, as shown 

 in Fig. 77. When the sod is laid, it is unrolled on the land 

 and then firmly beaten down. Land that is to be sodded 

 should be soft on top, so that the sod can be well pounded 

 into it. If the sod is not well pounded down, it will settle 

 unevenly and present a bad surface, and will also dry out and 

 perhaps not live through a dry spell. It is almost impossible 

 to pound down sod too firm. If the land is freshly plowed, 

 it is important that the borders that are sodded be an inch or 

 two lower than the adjacent land, because the land will set- 

 tle in the course of a few weeks. In a dry time, the sod may be 

 covered from a half inch to an inch with fine, mellow soil as a 

 mulch. The grass should grow through this soil without diffi- 

 culty. Upon terraces and steep banks, the sod may be held 

 in place by driving wooden pegs through it. 



A combination of 

 sodding and seeding. 



An ^'economical sodding" is described in ^'American Garden " 

 (Fig. 78) : ''To obtain sufficient sod of suitable quality for cov- 

 ering terrace-slopes or small blocks that for any reason cannot 

 well be seeded is often a difficult matter. In the accompany- 

 ing illustration we show how a surface of sod may be used to 

 good advantage over a larger area than its real measurement 

 represents. This is done by laying the sods, cut in strips from 



78. Economical sodding, the spaces being seeded. 



