LAWN BUILDING. . . . Howe waene were? 
Consider Your Soil 
In the garden, each spring brings a 
new chance to add humus or to other- 
wise improve the tilth of your soil. 
Once a good sod has been built up, 
however, the only way you can 
change the soil under it is by feeding 
the grass itself. That is why it pays 
to build up the soil before you begin. 
Organic matter must be added before 
work begins. Well-rotted compost, old 
manure, peat moss, sifted compost and 
leaf mold are all good forms that will 
help produce a deep-rooted healthy 
turf. Note that these must be old and 
well-rotted—fresh organic matter can 
damage young grass by rotting and re- 
leasing gases in the soil, and by en- 
couraging disease. Spread a layer of 
organic matter from one to three 
inches deep over the entire area. Over 
this, apply 25 to 30 pounds of good 
mixed fertilizer for every 1,000 square 
feet, and turn under both organic mat- 
ter and fertilizer. Grass roots do not 
go deep on soils with good drainage. 
There is no need to dig much deeper 
than five inches. The mixed fertilizer 
will give the grasses a good start and 
the humus will help hold moisture, and 
by slow decay, release small amounts 
of plant food for years. 
Final Soil Preparation 
After digging, level the surface with 
a rake. For large areas, a drag made 
by tying ropes to both ends of a ladder 
or heavy timber and dragging this 
sideways will help cut off the humps 
and fill the low spots. When as level 
as possible, divide the seed into two 
lots. Try to sow on as still a day as 
possible. Sow one lot of seed with 
the breeze and the other against. This 
will spread the seed more evenly, so 
that each square foot of lawn will have 
enough, but not too much seed. 
Seeding 
A common mistake is to sow too 
thickly. Grass seedlings will not grow 
when crowded any more than will 
seedlings of cabbage or lettuce. At the 
same time, enough seed should be used 
to cover the entire area without bare 
spots. Half a pound of mixed seed to 
100 square feet or five pounds to 1,000 
square feet is safe for most mixtures, 
and good lawns can be made with as 
little as 3 pounds to 1,000 feet if con- 
ditions are right. 
After sowing, rake the lawn again. 
Don’t keep pulling the rake one way, 
which will roli over the course par- 
ticles and bury the seed too deeply. 
Instead, work it back and forth with 
short strokes, barely coating the seed 
with dust and soil. 
Water with a fine spray as soon as the 
seed is sown. This is the only time in 
the life of a lawn that it should be 
sprinkled or sprayed. At all other 
times, give it a good soaking whenever 
watering is needed, but for this first 
wetting, we want to settle the soil 
gently around the seed and moisten 
it enough to start germinating. If the 
normal soil moisture is enough to keep 
the lawn just slightly damp, try not to 
water again until the soil has germi- 
nated, but do not let it get dry at any 
time. 
Once the green seedlings are showing 
over the entire lawn and there is little 
danger of washing out the soil, water 
thoroughly if rain does not fall. The 
first seedlings to show will be the nurse 
grass, and probably not the grasses 
that will form the permanent lawn. 
Mowing 
Don’t mow the lawn until it is about 
three inches high. Then set the mower — 
for a 11% inch cut (adjust the roller 
until there is 1144 inches between the 
bedknife and the floor on which the 
mower stands). Don’t mow a new 
lawn closer than this—the grass needs 
this much leaf area if it is to build up 
strength enough to stool out and form 
a permanent turf that will survive the 
coming winter. 
Reseeding Bald Spots 
Sometimes thin spots will remain in 
the lawn, particularly if conditions are 
unfavorable for the permanent grasses. 
These can be seeded with Italian rye- 
grass, which will germinate in hot 
weather, when good grasses will not. 
With the return of cooler weather in 
fall, these temporary patches can be 
raked out and the regular mixture 
seeded. 
To remake established lawns that are 
in poor shape, rake the thin spots as 
early in spring as possible, apply 25 
pounds of good general fertilizer to 
every 1,000 square feet, and sow one 
pound of a good mixture to every 400 
to 500 square feet. Rake in the seed 
and sprinkle. From this point on, 
treat as a new lawn. 
Complete LAWN WEED CONTROL « « « 
at your command 
Just a few short years ago, weed-free lawns were a rarity. 
Now, almost overnight, weed control has become easy, almost automatic. 
Out of the laboratories have come new chemicals with the miraculous 
power to kill the common lawn weeds while leaving the turf itself 
8 
unharmed. 
Today, weeds in the home lawn are completely unnecessary and 
out-of-date ... in fact, they may well be classified as just “bad 
housekeeping.” 
We are a bit proud of our own part in this modern lawn revolu- 
tion. Ever since the new weed control chemicals began to appear, 
we've been prescribing and providing them for the lawns of our 
area. We know them thoroughly. We can tell you exactly which 
controls to use—and when. And we have them in stock. 
Please be sure, then, to look up the weed killers described later 
on in this book. And if you have any questions about them, be 
sure to consult us. 
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