r

PUBLISHED  FIVE  TIMES  YEARLY  FOR  LAWNTHUSIASTS 

© By  O.  M.  Scott  6 Sons  Co.,  Marysville, Ohio

Eighteenth  Year

Number  83

WAKE  UP YOUR  LAWN!

GREATEST  single  handicap  in  an 

early  spring  lawn  problem  is  that 
the  start isn’t early enough.  It is human 
nature  to  wait  for  the  urge,  regardless 
of  whether  one  does  the  work  himself, 
has  a  regular  gardener  or  an  “irregu­
lar”  handyman.  That  urge,  of  course, 
coincides  with  balmy  spring  breezes 
and  has  no  special 
bearing  upon  when 
the  job  should  be 
done.  T o  do  the 
thing  right  at  the 
right  time 
insures 
g e t t i n g  the  best 
response  from  your 
lawn.  February  is 
the  mo n t h   when 
Lincoln  and  Wash­
ington  d o m i n a t e  
o u r  
t h i n k i n g .
We’ve always given 
the  month  to  them.
The  home  owner 
h as  the  g o l d e n  
opportunity  to  give 
it  new  significance 
by  putting  feeding, 
seedi ng,   raking, 
rolling  and  weed­
in g   in  the  s a me  
category  with  rail 
splitting  and  tree  cutting.

Feeding.  After  such  a  winter as  this, 
the  first  call  of  grass  is  for  a  good 
square  meal.  This  can  be  served  most 
any  time  now,  even  scattered  over  the 
snow.  It’s  a  good  idea  to  make  the

application in February or March while 
the  grass  is  still  brown  and  dormant. 
No  watering  in  or  raking  in  is  then 
needed  and  there  is  no  danger  of 
burning.

It  doesn’t  take  a  master  chef  to  con­
coct  a  substantial  grass  breakfast.  Turf 
Builder  is  already  prepared  and  will 
gi ve 
the  g r as s  
plants  all  the  suste- 
nanc e  n e e d e d ,  
a p p l i e d   a t   10 
p o u n d s   per  1000 
square  feet.

Seeding.  Another 
important  phase  of 
the  s p r i ng   work 
that  can  be  com­
pleted  whi l e   i t ’ s 
s t i l l   col d  is  the 
s eedi ng.   This  as 
well  as  feeding  can 
be gotten out of the 
way before the rush 
of spring  work.

Grass  seed  is  not 
injured  by  freezing 
no  matter  how  low 
the  t emper at ur e 
goes.  For  that  rea­
son it is safe  to sow 
before  frost  has  left 
the  ground.  Then  as  alternate  freezing 
and  thawing  of  the  surface  occurs  the 
seeds  find  their  way  into  cracks  and 
crevices of the soil. This provides cover­
ing  for  the  seed  so  it  gets  necessary 
moisture  for  germination  when  the

SCOTTS  LAWN  CARE
areas  in  the  surface  should  be  filled 
with  topdressing.

Mowing.  The  d~te  of  the  first  mow­
ing  depends  altogether  cn  the  arrival 
of  growing  weather.  It  is  a  good  idea 
to  start  mowing  as  soon  as  the  grass 
gets  much  of  a  start.  If  the  growth  is 
so  long  and  lush  as  to  topple  over 
there  may  be  some  smothering.

later 

lawns,  seeding 

Deferred  Program.  While early feed­
in 
ing  and  seeding  pay  dividends 
healthy 
in  the 
spring  does  not  necessarily  doom  a 
lawn  to  failure.  It  is  much  better  to 
plant  seed  on  a  thin  area  or  bare  spot 
even  in  midsummer  than  to  leave  it 
wide  open  for  the  invasion  of  trouble­
some  weeds.  Late  spring  and  early 
summer  plantings  do  make  successful 
lawns,  but  they  require  more  weeding 
and  careful  watering.  The  disadvan­
tage  of  unfavorable  weather can  be  off­
set  with  intelligent  care.

2
later  spring  sun  warms  the  soil  and 
showers  or  sprinkling  keep  it  moist.

Many  early  sowers  prefer to  plant  on 
one  of  the  last,  thin  snows.  The  white 
surface  makes  the  seed  more  visible, 
aiding even  distribution.  Thus  uniform 
growth  can  be  expected.  As  the  snow 
melts,  the  seed 
into  the 
ground  to  the  ideal  depth  for good  ger­
mination.  Such  planting  should  not  be 
attempted  on  steep  slopes  where  melt­
ing  snow  may  wash  away  the  seed.

is  carried 

Cleaning.  The  winter’s  accumula­
tion  of  leaves,  twigs  and  other  debris 
should  be  swept  or  raked  off  the  lawn 
as  soon  as  the  surface  thaws  and  is  dry 
enough  to  walk  on.  It  was  formerly 
thought  that  this  raking  needed  to  be 
severe  particularly  where  crabgrass  had 
been  bad  the  previous  year.  Now  such 
drastic  rakings  are  not  advised  unless 
the  seeding  is  delayed  until  well  into 
the  spring  when  the  surface  should  be 
roughened  to  provide  a  lodging  place 
for  the  seed.

Rolling.  Spring  is  the  only  time 
necessary to  roll  established lawns. Roll­
ing  has  but  one  object:  to  press  grass 
roots  gently  back  into  the  soil  from 
which  frost  has  raised  them.  If  seed 
has  been  sown  previously  it  also  helps 
press  it  into  the  soil.

It  is  imperative  to  choose  the  right 
soil  condition,  otherwise  rolling  will 
do  more  harm  than  good.  The  ground 
should  be  entirely  free  of  frost,  but not 
sticky.  The  surface  may  be  only  par­
tially  dry—damp  but  not  wet.  Lawns 
on  sandy  soil  can  be  rolled  without 
injury  while  the  ground  is  wet,  but 
most  other  soils,  particularly  clay,  will 
be  badly  compacted.  When  dry  they 
become  hard  as  rock,  halting  the  devel­
opment  of  the  grass  roots.

Regardless  of  the  soil,  a  heavy  roller 
is  injurious  to  the  turf.  A  water ballast 
roller,  either  empty  or  not  over  one- 
third  full,  is  sufficiently  heavy.  Trying 
to  iron  out  the  high  spots  with  a  heavy 
roller  is  especially  damaging.  Any  low