25th Year ^ ^^ ^ U U ^ t C o AC PUBLISHED FIVE TIMES YEARLY FOR LAWNTHUSÌASTS CRABGRASS A few months ago I promised to conduct a sale of crabgrass in August, but X 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 could bring more havoc than a load seed. In two weeks of crabgrass cover door to door, the ma- the curse could not only plant from all a war but chinery, by their legs any clog up and even snare •iring June. *aves, which ; used on than on ir • i a small- less ram- n its parent, or the east it is known (Par- m ivy ta lowi). agement eessary to or winter- -agement to g to train ow the new .•d the wall, ssary. New if not the ?ond. Never jm cling to that cling disks be e. The ob- ^-eds paint- the once d from its - will not 3 again. A isually too is to stick, "f painted .^e life of 5 the house 2 property structed on narrow two feet ^ ^a happened caught in the advance. In cities drain^e rendered useless, %V before long would and railways be matted crab and women cho seeds grass two feet thick. would be king to death crowded oxygen air workers who to be crabgrass' path of t e tr W 0 Uld be and the streets in layers with Men as crabgrass from, the 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 which are 9 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 at. These are a able varietf 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 pet anese hyd^ nh^gma R e p r i nt f r om C H I C A GO T R I B U NE 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- 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 b e g i n n i ng to b r a n ch o u t. N o te h ow it i n v a d es e v en d e n se t u r f. 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. Applications should start as soon as possible after the first Crabgrass plants appear. 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. WHEN Crabgrass gets under way as the early summer sun brings rambler roses into bloom. Depending upon the cli- mate, this may vary from early June to early July. Crab- grass is w e ll under way and should definitely be under Scutl a t t a ck by the time hollyhocks bloom. At first the seedling plants of C r a b g r a ss look innocent enough. Though somewhat coarser than desirable grasses, some may think young Crabgrass plants attractive and desir- able because of their bright yellow- green foliage. The growth of Crabgrass is low and spreading and quite rapid on hot days. If this growth is unchecked, Crabgrass soon develops into matted patches that choke out desirable grasses. By mid-summer, the wiry seeding spikes make a tough mowing condition. 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 annual grasses includes: Foxtail, Goose Grass, Witch Grasses and Paspalum. (If in doubt whether your problem is Crabgrass, send a specimen for identi- fication to Scotts at Marysville, Ohio; Ridgefield, New Jersey, or Palo Alto, California. Wrap in wax paper to pre- vent drying.) 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. for many years, so Some Crabgrass seeds remain alive but dormant 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: Hurrah for Scutl! After using this weapon I know that I need no longer be faced with the back-breaking and almost futile task of pulling up Crabgrass by hand as I have been doing for the past twelve seasons. JAMES I MCMARTIN West Hartford, Conn SIRS: Scutl does all you claim for it. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. I have always said that anything that'll kill Crabgrass will kill everything else too—but you live to learn, the good grass was not harmed. Lima, Ohio SIRS: H M U E L L ER Florist & Landscaper I used three ( 3 ) treatments of Scutl on my lawn. The Scutl stuck right to the leaf where it does the most good. The results were un- believable. The only Crabgrass that I have now is just a single leaf here and there. Three of my neighbors have applied Scutl under my direction and received the same results. W I L L I AM L W A G N ER Washington, D C SIRS: Last year we used your Scutl on our lawn and the result was we have had a lawn that was green through the winter. All our neigh- bors have dead Crabgrass lawns and ours is green grass. I'm really proud of it. The thing that adds a little laugh is that one neighbor was skeptical of the selective ability of Scutl. MRS LESTER PAOLUCCI St Louis. Mo Scutl particles on matted Crabgrass plant. Same plant succumbing to Scutl. S c r a t c h i ng S t o p p e d! SIRS: We are very proud of our Scotts lawn and garden of flowering shrubs. There are many unusual varieties. For fifteen years we have been s u f f e r i ng from severe Chigger bites. Every known remedy and repellent was used. We asked advice from many au- thorities. The grounds w e re s p r a y ed with various materials by landscape men. Nothing seemed to help. Our two daughters were very reluctant to play in the garden as the price they would have to pay in suffering from Chigger bites was too great. My wife and I were glad each year when vacation time came so we could get away from the misery of Chigger bites. But we finally found the answer—Scotts Lawn and Turf Pest Control! One applica- tion did it. For the past two years there have been no Chiggers and we are looking for- ward to a pleasant summer this year. We are indeed grateful to you for this wonderful product. F S T A N L EY L E V E R I CH Aurora, Illinois t| In giving permission to print this letter, Mr. Leverich reiterated that it was an understatement of benefits de- rived. 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 trouble—like the folks who spray their rosebushes on a weekly schedule believ- ing that if they don't, their blooms and bushes will suffer seriously from disease and insect activities. We have had many expressions of gratitude for the good work of Pest Control. Others have told of conquer- ing Chiggers though not as feelingly as Mr. Leverich. In addition many LAWN CARE readers have expressed their appreciation of controlling 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 Jap or Asiatic or even the ordinary May beetle. In localities of beetle activity, it's a good idea to grub- proof the soil with Pest Control before planting a new lawn. Lawn and Turf Pest Control also keeps earthworms in check as well as leaf hoppers and similar insects of min- ute size that weaken grass plants by sucking vital juices from them. Sod webworms, army worms, mole crickets, cut worms cause trouble in turf at times and can be controlled with Pest Control. For further see LAWN CARE digests SIRS: information 10 and 11. I owe you and SCUTL an apology for claiming SCUTL did not kill my Crabgrass. Right after I wrote you that I had no results from SCUTL, we had a rainy spell and within a week, every bit of Crabgrass had disap- peared from my lawn. Goshen, N Y • G E O R GE M C G I N N IS O t h er S u m m er W e e ds The several species of Plantain grow prolifically in hot weather. The com- mon or broad-leaved Plantain is apt to appear in moist rich soils. Its cousin the narrow leaved also called buckhorn, English Plantain and Ribwort, is more likely to be troublesome in poorer and drier soils. Either of these weeds and most any other non-grass weeds are easily elim- inated in summer with an easy spreader application of 4-XD. If a lawn needs both Scutl and 4-XD, it's better to make the 4-XD application first (only one needed) and then start the Scutl series a few days later. O M SCOTT & SONS CO. (ScSm) M AR 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