A discussion of the vital problems of lawn making and maintenance PUBLISHED SEVERAL TIMES YEARLY BY O. M. SCOTT & SONS COMPANY - SEEDSMEN - MARYS VILLE, OHIO V o l. IV March-April ¡931 No. 2 European Immigrant Creeping Buttercup OC C A S I O N A L LY we shall intro- duce a weed which does not fre- quent all sections of the country, yet where appearing freely it causes serious damage to lawns. Such a weed is Creeping Butter- cup. On the Atlantic sea- board all the way from Nova Scotia to Virginia it is quite common, especially in lawns that are poorly drained. Being an immi- grant from Europe it ap- parently received such a cordial welcome that there was no inclination to go any farther west. Never- theless in the east, west, and middle west there are several other varieties of buttercup which would be classified as native. PREFERS THE EAST. The east produces very few grasses from which seed is harvested for the market. Consequently such weeds as Creeping Butter- cup have no direct means of spreading elsewhere. On the contrary, weeds of the middle west maturing at harvest time with the different grasses that are used in lawn mixtures have the opportunity of making their presence felt in the far corners of the country. CREEPING B U T T E R C UP Ranunculus repens Illustration courtesy Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station FLOWERS QUITE PICTURESQUE. Creeping Buttercup isn't particularly objectionable—in fact it is not without some decorative virtue. The golden yel- low blooms are rather pretty but after all they don't belong in a lawn. As the name would imply, Creeping Buttercup bas the faculty of taking possession of the section of one's lawn to the exclusion of any- thing else. After the early bloom is past the plant de- votes its energy to throw- ing out numerous slender runners one to three feet long, from every joint of which a young plant may take root. In short the plants propagate by means of both seeds and runners. The blooms appear any time between M ay and July while the seeding per- iod is between late June and August. MEANS OF CONTROL. Where Creeping Butter- cup has formed in patches there is nothing to do ex- cept spade it up. Where there are only a few scat- tered plants they should be dug out by hand before the first seed develops. It is useless to resow a lawn that is infested with Creep- ing Buttercup without first digging the plants out. The grass will not be able to overcome them. As far as we can deter- mine no chemical used as a spray will entirely destroy this weed, although a bulletin of the Maryland Experiment Station published back in 1911 reports good results from an Iron Sulfate spray. The Buttercups thus treated, however, were apparently of the ordinary meadow Buttercup species and not the more per- sistent Creeping Buttercup. Heavy fer- tilization is recommended by one author- ity as a possible means of discouraging Buttercup. A n o t h er quite significant thing is that this weed appears most fre- quently on poorly drained soils so an im- portant step in control would be the remedying of faulty drainage conditions in the lawn. Dandelions and Plantain Dispelled IR ON SULFATE still appears to be the most successful chemical for the destruction of dandelions and plantain. Time after time it has done the job thor- oughly but you mustn't expect wonders from a single application. The green- keeper of a golf course near Wilkins- burg, Pennsylvania, commented recently on his experience in controlling the two weeds mentioned above. V It seems that his course was right in the midst of a number of abandoned farms so that it caught all the weed seeds which emanated from them. He had a real problem on his hands. This is how he met it. Five applications, two weeks apart, were made of an Iron Sul- fate solution prepared by dissolving V/2 pounds of (granulated form) per gallon of water. He ran this solution thicknesses of cheese cloth. The area was so large that a power sprayer of 200 gallon capacity was used. Spray nozzles were used to distribute the material and ahead of the spray a drag was improvised consisting of several steel door mats. Their func- tion was to bruise these plants so that the Iron Sulfate through four the course solution would penetrate the stems. The fairways and rough of in question were so covered with dandelions and plantain that the five applications were necessary to put them out of busi- ness. The presence of these weeds in most lawns should not be so abundant as to re- quire more than three iron sulfate appli- cations. in applying solution was used SPECIFIC STRENGTH NOT IMPORTANT. The method here explained is quite similar to that explained in the March- April, 1930 LAWN CARE. It will also be noted that where the experiences of three persons iron sulfate have been related, the strength of the solution used has varied from V/2 pounds in 1 gallon of water to V/z pounds in 4 gal- lons. Note, however, that where the strongest it was strained through cheese cloth which no doubt removed some of the coarser par- ticles. We suggest the weaker solution where the application is being made with a sprinkling can. The flow should be rather free. Where a spray pump of either the hand or power variety is used the solution might safely be more con- centrated. that 1 Vi pounds of iron sulfate in solution will cover about 350 square feet (10x35). On this basis a lawn of 10,000 square feet or about one fourth of an acre would require 45 pounds of in about 60 to 70 gallons of water. We suggest that before the spray is applied, a drag of some nature, not heavy enough to injure the grass, be pulled over the lawn to bruise the dandelions. Moles Discussed Next MA NY lawns are ruined by the ac- tion of moles. Their runways pro- duce unsightly ridges in otherwise fine turf. This subject has been given ex- haustive study by numerous authorities. In the summer issue of LAWN CARE we shall summarize their findings. is estimated iron sulfate It — Fighting Weeds A B U L L E T IN published back At the Source in 1911 by the Maryland State Ex- periment Station contains this very perti- nent comment: "The question of pure seed is a very important one in weed con- trol. There is scarcely any agricultural question of more vital importance than the question of good seed; none in which slighter differences can have greater in- fluence upon the result; none in which there is greater opportunity for fraud. Nearly all our bad weeds have been in- troduced in seeds of various crops, espe- cially in grass and clover seed. Weeds are being carried every year to new local- ities in this way. One should be on the constant look out, and no seed should be sown without a careful examination for weed seeds." The necessity for care in buying farm seeds was no doubt the occasion for this word of caution from the experiment sta- tion. But in buying lawn seed the need for care is even more pressing. A farmer cultivates his ground and by so doing may rid his fields of certain weed pests. This can't very well be done with a lawn. It is allowed to get almost unendur- able before being spaded up and remade. It is quite important then, not to sow weeds, the very thing that is done if light, chaffy, alluringly cheap seed is sowed. Weeds are plentiful enough with- out sowing them and they are easy enough to get without paying seed prices for them. "Never Had a Failure" ( ( T O U R I NG my supervision of the •J—s construction of the Leonard C. Hanna country estate at Mentor, Ohio, I had an opportunity to note the com- parative results of your product with that of many other seed dealers. I am per- —!•— fectly frank in saying that in one partic- ular instance, where a Bent and Blue Grass mixture was used, your seed was the only successful growth I had. I have never had a failure with any seed shipped by you, to which I need not add that grass seed in most cases, as Andy says, *is a mess.'" E. T. HOLTSMAN, 413 Sixth Ave., Peoria, 111. that shade is shade. Where Qrass Growing in Dense Shade ONE OF the worst enemies of grass is caused by trees the grass has two factors operating against it. One is simply the lack of sunlight, without which most varieties of grass cannot survive. The other is the constant using of plant food by the tree roots leaving the grass what it can get. It is estimated that 40% of the roots of trees feed in the top foot of soil, that very from which the grass, too, must obtain its nourishment. layer FOOD ESPECIALLY NEEDED. Speaking of the difficulty of growing grass in dense shade we quote from a bulletin published by the Wisconsin State Experiment Station: "There is no question but that fertilizer would help such lawns if applied in early spring. Of course, some kinds of grass do better in shade than others." That brings us to the point—for varying degrees of shade there are appropriate grass combinations. In the average shaded lawn where the sunlight strikes the grass part of the day, our Shade Mixture, which contains 70% Poa Trivialis will produce a fine turf. Such a mixture, however, does not re- lieve one of the necessity for regular feeding with a complete grass fertilizer. For shady places we recommend three applications of Turf Builder (or any fer- tilizer with a similar analysis) yearly, preferably in the months of April, June, and September. For each application 10 pounds per 1000 square feet of a 10-6-4 (Turf Builder) is the proper rate. EXTREME SHADE. In extreme shade where everything in the grass line has failed thus far, we have prepared what might be called a final resort mixture. If any grass at all will grow in everlasting darkness, this combination will hold fast. We do not list it on our price sheet but the cost is the same as that of the standard shade mixture. The necessity for frequent fer- tilization in such areas is most important. Give the grass all it can eat. — fifty each, which is less than actual cost. At least landscape architects have asked us to mail binders containing a full set of bulletins to clients of theirs who give lawn matters personal atten- tion. The bulletin you want may be missing when some pressing lawn problem arises. A binder enables you to keep a complete set of them intact. We aren't trying to sell you anything—but if one of our imi- tation leather, stiff-back, loose-leaf bind- ers is going to help you make more prac- tical use of LAWN CARE—you'll find that fifty cents mighty well spent. Just ask any man that owns one. ^ Ant Extermination H A VE tried all kinds of things for ants on clay courts where I could get at them with Carbon Bisul- phide, Gasoline, Coal Oil, Boiling W a- ter etc. Waste of time. The simplest and best method yet is to mix thoroughly (poison) 1 part to ten Tartar Emetic parts of powdered sugar (fruit sugar). Sprinkle a the ants are working at any time when the ground is dry. Repeat for a day or two where some nests have been missed. I generally keep it in a can and just drop a pinch or two as I walk along near the ant heaps. The ants soon carry it away and don't return." little anywhere where J. M. CARTIE, 173 Barrington Ave., Toronto, Ont., Canada. — Binders Popular LA WN C A RE binders have proven tremendously popular. More than 3500 are now in use and each mail brings many additional requests. We are dis- tributing cents these binders at fifty Scott Publications following may be had for the 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 CARE which have preceded this one. There have been thirteen and the following lawn pests have been discussed: Plantain, Crab Grass, Dandelions, Moss, Grubs and Bettles, Chickweed, Buck- horn, Ground Ivy, Yarrow, Earthworms, Heal-all, Ants, and Speedwell.