* When May Seeding Start? Cold 
weather (even freezing” temperature) 
doesn’t harm grass seed. So you may 
start spring lawn work long before you 
can get at the flower garden. (Only 
standing water harms grass seed.) 
* Seed Early Under Trees. Early seed- 
ing under shade trees gives the grass a 
chance to get well started before leaves 
appear on the trees to rob the grass of 
food and light. Once established, it 
also thrives better in the shade. 
* Keep After Those Shady Spots. You 
may have to re-seed one or more times 
to get a good stand under trees or in 
other shady spots. But persistence pays. 
* Tree Feeding Helps Lawns. Trees 
compete with the grass for food. If a 
tree is well fed, it doesn’t rob the grass 
into starvation. 
* 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 4%” 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 
productive, 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 
CHECK LIST for LAWN CARE 

use the new, coarse netting now made 
for this purpose. 
* 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, 
include 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 legitimate 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 
1/3 full, is heavy enough. 
* Don’t roll too often; you'll pack the 
soil too tightly around the roots. 
* Feed New Grass Well. Before seed- 
ing always apply a good fertilizer to 
help the new plants when they need 
help most — during their early growth. 
(Don’t use fresh manure; it almost al- 
ways contains weed seeds.) 
Use a mechanical fertilizer distributor 
to insure even spreading of the grass 
food, or mix fertilizer with top dressing. 
* Don’t Leave Leaves! Dead leaves 
smother grass. They're worthless as fer- 
tilizer unless composted until fully de- 
cayed. A well-selected variety of grass 



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seed doesn’t need winter protection, So 
—remove dead leaves. 
* Mowing the New Grass. Before its 
first mowing, roll the new area to firm 
soil around the new roots to hold them 
in place. 
Wait until grass is 2” to 3” high be- 
fore the first mowing, but not so high as 
to topple. Set mower to cut about 2” high. 
Old or new, lawn grass should not be 
mowed extremely close. Very close cut- 
ting, 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 ben- 
efit it, unless in sufficient quantity to 
smother the grass, 
23 
