Lawn Care A discussion of the vital problems of lawn making and maintenance O. M. SCOTT 8c SONS COMPANY - SgFOSAfflV • MARYSVILLE, OHIO PUBLISHED SEVERAL TIMES YEARLY BY Vol.1 August 1928 ^ No. 1 Foreword hope hereafter to devote the greater amount of space to the actual experiences of those who are trying to maintain beautiful lawns. Is Better Why Fall Planting W E quote the following from an experiment station official whom we consider one of the best authorities on lawn matters: "If possible, plan to build your lawn in the late summer or early fall. Natur- ally the date varies somewhat with the location but the season holds in most lo- calities in the United States and Canada. What should be kept in mind is that grass seeds germinate and grow best in cool, wet weather. Early fall is better than early spring because it enables the grass to get a good start at a season when most weeds have sprouted and been cultivated out. With this start the new grass will be well along in the spring and be in better trim to combat weeds which grow rapidly when warm weather comes." It may be further said that grass from fall seeding stools or tillers out, thus establishing itself securely before cold weather. There is scarcely a THIS being the first edition of L A WN C A RE we should state our purpose. Here it is: To pass along to those who are trying to maintain satisfactory lawns the experiences of experts and amateurs. lawn problem puzzling anyone which someone else has not been able to solve at least partially. It occurred to us that we might act as a sort of clearing-house for such informa- tion, which we propose to pass along by means of this leaflet at least four times yearly. L A WN C A RE will be sent—with- out charge, of course—to all users of Scott's Seed and to others who request it. We have this favor to ask. Bring us your grass growing problems and tell us also about your successes in meeting other lawn making difficulties. Your questions will be fully answered by the best authorities on the various subjects. Those which are especially knotty will be answered in the subsequent issue of L A WN C A RE and a general discussion re- quested. The helpful ideas that are picked up here and there will thus be passed on to you and our many other friends. This first issue must necessarily con- tain our own comments, largely; but we % LAWN CARE MIIIHIIIIIMMMHMIIIIIIIMIIMIII»MI»IMII»»II«»IIIIMM* ^ Weedless English Lawns Not PERHAPS you have heard the old story of the American tourist who asked an English gardener 4iowL—theyL could have such beautiful lawns as you fmct in England. The reply came back, "That is easy. You simply prepare the seed bed carefully; sow clean seed; roll; weed; water; fertilize and mow—after a hundred years of such practice you have a real lawn." Everything is doubtless correct in that statement except the hundred years; and one important thing was overlooked: you must have English climate. The amount of moisture in the air and the frequent rains help to a very large de- gree in the easy maintenance of lawns in England. Nevertheless the late Dr. Piper, chairman of the Green Section of the U. S. Golf Association and an emi- nent authority on grass growing, made a trip to England a few years ago to study turf problems. He found weeds fully as bad in the English golf courses as they are on this side and a much less compre- hensive knowledge of grasses, their hab- its, uses, etc. It was his opinion that our English friends are depending too much on their ideal grass growing weather to carry the load. Mis-fit Mixtures AN EW YORK Experiment Station Bulletin of November, 1927 re- veals some interesting things about lawn mixtures. Various brands selling in great- est volume at retail were analyzed and the findings published. Eighty-eight mix- tures were tested, and here is the amaz- In twenty-six Timothy was ing thing: the predominating variety. In exactly the same number Redtop was the favor- ite. Next came Rye Grass, first in twenty mixtures. Seventy-two of the eighty- eight mixtures gave preference to a quick growing grass, good for a season but not one of the three a turf producer. Ken- tucky Blue Grass, which should comprise approximately fifty per cent of a good lawn mixture, was preferred in but ten of the eighty-eight mixtures and in prac- tically eich of the ten an excessive amount of some other variety was used to offset the Blue Grass advantage. The reason for this is, of course, that Tim- othy, Redtop and Rye Grass are all much cheaper than Blue Grass. It is pretty safe to assume that if a lawn mix- ture is prepared to sell at a set price it shouldn't be expected to produce a fine lawn. New York on Weeds FROM the same Bulletin just quoted we have further figures on weeds. Forty-eight of the eighty-eight mixtures contained more than one per cent weed seeds. (One per cent means about 20,000 in each pound of seed.) That is particularly that Timothy, Redtop and Rye Grass are varieties which can be obtained practic- ally weedless. One mixture contained 3.15 per cent weeds—enough to infest a lawn for years to come. The entire lot averaged 80 per cent pure—fairly high if Blue Grass predominated, but quite large considering •8 LAWN CARE « low considering the composition of the mixtures. Scott's Lawn Seed is ninety-five per cent pure. Kentucky Blue Grass is the predominating variety and three strains of Bent are present> a very fine seed sel- dom obtainable in a higher purity than ninety per cent. Opinion Differs TT isn't expected that all lawn makers should agree on matters relating either to soil preparation or seed selec- tion. Many times it is difficult to say who is right. But we feel justified in the light of our own experience in taking issue with an article on lawn making which appeared recently in a garden magazine. It seemed to us that several glaring mistakes were made and we shall comment upon them briefly. In the first place Rye Grass was rec- ommended in too large a percentage for a high grade lawn mixture. The cheaper mixtures contain an abundance of it because of the price. While it grows quickly there is a tendency for it to become coarse. During the past two years we have used none of it in our own mixture. Another suggestion to which we take exception is that of putting Chewings Fescue in a lawn mixture except for extremely shady and very sandy loca- tions. Under such conditions where a patchy turf is considered better than nothing Fescue would be acceptable. If you are not familiar with the appear- ance of Chewings Fescue perhaps this de- scription will enable you to identify it. mi Fescue is the low growing, fine grass that usually appears in circular patches. Dur- ing July and August it takes on a sort of fuzzy appearance and when cut closely often turns very brown. Fescue fre- quently spoils the appearance of an old lawn. For a long time the best author- ities have advised the use of Poa Trivi- alis for shade. We import the seed from Denmark and reclean it to a high pur- ity. It is a beautiful grass and we use a small amount of it in our Regular Mixture. For shade we find it gives more satisfactory results when used in combi- nation with a few other grasses than when sowed entirely alone. Scott's Shady Mixture contains seventy per cent of Poa Trivialis and, surprising as it may seem, most of the mixtures sold for shade con- tain none of it. Scott's Turf Builder lawns is built upon a r I 'HIS complete, lasting fertilizer for formula which insures the healthy, steady growth of grass blades and roots. Scott's Turf Builder is the result of our search for an all-around grass food containing a bal- anced ration of Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid and Potash, the three elements com- prising the ideal lawn diet. The tendency in fertilizers in recent years has been toward quick stimulation. Your lawn is treated to a "banquet" which lasts for a limited time. The soil does not retain the elements for a long enough period to feed the grass properly. A slower acting, longer enduring fer- tilizer for your lawn is desirable. Scott's Turf Builder possesses these qualities. To the best of our knowledge it offers more units of plant food per dollar than any other fertilizer on the market. We recommend the use of two pounds of Turf Builder per one hundred square feet. It will pay you to try some on your lawn this fall. Treat your grass to a real, nourishing meal. Do You Know Your Weeds? MAINTENANCE of a good lawn means a constant fight with weeds. While most of these pests must be pulled or dug out there are some which can be discouraged by other methods less laborious. We shall try to illustrate at least one common weed in each issue of LAWN CARE, give a brief history of it, and tell if possible how it may best be combated. This, of course, is common plantain, one of the most familiar lawn weeds. Plantain is a perennial and propagates by seeds. Its seeding time is from July to October. The basal leaves of plantain spread out to such an extent that they shade and frequently kill out the grasses underneath. Plantain may be destroyed by treating it with carbolic acid without much de- facement of the turf. Stab each plant in the center with a sharp stick and then squirt in a few drops of carbolic acid with a common machine oil can. Or, of course, the plant may be cut out with a spud. The best time for either opera- tion is in dry weather, just before the spikes appear. In cultivated fields plan- tain is easily destroyed but in a lawn which may not be remade once in fifteen or twenty years it is apt to become a serious pest if not checked. Have You Our Booklet ? IT is easy to misplace a small booklet. Perhaps you have lost either or both of "The Seeding and Care of Lawns" and "Bent Lawns." If so, extra copies are yours for the asking. We also have a folder of "Creeping Bent Questions and Answers" which may clear up some misunderstandings for you about this grass. Preserve Lawn Care IT is our plan to send LAWN CARE to you at least four times yearly. Occa- sionally it will be mailed alone under third class postage. Please don't mistake it for a circular in which you may have no interest. We are going to do our utmost to make this little house organ sufficiently interesting and helpful to you that you'll want to preserve each issue.