CARE OF GRASS LAWNS

Taranaki Daily News, 26 January 1934, Page 3

CARE OF GRASS LAWNS

LECTURER REVIEWS FACTORS. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UPKEEP. “There are four main aspects in the upkeep of lawns and greens,” said Mr. E. Bruce Levy, director of grass lawn research, when lecturing tn an audience of about 40 at the New Plymouth Y.W.C.A. Hall last night. “Grasses, fertilisers, weeds and pests form the points, and I intend to deal with those each in turn.” Mr. T. P. Anderson presided at the meeting, which was attended by prominent figures in the tennis, golf and bowling world. Discussing the lawn grasses, Mr. Levy said that the modern conception, as different from the. old, was to make a lawn with one, or at most, two species of grasses, blending them together to form a composite whole. With three dr more species in the blend, the results, unless the growth form was equal, would inevitably be zonation, with patches of different grasses disfiguring the appear-, ance of the lawn. Of the grasses available in commercial quantities, brown top and chewing fescue were the ideal blend, especially when the blend was two parts of fescue to one of brown top, with the mixture sown at the rate of one ounce a squa.j yard; With both grasses the crowns were below the surface, a necessity in any lawn. The loose flat leaves of the brown top combined excellently with the spindly, erect leaves of the fescue. COMBINATION OF GRASSES. Although the combination of the fescue and brown top was probably preferable to the pure species lawn, an American reflex was the use of creeping bent, which was grown in special nurseries and the stolons spread over the lawn surface prepared. Lawns of creeping bent required more attention than others and were not likely to be used extensively in New Zealand. Another bent species which had been used with a fair amount of success in Great Britain and America was the velvet bent, which, although not available in commercial quantities in the Dominion, had been used with success by the Hamilton Bowling Club. It was a fine-leafed grass, giving results which made a good sward lawn. A matter of some concern to tennis clubs, and especially bowling clqbs, was that the ends of the lawns were quickly worn. As brown top was a slowly growing grass, virtually the only grass that could be sown in the autumn to be ready for the next season’s play was perennial ryegrass. For standing hard wear it was better than anything the speaker knew of. Bowlers might save the ends of the green by using larger mats. Under no consideration whatever should sharp sand be used in a compost of manure, as it tended to grind out the sward under the pressure of the players’ feet. Close and continuous cutting of a green reduced vigour in the sward. The bast idea, of course, was to have, if possible, duplicating greens which could be used in alternative weeks, leading to infinitely better greens by saving the sward. FERTILITY FACTOR. In the fertility factor of lawns, the manures could be divided into two classes, toxic and non-toxic. To the former belonged sulphate of ammonia and sulphate of iron, and to the latter nitrate of soda, superphosphate, blood and bone, bone flour and dried blood. The continued use of toxic manures would inevitably spell ruin for a sward, a particularly true case where adequate summer watering of a green was impossible. Phosphate, potash, nitrogen and lime were all removed from a lawn in the process of mowing and it was only a matter of time before the absence of these constituents had its effects. The speaker said he felt diffident about recommending lime for manure, but a ton per acre every five years would be' any amount. Nitrogen was a different matter and could be applied every two or three months in various forms. Various methods of manuring were recommended by the speaker. On the question of weed control, Mr. Levy said that the persistence of clover, mat and flat grasses would ultimately stifle any lawn. With rotary mowers, the upstanding leaves of grasses other than the matted kind would be cut off, and defoliation would be so great that the plant would die. To destroy weeds, two agents of toxic fertilisers, the sulphates of ammonia and iron, as well as a spray of arsenic pentoxide would be found to be the most useful. A mixture of one part of ammonia to two parts of iron, applied at three cwt. to an acre, was the right proportion, and in solution, the effect would be deadly. A plant “transpiring,” or wet fr«m dew, was more easily killed, it had been found. Chemical sprays were efficient, but owing to the necessity for skilful use, he did not recommend their common use. More watering than was at present done should be made on lawns. The lawn pests included worms, grass grubs and subterranean caterpillars. Worms, with their casts giving an uneven surface to a lawn, were one of the greatest banes in existence to a greenkeeper, but a mixture of copper sulphate, applied with plenty of water, would be found an effective killer. A preventative for grass grubs was a topdressing of arsenic of lead powder every three years, while for the caterpillars an arsenate of lead spray, in the proportion of 21b. to 100 gallons of water, would be effective.

After several questions had been answered by Mr. Levy, a vote of thanks was carried with acclamation.