25th Year egemto&Cahc No. 122-PS T > M> RKO PUBLISHED FIVE TIMES YEARLY FOR LAWNTHUSIASTS J É r Jw V uring June. *aves, which ! used on ir than on |a small- fess ram- •n its parent, or the east it is known m ivy (Par- ta lowi). agement cessary to or winter- -agement to g to train ow the new ;d the wall, ssary. New if not the ?ond. Never sm cling to that cling disks be e. The ob- '-eds paint- once the d from its - will not 3 again. A ¿sually too Is to stick. H painted life of 5 the house 2 property s true ted on ^a narrow i two feet CRABGRASS A few months ago I promised to conduct a sale of crabgrass in August, but I just don't have the heart to do it. I wouldn't even wish my worst enemy a tuft of crabgrass, which looks like this.- Not even an atom bomb than a load could bring more havoc seed. In two weeks of crabgrass cover a war door to door, the ma- but clog up chinery, workers who by their legs any to be crabgrass' path of the curse could not only all and even snare plant from happened caught in the advance. In cities drain^|a nd and ^s would be the streets jn layers with Men as crabgrass from, the be matted rendered useless, and railways crab and women cho seeds before long would grass two feet thick. would be crowded air king to death oxygen many of w in nurseries, most reliable ivy (Heder<. adapts itself ground co. ferent from its ability to sun and co1' The win; has many whiGh are a The Purple. Fortunei co. plish color ? makes a gr Bigleaf wint vegeta) has size of a 50- duces colorfi common V' wintercreep ma) has sm which are cover or a^, These are a able varied Several pet vine ha of the best trumpet vi ana Mme. many cluste bular flowe. ing July anc ambitious t mon trump Both the drangea pe> anese hyd^ nhr^gma The writer of this amusing descrip- tion of Crabgrass added a postscript to the effect that it was "time for another weekend at home with my wife (1), children (3) and Crabgrass (844,620,- 588)". Not everyone can match the family, but some can claim even more Crabgrass. But trying to live with this summer nuisance is no longer neces- Reprint from CHICAGO T R I B U NE sary. You can dispense with it as have tens of thousands of other Lawn Care readers. Three years ago as heralded in the press and garden publications, even popular magazines, Scutl came on the lawn scene. It was the biggest news since penicillin. Lawn owners had been waiting so long for a practical, effective Seedling Crabgrass, just beginning to branch out. Note how it invades even dense turf. Crabgrass killer that they had all but given up hope. But persistent experi- mentation and a bit of ingenuity by our turf research boys paid off. Scutl fulfilled our fondest hopes. Its use the past three years has forestalled many a weak back and calloused knee that follow hand digging. Scutl does a thorough job if correctly used. Like most medicine, one dose is not enough. Repeat doses are needed. WHEN. Crabgrass is very heat conscious. It gets under way as the strong late spring and early summer sun really warms up the soil. At first, seedling Crabgrass looks innocent enough. Though somewhat coarser than desirable grass, it may be considered attractive because of its bright yellow-green f o l i a g e. T he growth of Crabgrass is low and spread- ing and quite rapid on hot d a y s. t h is growth is not checked, Crab- grass soon devel- ops into matted p a t c h es t h at choke out good grass. By mid- summer the wiry seeding spikes If make a tough mowing condition. Control treatment should begin as soon as possible after Crabgrass plants are first recognized. With a Scotts Spreader the job is easily done. Repeat doses should be at 5 to 7 day intervals. Usually three or four treatments suffice. In stubborn cases one or two more may be called for. Early Start By applying Scutl with the spreader in the early part of the sum- mer, the malignant growth of Crabgrass will be stopped before it does much harm to the lawn. Repeat applications are needed at close intervals to assure control, especially since there may be continued sprouting of Crabgrass seeds throughout the summer. After the second application a dis- tinct yellowing and then browning of the Crabgrass plants will be noted. If not, then some other variety of wild grass, not responsive to chemical con- trol, is the culprit. The list of immune grasses includes: Foxtail, Goose Grass, Paspalum, Quackgrass, Bermuda Grass, and Velvet Grass. If in doubt whether your problem is Crabgrass, send a specimen for identification to Scotts at Palo Alto, California. Wrap it in wax paper to prevent drying and breaking. Delayed start If Crabgrass grows un- checked into late July or August, it will be harder to kill. Scutl will still do the job but the action will have to be less subtle than in the earlier part of the summer. The application should be made when the lawn is moist as from evening dew or following a sprinkling. The Scutl particles will then cling bet- ter to the Crabgrass leaves resulting in faster and surer action. By the same token, more Scutl will stick to the desir- able grasses and cause a temporary discoloration to some of them. In any event, the dying Crabgrass will be of brownish color so the earlier it is stopped, the less defacement to the lawn. Unless intercepted Crabgrass grows vigorously until killed by heavy frost. Before that time, each plant matures thousands of seeds that fall to the ground to set a crop for succeeding years. Accordingly it is doubly impor- tant to stop Crabgrass as soon as it is noticed to (1) limit the engulfment of the lawn by Crabgrass, and (2) prevent production of Crabgrass seeds. Some Crabgrass seeds remain alive but dormant for many years, so it is not possible to gain complete con- trol in one year. However, since most Crabgrass in a lawn comes from seed dropped the previous year, reduction of the crop can be as much as 90% the second year. If that is taken care of and no Crabgrass seed introduced, there should be little or no Crabgrass in the following season. SIRS: The Scutl treatment was perfect. Coronado, Calif WALTER FITCH SIRS: Scutl is wonderful. It has rid my lawn of Crabgrass. It required but two applica- tions to rid my lawn of this pest. The lawn looks swell now. P H L O H M A NN Woodland Hills, Calif SIRS: I applied I have a Dichondra lawn. The Crabgrass the was very stubborn when Scutl. In a few days it was being disin- tegrated and yet the Dichondra unhurt. As soon as the Dichondra covered over. M RS M H L E SH Burbank, Calif the Crabgrass died down SIRS: It was pretty late in the season and the Crabgrass had taken over half my lawn. However I used the Scutl as directed and believe me it worked wherever I applied it. M RS W S D U R F EE Umatilla, Oregon SIRS: I used your Scutl according to your direc- tions and got wonderful results down here. Next year I plan to use it on all my ranch lawns. Somerton, Ariz J L T H O M P S ON SIRS: Have put on the second application and now the Crabgrass seems to be dead. Parma, Idaho M RS C G A L L EN Scutl particles on matted Crabgrass plant. Same plant succumbing to Scutl. Turf Insects — Phtt-tt! A widespread enemy of fine western lawns is the larva of the Lawn Moth. It is called Sod Web worm. The worm itself is seen by few people. It is diffi- cult to distinguish even in a badly infested lawn, because it is small and well camouflaged. However the small, light tan moths are easily recognized as they are flushed out of the turf or as they fly over the lawn at dusk. Their presence is sufficient warning that the webworms are there. These pests start feeding on the crowns of grass plants as early as May and continue into the fall season. They reach their peak in mid-summer. Their large appetites are all out of proportion to their small size and they cause brown spots of irregular shape which give the lawn a moth-eaten appearance. in Long a pest in California, sod webworms are now becoming more prominent the Northwest. The Portland Oregonian newspaper recently reported on this increase, stating that commercial growers of seed as well as homeowners in that state had suffered severe losses from sod webworms. Since there are five or six generations a year, it is important to use a control that not only kills off the current brood but has sufficient residual affect to take care of succeeding broods. EARWIGS are another insect pest in the West. While they have been known to prey on the eggs and larvae of lawn moths they present a case of the cure being as bad as the disease. Their damage to grass is of doubtful extent but they are a repulsive garden pest and can be easily checked with Pest Control. Actually we have never said much about Pest Control. Somehow it has always seemed rather undramatic — a product quite a few lawns need but with results so subtle the user does not realize anything happened. Many lawn owners use Pest Control to forestall lawn folks spray their rosebushes on a weekly schedule, believing that if they don't, their bloom and bushes will suffer. trouble — just as some We have had many expressions of gratitude for the good work of Pest Control. Readers of LAWN CARE have written about successfully elimin- ating the ant nuisance in the yard and in the house — by inactivating the ant colonies outdoors so they can't come in. Others have saved their turf from ruin by grubs of May or June beetles. In localities of beetle activity, which includes most of the West, it's a good idea to grubproof the soil with Pest Control before planting a new lawn. size Lawn and Turf Pest Control also checks leafhoppers and similar insects that weaken grass of minute plants by sucking vital juices from them. Army worms, mole crickets and cut worms are among the other turf insects that this convenient material will prevent from doing serious dam- age. SIRS: • Your Scutl has controlled my Crabgrass. D RE W BOGGESS Murray, Utah Other Summer Weeds Several varieties of lawn weeds grow prolifically in hot weather. Dandelions, plantain, bur clover and chickweed are some which can be eliminated during the summer. A single application of 4-XD, which is especially quick and simple with a spreader, will kill most of these usual lawn weeds without harm to the grass and without any of the hand digging which used to make weeding such a disagreeable task. O M S C O TT & S O NS C O. (Scetu) M A R Y S V I L LE - - O H IO EVERY PACKAGE OF SCOTTS LAWN CARE PRODUCTS BEARS THIS TRADE - MARK AND IS SEALED FOR YOUR PROTECTION