LAWN RENOVATIONS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 96, 6 April 1934, Page 15

LAWN RENOVATIONS

POINTS WORTH NOTING. If inclined to be mossy dress with weathered soot until the grass has n definite blackish tinge. If the soot is applied just before a shower, it will not long remain unsightly, being wash ed out of sight in a few days. If very mossy dress with the following:—Sand 141b5., sulphate of iron Jib, this amount being sufficient for one rod of lawn. A week later rake out the dead moss with a short-tooth rake scarifying the surface thoroughly. If inclined to be wet or if the soi. is sour dress with fresh slaked lime at the rate of 111 b. per square yard. A week later plunge a garden fork into the turf to its full depth all over the luwn. This ie an excellent aid to drainage. If rather poor dress lightly with sifted compost consisting of good mould leaf soil and a little rotted manure and soot. A dressing of basic slag at the rate of jib. to the square yard is also an excellent tonic. Bono meal (2ozs. per square yard) and patent lawn manures again are helpful. ... If somewhaf unlevel dress with sifted road sweepings, smoothing them down with a straight edged board so that they will fill up hollows. The grass will soon come through the layer the lawn very quickly having a normal appearance. Periodical rolling through the autumn and winter ie very necessarv although it. may be added that tho ohl idea that it was good to roll a lawn until it looked black and distressed is entirelv exploded. Much, and heave, rolling, especially in wet weather, turns the soil hard and sour, and the grass us a result becomes weakened and bad in colour. No gardener should ever roll just after hard rain, or expect the roller to do the work of a careful lawn maker. It is true the roller helps to keep a lawn level when once it has been made so. but the i roller cannot do the work of levelling. 1 All little elevations should bo reduced bv lifting the turf and taking away a little soil, while soil must be I put under the grnss to fill a hollow. The autumn is by far the best time , for weeding a lawn, as all signs of the work will be gone long before it u used again. Unfortunately there is rm magic, process that will get rid of the weeds on a lawn at little trouble an 1 expense: even a lawn sand does not kill the larger weeds, accounting on' for daisies and other small fry. Persistent hand weeding is the only real remedy, the shallow rooting subjects; being lifted by means of a worn table : knife, or, better still, one of the special daisy grubbers sold for the purpose and those too deeply imbedded to be removed being killed by dipping a pointed stick in a strong solution of weed killer, one to eight of water is of sufficient strength. Caro should o taken to replace the little lumps of turf too often brought up with the weeds and to fill any small holes with fine soil having a few grass seeds mixed with it.