August, 1921 
41 
DIAGRAM. _/BOWlAG 1LM\/ COURT DIMLAT/ICM/ 
Mattie Edwards Hewitt 
Attention to the tennis 
backstop will be well re¬ 
paid. Here climbing roses 
on a woven wire fence are 
practical and ornamental 
is sightly, easily maintained and 
merges into its surroundings with¬ 
out a break. It is perfectly suit¬ 
able as a playing surface for any 
of the lawn, games. It is at once 
practical and decorative. 
A serviceable and durable play¬ 
ing lawn may be built at a fairly 
slight expense as follows. First 
level perfectly and roll well the 
subsoil at a depth of 1' below the 
final top surface. Then lay 3" 
open tile drains on this surface 
from 4' to 10' apart, according to the ease with 
which the subsoil drains off the surplus water, 
running the pipes toward the center line of 
the lawn at a slight pitch where they will con¬ 
nect with a larger drain which will carry the 
seepage to a sump hole or to still another drain. 
On this surface and over these drains should 
be laid 3" of cinders or stone chips. Over 
this layer should be spread the very best kind 
of top soil, free from weeds and thoroughly 
pulverized. The surface of this top soil must 
then be carefully raked and leveled, two very 
important operations. If the surface is to be 
seeded, use the very finest lawn grass seed 
obtainable and avoid altogether the use of 
clover. Sow the seed evenly and generously 
when the ground is dry, then roll well with a 
roller, rake lightly again, roll again, and hope 
for just the right sort of damp weather to 
start the tiny roots. If really good sod of 
even thickness is obtainable it may be used, 
though it offers very slight advantage over 
seeding. After it is laid it should be lightly 
rammed, then rolled. When it has made con¬ 
tact with the soil underneath, it should be 
rolled again. If the first few weeks are dry 
it should be sprayed constantly. To keep a 
grass surface in condition for the playing of 
games it is necessary to roll, water, mow and 
weed it as often as possible. 
The dimensions of the various play spaces 
vary from the 60' by 120' maximum of the 
tennis lawn to the tiny area required for the 
sand box and swing that every child should 
have. The size and marking of the several 
major games of the home grounds is shown in 
the accompanying plans. From these it will 
be seen which or how many of the games may 
be placed on a certain plot or in a particular 
layout. Their exact location should be de¬ 
termined by the adaptability of the site and 
by the arrangement of the other units in the 
general design. Tennis lawns require a com¬ 
paratively level surface unless the cost of ex¬ 
tensive grading is of no particular conse¬ 
quence; croquet lawns demand a smaller but 
similar situation; bowling greens may be 
placed in any long, narrow space, across a 
Tennis requires the most 
space of all the games. The 
single court needs 54 x 
108' room for playing, and 
the double 63' x 108' 
fairly steep hillside if necessary, 
as their length rather than their 
width is the important considera¬ 
tion; clock golf requires only a 
small level area, and a child’s 
playground is not at all particu¬ 
lar as to the size or nature of its 
situation. It is very desirable in 
tennis and fairly so in bowls and 
croquet that the grounds for these 
games be so oriented that the di¬ 
rection of their greater length is 
as nearly as possible north and 
south. By so placing them, the sun’s rays 
when nearly level in the morning and after¬ 
noon are not so apt to interfere with the sight 
of the players. 
The decorative possibilities of these various 
spaces as parts of the general layout scheme 
are practically unlimited. There is not the 
slightest reason why any one of them should 
be awkwardly placed in its relation to the rest 
of the grounds design. On the contrary they 
may be made to serve as complements to and 
improve the appearance of the other units with 
which they are arranged. As an example of 
an aid to symmetry sometimes desirable, a 
hedge-enclosed bowling green might act as a 
balancing motif to a hedge enclosed flower bor¬ 
der on the opposite side of a formal lawn. If 
there is room for a croquet or tennis lawn on 
a site where space is limited, either one might 
become the open lawn of the layout with its 
edges softened by planting, and its function as 
a playground become incidental to its function 
as a decorative element. 
(Continued on page 62) 
