56 
House & Garden 
Where the ground is uneven a 
court may he made hy careful 
grading and the use of retaining 
walls 
Using Concrete 
Advocates of the concrete courts 
so widely used in California claim, 
amongst other things, that this ma¬ 
terial admits of playing throughout 
the year. Unquestionably this is true. 
Again, a well-laid concrete court is 
more permanent than one of grass or 
clay. 
One authority states that a 3" base 
of concrete, in the proportions of 1 
sack of Portland cement, 2^ cubic 
feet of clean, coarse sand, and 4 cubic 
feet of clean pebbles or broken stone, 
should be laid on a 6" drainage 
foundation of cinders. The concrete 
should be machine mixed if possible. 
In a joint at the net line is placed 
tarred felt Yt." thick and 4^" wide, 
and reinforcement in the concrete it¬ 
self is furnished by wire fabric 
pressed into the concrete base before 
the latter sets. 
The surface layer of the court is 
made in the proportions of 1 sack of 
Portland cement to 2 cubic feet of 
clean sand, mixed stiff. Half a pound 
of carbon black mixed with each sack 
of cement will give a grey shade to 
the court which will be easier on 
the eyes than the uncolored mixture. 
urally well drained is the best, and 
under no circumstances should you 
select a hollow into which the seep¬ 
age and surface water from the 
surrounding higher ground will find 
its way. If feasible, let the court 
be within convenient distance of 
the house, so that it may come to 
be an open-air gathering, place— 
almost an outdoor living-room, per¬ 
haps, with the addition of wicker 
or willow chairs and tea tables, a 
summerhouse or lawn shelter, and 
the dozen- odd other attractive 
things now made for such summer 
purposes as these. 
Too frequently little attention is 
paid to the matter of the court’s 
background. A very light back¬ 
ground, such as a white stucco 
house, for example, makes it diffi¬ 
cult to see the ball passing across 
it. On the other hand, crowding 
trees are objectionable because their 
foliage is too dark. The ideal back¬ 
ground, from the players’ stand¬ 
point, is plain, ordinary blue sky. 
Finally, in determining the site 
for the court, consider the amount 
of labor and expense involved in 
constructing a thoroughly satisfac¬ 
tory playing area. Such items as 
heavy grading and filling, much 
blasting of rock, etc., should be 
avoided if possible, for they are 
apt to run into large figures; and 
any slighting of the work will show 
sooner or later. 
Broadly speaking, there are three 
kinds of tennis courts in use in this 
country: turf, clay and concrete. 
Which of these will be the best for 
you is something you will have to judge for 
yourself after reading up on and considering the 
special characteristics of each. 
GR.^ss AND Clay Courts 
The grass court is unquestionably the most 
artistic of these types—provided you take care of 
it. It calls for the best of soil and sodding in 
the first instance, and frequent rolling and cut¬ 
ting after it is once established. For best results 
the court should have a 6" layer of stones as 
under-drainage, covered with 18" or more of good 
soil. When the latter is perfectly level and com¬ 
pacted by much watering and rolling, it should 
be given a final smoothing off preparatory to 
sowing the fresh grass seed or laying the sod, 
as the case may be. If you turn to the article on 
lawns on page 42 of this number you will find 
much that will assist you in finishing and caring 
COURTESY PORTLAND CEMENT ASSOCIATION 
Concrete courts offer the advantage of being usable throughout the year, and of requiring 
little upkeep care after they have once been properly constructed. With asphaltic tops, 
they are widely used in California 
for a grass tennis court. If any weeds appear, of 
course they must be taken out at once, root, 
stock and branch. 
While many a good grass court is made with¬ 
out under-drainage, the clay court virtually re¬ 
quires it. An excavation 1' deep should be made 
and leveled roughly with a spirit level. Then 
put in a 6" layer of trap rock or other broken 
stones the size of an egg, and level this. In 
ordinary situations a drain made of two lines of 
terra-cotta gutters should next be laid across the 
court at the net line. Fill these with stones and 
slope them enough to carry the water off at the 
sides—a 2" grade from the center to each end 
will be sufficient. If the soil is porous you can 
slope the court itself from the net to each end, 
giving it a grade of not over 2" and carrying off 
the water in this way. Where very heavy soil 
is involved, several lines of drains should be laid 
lengthwise of the court under the trap rock, 
sloped toward and connecting with the cross¬ 
drain at the net. 
With the drains laid according to these sug¬ 
gestions, the next step is to put in a 3" layer 
of fine broken stone or coarse gravel, which must 
be pounded hard and level. On top of this goes 
a layer of clay and sand mixture from 3" to 5" 
thick, to form the playing surface. An average 
mixture consists of 1 part of sand to 4 parts of 
clay, but this is subject to variation according to 
the quality of the clay used. The ideal to work 
for is a surface not too sticky to permit the 
water to soak through easily, nor so porous as 
to be soft under the players’ feet. 
Finally, level the surface and roll it repeatedly. 
If no rain falls, you will have to resort to arti¬ 
ficial watering in order to get the court well 
packed. Should worms become troublesome at 
any time, destroy them with one of the 
preparations made for this purpose. 
