A discussion o f the vital problems o f lawn making and maintenance P U B L I S H E D S E V E R A L T I M E S Y E A R L Y B Y - S E E D S M E N August 1930 - M A R Y S V I L L E , O H I O __________ No. 4 H eal-All (Prunella Vulgaris). A native of this country—very trouble­ some in lawns. __________O. M. S C O T T & S O N S C O M P A N Y Vol. Ill A Persistent Weed it s e lf EAL-ALL or Self-Heal is not as familiar as the species discussed in preceding bulletins but when it once es­ tablishes in your lawn you will not soon forget it. illu s t r a t io n The shows how thickly the plants grow and how utterly hopeless it is for g ra ss to atte m p t to come through such a mass of foliage. Heal-all sounds like a patent medicine—and, as a matter of fa c t, it some does possess medicinal value. It grows in all parts of the world, so may be found in impure imported as well as domestic seeds. Im some countries it is know n by o th er nam es as Hock-Heal, Heart- of-the-Earth, Carpenter’s H erb and Sicklewort. Heal-All, (its familiar Amer­ ican name,) is a perennial, propagates by seeds and by creeping rootstalks or nodes, and seeds any time between June such and November. It is found most fre­ quently in waste places or in open woods, so the best opportunity to introduce it into a lawn is when top-soil from uncul­ tivated places is hauled in. When Heal-All is b eh eaded by the mower it is apt to stool out and take complete possession of a lawn. It adapts itself to its environ­ ment, often produc­ ing flowers and go­ ing to seed when not more than two inches tall. At other times, when unmo­ lested, it may reach a height of 10 to 12 inches. The blooms, which form in clusters of three, appear in var­ ious shades of pur­ ple, some very deep in color and others almost white. The seeds are the shape of ovoid n u tle ts They ripen and drop all summer long. METHOD OF CONTROL It was discovered by a botanist who was using Iron Sulphate to kill Chick- weed that H e al-A ll succumbed very quickly to the same treatment, the leaves blackening and falling off while the buds ceased to grow and in a few days rotted. Without leaf growth the roots cannot survive. About an eight per cent solution should be used. A light application with a spray pump should do the work, and even though the grass may be temporar­ ily discolored it will recover. — t— Using Iron Sulphate RON SULPHATE is a useful chem- ical for destroying several types of weeds including dandelions, broad leaved plantain, and heal-all. This material can be purchased at any drug store, other names being copperas crystals, green vit­ riol, and ferrous sulphate. The granu­ lated type is easier to use as it dissolves more readily. If a lawn is badly infested it may be necessary to make several applications during the year. The first application should be made in spring before blossom buds open. Subsequent applications should follow at close enough intervals so that the weeds will not make too vig­ orous a growth. Three applications in spring and early summer and two in late summer are usually sufficient. Weather conditions influence the success of the spray. Applications should be made on bright warm days not followed by rain for at least twenty hours. Ferrous sulphate blackens all leaves If the but does not kill grass blades. lawn be cut a few days after being sprayed the blackened ends of grass blades will be removed. No sprays should be applied during the usually dry, hot weather of late July and the first weeks of August, as the grass will be more severely injured than when it is growing vigorously. Late summer or early fall sprays are intended to weaken the weeds so they may be more easily winter killed. The best way to apply iron sulphate is to spray it on the plants. If this is not convenient it can be put on with a sprink­ ling can although this is not as efficient or effective. To make a solution for spraying, use 1% pounds in 2 gallons of water. This should cover 350 square feet of area. If the solution is to be sprink­ led on, use 1 pound to 2 gallons of wat­ er and put this on about 200 square feet. CAUTION. rusty yellowish-brown On stone, cement, metals and cloth, iron sulphate solution produces a con­ spicuous stain which is extremely difficult to remove. Accordingly, care should be taken to avoid getting any of the spray on one’s clothing or on sidewalks, building foun­ dations, monuments, curbstones, and the like. Iron sulphate should not be used on a Creeping Bent lawn. W hile this shem- ical does not ordinarily harm grass per­ manently it will kill Bent. More About Crab Grass T O MR. C. R. SW ICKHARD, 20 East Broad Street, Columbus, we were indebted for the suggestion for controlling Crab-Grass which appeared in a previous issue of Lawn Care. N ow we are grateful for this further com­ ment: "There is still Crab Grass in my yard but it is not nearly as bad as it was last year. I am satisfied this is due to careful raking when it was in seed last summer and fall. This year I intend to start in raking up earlier in the season before cutting with a lawn mower.” Another good friend whose letter was detached from the experience he re­ ported, hence we are without his name, submits the following: "About the first of September, 1929, a day or two after a heavy rain, two plots of ground, badly infested with Crab Grass and other pests, received the fol­ lowing treatment: "Each plot, about four yards square, received a dressing of commercial fer­ tilizer somewhat heavier than that rec­ ommended by the manufacturer. This was allowed to lie fully 24 hours and then sprinkled with a garden hose, very lightly—just enough to wash the ferti­ lizer down to the surface of the ground and no more. "Result: the grass immediately began to show the results of burning, but re­ covered by the first of October, going into late fall with notably the best color of any lawn on the street. This year these two plots show a noticeably less growth of Crab Grass, Plantain, Dande­ lion and Chickweed than other patches in the same yard or other lawns on the street. It appears as though the treat­ ment had destroyed the greater part of the undesirable seed that, otherwise, would have carried over. The test plots were not reseeded with lawn mixture so they are a little thin this year, but the job of hand pulling has been reduced to almost nothing. "The hint for this treatment came from the directions of all manufacturers warning against leaving commercial fer­ tilizers in contact with growing grass; the question arising: "If it burns the grass, why won’t it burn the seeds?’ ” Good Housekeeping contained an ar­ ticle regarding a certain chemical with a trade name, which was supposed to kill Crab Grass. As this is written we are sending for a bottle for experimental purposes and will report on the results obtained, in the next bulletin. Mean­ while we welcome all contributions on Crab-grass warfare. A fortune surely awaits the individual who invents the most deadly weapon. Extensive grass growing experiments have been conducted at the Ohio Exper­ iment Station, Wooster. Lawn Day was held at the Station on June 5th, and in commenting upon it the press article contained this paragraph: 10*6*4 Is Best "Many fertilizers have been tested on this series of lawn plots, and of all the one carrying ten per cent nitrogen, six per cent phosphoric acid and four per cent potash has shown the best results, applied in three doses, eight pounds per 1,000 square feet at a time in April, June and September. Decided results were obtained in favor of leaving lawn clip­ pings on the grass to serve as a mulch. The effect is especially noticeable in a dry period. The gain in weight of grass last year was 75 per cent more by not removing the clippings.” Scott’s Turf Builder is not only a 10-6-4 but it is half vegetable matter which makes it long lasting. That is de­ cidedly more important than quick re­ sults. - 4— ANTS Apparently Dozens of letters have been received this summer about the extermination of this has been a Ants. favorable year for them. In September Lawn Care, the killing of Ants in a lawn will be featured. — 4 — "The only place in the yard where I have good turf is a place in the rear where I planted your Regular Mixture. The rest is very weedy.” E. G. Linhart, Fort Wayne, Indiana. .................................................................................................................................................................... . ii ii 11 m u ■■ ii i ii m i 11 ii i ii i m m ................. ii i n n ■■ i m i ■ i n ■ ■ iiiiii Drives One Hundred Miles for Scott’s Seed T HE man who "would walk a mile” has nothing on a resident of Oak Har­ bor, Ohio, who drove a hundred miles to get some of Scott’s Lawn Seed. Of course, he didn’t have to come in person to get it, but he wanted a little first hand lawn information and since it was vacation time and he could stop at a few golf courses enroute this gentleman did us the honor of doing a "century” in miles to insure making his lawn safe for posterity. Mr. Carstensen said he be­ lieved in taking the same pains in buy­ ing lawn seed that he did in buying, foi instance, a roof for his house. "Your seed has always been used by the golf club where I play,” he re­ marked, "and now that I’m building a new home I decided I would have the lawn right by using the same kind of seed.” This gives us the opportunity to say that 1100 golf clubs, about 1 out of every 5 in the entire country, sow Scott’s Seed. ^ Scott’s Publications The following may be had for the asking: Scott’s Seed Guide, a 72-page book of valuable information for the man who farms. Bent Lawns, an illustrated booklet which tells how to make and maintain a Creeping Bent Lawn. Converting to Creeping Bent, a folder which explains four methods of remak­ ing and improving an old lawn by using Bent. Lawns, a small booklet of condensed facts about the making of a new lawn and the improving of an old one. In addition to the above we will send to anyone a full set of the issues of Lawn C are which have preceded this one. There have been eleven and the following lawn pests have been discussed: Plantain, Crab-grass, Dandelions, Moss, Grubs and Beetles, Chickweed, Buck- horn, Ground Ivy, Yarrow and Earth­ worms. Binder for "Lawn Care” FREQUENT requests for an inexpen­ to hold Lawn C are prompted us to search about for one that would best serve the purpose. sive binder W e have found a good one, we be­ lieve. It will hold probably a hundred bulletins which means it will be good for at least fifteen years and very easily pro­ vides for the addition of new bulletins as they are received. W e are not selling these binders at a profit but offering them at cost—50c each postage paid. Each binder will contain a set of the bul­ letins published thus far—eleven in all. Future bulletins will be punched so they can be slipped right into the binder. If you value Lawn Care, and like most of us—lose things easily—you’ll want a binder. You can use it for other lawn information and assemble an im­ mense amount of useful data. NEIGHBOR NOTICED RESULTS W ill you kindly send your Lawn Care bulletins to Fred Dederich, who is also interested in your Turf Builder? He has noticed the results of its operation on my lawn, this being a new lawn planted on excavated soil with your Reg­ ular Mixture. Rudolph C. S troube, Maywood, N. Y. "Not a weed in a car load.” You can truthfully so advertise, writes Wilbur La Roe, Jr., 4600 Linnean Avenue, Washington, D. C.