PUBLISHED FIVE TIMES YEARLY FOR LAWNTHUSIASTS © By O. M. Scott & Sons Co., Marysville, Ohio Nineteenth Year Number 87 SPRING 46 LAWN PROGRAM THIS should be the year when that better lawn can become a reality. Time, materials, and even tools will probably be available, so the lawn need no longer be neglected. that you will need Do you have a sturdy, sharp-toothed to garden rake scarify those bare spots? A spading fork is good to open up hard, compact areas. A comb type rake is handy to clean the lawn. What about a spreader for applying seed and food evenly and without waste? If you can borrow a roller when you return the neighbor's snow shovel, all well and good. If not, you may want to buy one but be sure to get a water ballast too heavy. Unless a soil is sandy or grav- elly it may be harmed by heavy roll- type as most others are ing. A roller is not to be used to level a rough firm heaved grass roots back into the soil. lawn—only to They tell us that new lawn mowers will be available for the grass cutting season. Look that can be adjusted to V/2 inches cutting height. for one What To Do Before Thaws Liming—If a soil test shows that your soil needs lime, late winter is a good time to put it on. About the most that should be applied at one time is 50 to 75 pounds of raw ground agricul- tural limestone per 1000 squar • feet. If you have to use the hydrated form, reduce the rate to 35 to 50 pounds. If your lawn has not had lime in recent years it may be a good idea to make a trial application on part of it and see if that section is more thrifty through the summer. If so, the balance should be limed the following fall or winter. L A WN C A RE N O. 4 8. Grub Control—Lawns in areas of potential Jap Beetle invasions should be treated with one of. the newer mate- rials available to eliminate grubs. time Feeding—While the ground is fro- is a zen and the grass still dormant good to apply Turf Builder. There is then no danger of burning and nutrients will be ready for use as early as the grass starts growth. The rate to use Turf Builder is about 10 pounds per 1000 square feet (20 ft. x 50 ft.) or one pound per 100 square 2 feet. The best way to apply it is with a Scott Spreader as then all that is neces- sary is to set at the required rate, fill the hopper and run over the ground. Seeding—After feeding it is well to do necessary seeding even though the is frozen and ground lots of cold weather is expected. During periods of alternate freezing and thawing the ground often becomes checked and cracked, making what is called a honey- combed surface. This is ideal to receive the seed, as weathering tends to work it into the soil where it is ready for ger- mination when the ground warms. Feeding and seeding on top of a light snow is good practice. The amount of seed required varies from 3 to 5 pounds per 1000 square feet, depending upon thickness of turf and the amount of bare places. After Thaw Removal of the fall and winter accu- mulation of leaves and other debris is one of the first jobs after the ground thaws. At this time patches of dead Crabgrass should be raked out. If gen- eral feeding and seeding have not been done before, they should be next in sequence. When all of the frost is out of the ground, the surface fairly well dried and seeding completed, rolling is in order. Only this one rolling a year is advised. A water ballast roller only partly filled avoids packing or pud- dling the soil. A firming of the surface is all that is desired. Sooner or later the lawn mower will need to be wheeled out. It is advisable to start cutting as soon as the grass grows to cutting height, in fact, it's a good idea not to let it go too long. Those early mowings may be fairly short while the weather is cool, espe- cially if new grass is coming up. The old grass, if allowed to grow too long, SCOTTS LAWN CARE is apt to smother the younger growth. Under such conditions be sure to catch or remove clippings. If Program Delayed If the active growing season is under way before feeding and seeding, some modification of procedure may be nec- essary. Applications of Scotts Turf Builder are better if made when the grass is dry. If the grass should be damp there may be some burning of the blades but this damage usually is roots are un- only harmed. is long and matted, it is a good idea to comb it out and mow before the feeding so that the Turf Builder falls to the ground instead of sticking to the blades. temporary. The the grass If if into it can be Seed sown after frost will be surer of germinating lightly worked the soil by a surface scratching of the soil with an iron rake. A light covering of topsoil, not to exceed an eighth of an is helpful, or the seed may be mixed with soil before broadcasting. Covering lightly with soil is especially helpful in fixing up bare spots. inch, No More Hand Weeding! the This year for the first time we do not need to recommend hand weeding in spring program. Chemical control will definitely come of age this year—for practically all lawn weeds except Crabgrass. suggested As a result of our own greenhouse and lawn experiments of the past two years we are convinced that a safe and effective weed control program can be outlined, making it possible for most anyone to have a weedfree lawn. The right materials will be available early in 1946 and we know LAWN CARE read- ers are going to get as much of a kick out of putting pesky Dandelions to rout as we have. Wait for Scotts 4-X. N U M B ER 87 3 Cumulative Index to Lawn Care Bulletin numbers under heading of New Series apply to L A WN C A RE files and binders furnished after March 1945 Acid Soils Algae . Ants, Control of . .. . . Beetle Grub Brown Patch . Buckhorn . Burlap, Mulch . .. Chamomile Chickweed Chinch Bugs . . Clay Soils . Clover in Lawns . .. Compost Crabgrass Crawfish .. Creeping Buttercup . Cutworms . . . . . . Damping-off Dandelions Devil's Paint Brush Digger Wasps Dogs, Repellants . Dollarspot Drainage .. . . Earwig .. Excess Moisture . . . Fall Program . Feeding Lawns Feeding Trees Fertilizer for Lawns . . Foxtail .. . . . Goose Grass . . Gophers .. Grass Substitutes Ground Covers . Ground Ivy . Grubs . 44 . 41 . 82 . 51 54 . 53 . 80 . . 46 68 . . 46 . 70 . 86 56 . . 41 41 . 49 . 72 . . 82 . 76 . 41 . 40 . . 52 41 . 81 . 64 . 69 64 . 42 70 . 86 54 . . 40 55 . 44, 86 Heal-All 56 Henbit 55 46 Humus Hydrocotyle Rotundifolia 75 .. .. .. . . . . . . . New Old Series Series 48 48 41 47 84 84 Knawel Knotweed, Knotgrass .. . . Lead Arsenate Leaf Spot Liming Soils . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. Mallow Manures Mildew Moles Moneywort Moss Mouse-Ear Chickweed . Mowing Muhlenbergia Mulch Mulching with Burlap Mushroom Soil .. . . Nimble-Will . Nutgrass (Sedge) . Orange Hawkweed Orchard Grass Organic Matter . . . Pearlwort Peat Pennywort Pepper-Grass . Pigweed Plantain Poa Annua Poison Ivy Purslane Pusley . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. Quackgrass . . Salting Sidewalks Sandwort .. Sandy Soils . Sewage Sludge Shade Problems . New Old Series Series 71 24 71 17 44 41 . 48 67 46 . 41 86 . 65 . 47 53 . 54 . 61 . 46 . 51 . 46 . 61 . 73 72 . . 45 . 46 . 54 . 46 75 . . 50 . 74 82 . 62 . 57 . . 74 . 74 . . . . . . 63 77 54 46 73 46 40 44 47 48 67 59 47 88 65 4 53 54 23 63 51 59 23 28 72 45 59 54 59 75 33 32 82 39 57 32 32 19 77 54 46 28 59 34 44 36 82 51 54 53 80 46 38 3 70 86 14 37 47 49 72 82 76 36 34 45 47 81 64 69 64 42 22 86 54 54 8 44 11 40 59 75 . .. Cumulative Index (Continued) New Old Series Series 18 59 26 50 22 70 44 44 36 41 77 77 5 41 46 46 13 65 67 46 20 71 83 83 60 60 20 71 41 36 Sheep Sorrel . Shepherd's Purse Silver Crabgrass (Goose- grass) . . Skunks Slime Mold Snowmold Sod Webworms Soils Speedwell Spiking Spotted Spurge . Spring Care Sprinkling Lawns Spurge Summer Problems .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. 43 Terrace Problem . 84 Termites . . Thyme-Leaved Speedwell 65 40 Tile Drainage 41 Toadstools 46 Topdressing 69 Tree Feeding 58 Trefoil 41 Turf Diseases 54 Turfing Daisy .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . 25 84 13 34 36 46 69 21 36 54 Vitamins 64 62 Wasps Watergrass (Crabgrass) . Watering Lawns . . Webworms . . Wild Garlic . Wild Onion . . Winter Damage . Winter Mulch Wiregrass (Crabgrass) Wood Sorrel . . . . . . Yarrow Yellow Jackets Yellow Trefoil Zonate Eyespot Zoysia Grasses . . . . . . 82 70 60 41 52 52 77 77 70 58 66 47 58 41 82 82 70 60 5 52 52 77 63 70 9 41 21 47 82 Is Robert Rownd, L A WN CARE'S old- est reader? People of all ages like pretty lawns. These bulletins are read by small boys who have been bargained into the lawn mowing assignment, up like to those of advanced years who nothing better than to work in the grass and make it look its Sunday best. In the latter group is G. A. R. Vet- eran Robert M. Rownd of Ripley, New York. Mr. Rownd is a user of Scotts Seed and a reader of L A WN C A R E. His age?—101. Last fall Mr. Rownd came to Columbus, Ohio, for the Annual G. A. R. Encampment. Incidentally he was once Postmaster of Columbus, having been appointed by President McKinley. He came to Columbus un escorted, had a grand looked about 30 years less than his age, and will soon no doubt be pushing the mower over his own lawn at Ripley. Lawn Care Binder time, T h is d u r a b le l o o s e - l e af r i ng binder, containing all issues of L A WN C A RE a nd w i th capacity five more years, will be sent for $1.00 p o s t a ge p a i d. of H u n d r e ds L A WN C A RE readers have presented them to friends as gifts and to public libraries and garden clubs. for The same complete set of bulletins in stiff paper binding is 25c. Good Lawns—That amateur garden- er's guide to better lawns. Contains a complete outline for building new lawns and improving old ones. Free. Scotts Bentgrass—Tells you what to expect from the most beautiful of all lawn grasses. O. M. S C O TT & S O NS CO. 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