Real Lawns Wherever Grass Will Grow 
SUMMARIZING THE EXPERIENCES OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL LAWN MAKING SPECIALISTS— PREPARATION OF 
THE SOIL, DRAINAGE, FERTILIZING, SEEDING, CUTTING AND WATERING 
OS T lazvns unfortunately, are built 
on top of the ground! In striving 
after immediate effects, we are all 
too apt to disregard the first princi- 
ples of turf production — that of putting the soil 
in proper condition before sowing seeds. For 
unless the soil be prepared properly, a per- 
manent lawn is impossible since the grass 
merely rests on the top soil instead of grow- 
ing in it! 
Nearly all soils will support one grass or 
another. Yet every grass will do better where 
some attention has been paid to the physical 
make-up of the soil. 
To illustrate:— If you lime your surface 
excessively, you are favoring Kentucky Blue 
Grass and some of the more valuable grasses, 
such as the Fescues. On the other hand if a 
soil is neutral or inclined to be of an acid na- 
ture the Agrostis types of grass (Bents) will 
do best. Not that the Agrostis grasses will 
refuse to grow in a neutral or a limed soil, 
but results will not be such as where the soil is 
prepared to suit the grasses in the first 
place. 
When planning a new lawn, the first step is 
to dig into the soil, to the full depth of a spade, 
lifting out as solid a “chunk” as will hold 
together on the spade, and study the make-up 
of the various “layers.” 
Rarely is there more than six inches of 
“top soil” — the soil that forms the real basis 
of the lawn. Quite frequently, especially 
near the house, the soil consists of that stiff, 
yellow clay which came out of the cellar 
excavation, and a series of tests will often dis- 
close a wide variation in the immediate vicin- 
ity of the house. You are also apt to find 
quantities of lime, plaster, lumps of cement, 
broken bricks, etc., all of which have to be 
removed before a lawn can be made. 
PUTTING THE SOIL IN CONDITION 
Since it is not practical to select as many 
kinds of grasses as you have varieties of soil, 
the logical thing is to put all the soil in such 
condition as will support a well-balanced mix- 
ture of grasses. This is not difficult. The 
quickest way is to dig over (or plow) the whole 
surface to be put to grass and then apply 
specific remedies for specific needs. Let us 
start with an area in which heavy, yellow or 
other clay predominates. That kind of soil 
needs four things above all else — -drainage, 
lime, humus, and available plant food. 
If economy is a factor and you have pati- 
ence to wait a clay soil can be handled 
thus: 
Dig or plow as soon as possible in spring and 
scatter coal ashes or fine cinders or sand 
broadcast. These are as good material as 
caa be had to make unwieldy soils more fri- 
able. Don’t simply bury them, but incorpor- 
ate with the help of cultivator, disc or harrow. 
A strawberry cultivator is the best implement 
for this purpose, and man power is preferrable 
to horsepower in pulling the cultivator, since 
it. does not “pack” the soil as badly. Then 
scatter either well rotted manure, compost or 
commercial humus over the surface and work 
that into the soil. Again — don’t dig it under, 
but work it in, perhaps with a fork, to a depth 
of four inches. 
After repeated, light rolling of the land and 
cultivating it, sow Pacey’s Rye grass this 
spring. This will quickly produce a good 
green lawn but it is not permanent. By fall, 
this Rye grass will have fulfilled its mission, 
having further mellowed the soil, and have 
given the manure or compost a chance to be- 
Lime is an important factor in fitting most soils for 
grasses. Specialists use a lime spreader 
175 
come properly decomposed. It is now ready 
to be turned under, to enrich the soil with 
fibre and humus. Spade to a depth of about 
six inches, scatter air-slacked lime and bone- 
meal at the rate of ten pounds to every hun- 
dred square feet, and seed the ground to a 
well-balanced, permanent mixture. 
MAKING ENTIRELY NEW TOP SOIL 
On the other hand, assuming you are re- , 
luctant to wait a year there are two possible 
methods of procedure: sodding or making over 
the top soil. 
Seldom indeed, can sod composed of de- 
sirable grasses be had; again, some seeds will 
have to be sown anyway, since hurriedly laid 
sod never “joins” perfectly the first year. 
Lastly, most sod is “hide-bound” and re- 
quires a great deal of “feeding” to become a 
self-sustaining lawn. It should be rolled often 
and spike perforating rollers must frequently 
be used to aerate the soil under the sod. Of 
course, there are exceptions. Good sod and 
sodding will save time and trouble on em- 
bankments, slopes and similar places where 
excessive rains may wash. As a general rule, a 
thorough preparation of the top soil and seed- 
ing is the most satisfactory course to pursue in 
the long run. 
Clay soil itself is not an entirely undesirable 
basis for lawns, since it retains moisture well, 
but its stiff, tenacious nature must be broken 
by adding clean, sharp building sand and 
humus. On an area of 25 x 40 ft. Mr. Tucker 
finds the best results in general from this 
formula as used in his practice: 1 yard of 
building sand and 1 ton of fine granulated 
humus, with 100 pounds sheep manure and 
50 pounds of a chemical fertilizer of about 
35 : 6= 10: 1. (A yard of soil or sand equals 9 
Canal barrow loads or a wagon load, 9 feet 
long, 3 feet wide, one foot deep). 
Mix thoroughly, screen through f-inch 
mesh and scatter broadcast, as evenly as 
possible, and roll twice with a lawn roller. 
Then rake or cultivate the surface and remove 
all stones. Let the surface lay in this condi- 
tion for two or three days, then prepare your 
seed bed by rolling and dragging the surface to 
get it as even as possible. Sow the seeds in 
