GRASS SEEDS 


PRACTICAL CHECKPOINTS for your lawn 
When May Seeding Start? Cold weath- 
er (even freezing temperature) doesn’t 
harm grass seed. So you may start spring 
lawn work long before you can get at the 
flower garden. Grass seed won’t be harmed 
by any weather conditions except stand- 
ing water. 
Seed Early Under Trees. An early start 
on seeding and feeding is particularly ad- 
visable under shade trees. Early seeding 
here gives the grass a chance to get well 
started before leaves appear on the trees 
and begin to rob the grass of food and 
light. And once established, it’s also bet- 
ter able to thrive in the shade. 
Tree Feeding Helps Lawns. Trees com- 
pete with the grass for food. If a tree is 
well fed, it doesn’t rob the grass into star- 
vation. So it’s an excellent idea to con- 
sider tree feeding as a part of your lawn 
building campaign. 
Keep After Those Shady Spots. You 
may sometimes have to re-seed one or 
more times to get a good stand under trees 
or in other shady spots. But you’ll find 
that persistence pays well here. 
Sow Seed Properly. Take great care to 
get even distribution. Sow half the seed 
lengthwise, the other half crosswise. 
Seed on a calm day, or early in the 
morning, so that seed will fall where you 
want it. Rake it in lightly, cover with 
about 1%” of fine soil, and roll so as to 
keep seed firmly in place. 
Seed in Midsummer? While early spring 
and late fall seeding is the most produc- 
tive, don’t hesitate to plant in midsummer. 
Keep after the thin or bare spots! (When 
you seed in midsummer, take particular 
care with watering and weeding.) 
Seeding on Slopes. To prevent seed 
from washing away, and to keep the soil 
moist for the seedlings, cover the newly 
seeded slope with loosely woven burlap, 
tightly drawn and staked. Or use the new, 
coarse netting now made for this purpose. 
Illustration by VIGC 

Top Dressing Helps Mightily. You can 
give new seedlings a better start, help old 
grass spread out, and true up the surface 
by proper top dressing. Use a bushel of 
good, rich, weedfree soil per 100 sq. ft., 
with a little extra in the low spots. 
If your soil has too much clay in it, in- 
clude sand in your top dressing. If too 
sandy, work in some clay. 
When and Why to Roll. Use the roller 
in spring, to press the soil down firmly 
around the grass roots, where winter has 
disturbed them. This is the only legiti- 
mate use for rolling. 
Don’t use a roller to level the lawn. Top 
dressing does a better job and more easily. 
Don’t roll when lawn is wet or sticky, 
as this makes the soil too compact. 
Don’t use too heavy a roller. A water- 
ballast roller, empty or not over 1 full, 
is heavy enough. 
Don’t roll too often; you’ll pack the 
soil too tightly around the roots. 
Feed New Grass Well. Before seeding 
always apply a good fertilizer to help the 
new plants when they need help most— 
during their early growth. (Don’t use 


O 
FROM A “HOME” SEEDSMAN WHO KNOWS _ 
THE LAWN NEEDS OF THIS TERRITORY, 
PLAY SAFE! Buy your 
lawn seed from seeds- 
men only! 
The only way to win a thick, lasting 
turf is to sow a mixture of true turf 
grasses suited to your own soil and 
climatic conditions. 
And the only sure way to get such 
a mixture is to depend on a seed 
specialist who knows your territory 
and knows seed. 
““Cheap”’ lawn seed is no bargain! 
® @ ® 
fresh manure; it almost always contains 
weed seeds. ) 
Use of a mechanical fertilizer distributor 
is the best way to insure even spreading of 
the grass food. If no spreader is available, 
good results can be secured by mixing the 
fertilizer with the top dressing. 
Don’t Leave Leaves! The old idea that 
dead leaves help the grass is wrong. Dead 
leaves smother grass. They’re worthless 
as fertilizer unless composted until fully 
decayed. Furthermore, any well-selected 
variety of grass seed doesn’t need winter 
protection. So—remove dead leaves. 
Mowing the New Grass. Before its first 
mowing, it’s an excellent plan to roll the 
new area. This firms the soil around the 
new roots and holds them in place. 
Wait until the grass is 2” to 3” high be- 
fore the first mowing, but not so high as 
to topple. The mower should be set to 
cut about 2” high. 
Old or new, lawn grass should not be 
mowed extremely close. Very close cutting, 
unless done extra-frequently, will injure 
the grass by sudden exposure to the sun, 
after it has been shaded by dense growth. 
Mower clippings left on the lawn bene- 
fit it, unless in sufficient quantity to 
smother the grass. 
CRAB GRASS — Lawn Enemy No. 1! 
Worst and most dangerous of all the weeds that 
attack lawns is crab grass. 
Crab grass is an annual which propogates it- 
self by re-seeding. During early growth it looks 
muuch like grass, but when it matures and spreads 
it is easily recognized by its “‘fingered’’ head. 
Full grown, it smothers out the grass. 
Crab grass doesn’t start until warm 
weather. Therefore, the first step in fighting it 
is to plant plenty of good seed early, and fertil- 
ize early. When the lawn has a vigorous start, 
it doesn’t give the weed an opening. 
Next, before last year’s crab grass seed has a 
chance to sprout, treat the lawn with lead ar- 
senate, 20-25 1b. per 1000 sq. ft. applied as dust 
or spray. Damage to the blue-grass will be 
avoided if the treatment is followed by appli- 
cation of a fertilizer rich in nitrogen. 
Where crab grass actually has appeared, a 
direct chemical attack is necessary. New ‘“‘se- 
lective’ weed killers have now been perfected 
which kill the pest without permanent injury 
to the lawn. (Ask us about them.) 
Along with these methods of attack, the ordi- 
nary routine of mowing, watering, and fertiliz- 
ing should be regulated to help the fight. High 
cutting helps, because a thick mat of grass has 
a better chance to smother crab grass seedlings. 
Watering infrequently but heavily helps, 
too, because the young seedlings can’t reach the 
deep moisture. Fertilizing should be done well 
before the crab grass season, or after it. 
Also—collect and destroy crab grass seed 
wherever possible, by lifting the ‘“‘fingered’’ 
heads before mowing, and by mowing with the 
grass catcher attached. 
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