Nothing about a home is to be admired more than a good, well-kept lawn. Lawns may be secured either by sodding or by seeding. Sodding is usually very expensive, and except on steep banks or terraces, a better, more even and uniform lawn can be secured by seeding. It is possible to have a good sod from seed in three or four months and an attractive green covering in much less time.
Frequently, the soil used for grading around a new house is poor and cloddy and not suited for grass growing. In these cases, it will pay to haul in enough loamy topsoil to cover the surface two or three inches deep. If this can not be done, use plenty of well-rotted manure and fertilizer. The lawn should have a sufficient slope to provide surface drainage, and if there are natural wet places, tile drains should be put in two feet deep. The topsoil should be carefully leveled and made fine and loose with a rake.
Fertilizing and watering are as important as seeding in securing and maintaining a good lawn. Grass requires a fertilizer which is rich in nitrogen. On reasonably good soils, an application each spring about May 1 of 5 pounds of sulphate of ammonia to 1,000 square feet of lawn will produce a vigorous growth of grass. When seeding a new lawn and as an annual topdressing on poor soils, mix 5 pounds of the sulphate with 10 or 15 pounds of fine bonemeal for each 1,000 square feet. The use of an 8-6-6 or some similar ready-mixed fertilizer at the same rate is also good.
Plenty of water, either as rain or from a hose, always helps the lawn. When a lawn is sprinkled, enough water should be used to wet the ground four to six inches deep. Grass is much deeper rooted than we think. Bluegrass roots usually go down 12 to 20 inches. The sprinkler should be left in one place for an hour or more and then that place need not be watered again for a week. Simply sprinkling the lawn for a few minutes to wet the surface is a waste of water and may do the lawn more harm than good. Contrary to popular opinion, watering the lawn while the sun is shining does no injury, so that the sprinkler may be used all day if necessary.
Nearly every seedsman offers one or more "lawn grass" mixtures, which are usually sold at a rather fancy price. It is a question whether these mixtures are any better than a homemade mixture where such standard grasses as Kentucky bluegrass, redtop, perennial ryegrass, red fescue, and timothy together with white clover are used.
Yankee Publishing Inc., P.O. Box 520, Dublin, NH 03444, USA, (603) 563-8111
Copyright ©2008, Yankee Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.
Interactive features developed and maintained by Reinvented Inc.
