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Index - Ten years ago much of the lawn culture material presented here could not have been put down. The research on which it is based was hardly more than a gleam in the scientist's eye. But now at last we have basic facts that will enable us to discuss grass not as an element in the diet of cattle, but grass as the homeowner grows it—in a mown turf.

01. Your Lawn - The word lawn comes from the Celtic word Launde or Lande, denoting an uncultivated or untilled and infertile area covered with ferns, broom or heath, certainly not the modern idea of what a lawn is or should be. Because this name conveyed the idea of an expanse of open space, the word gradually came to mean an open grassy glade in the forest. It was in this sense that Tennyson spoke when he wrote,

02. Lawn's Underpinning - While you are thinking about the various elements of lawn-making (rehabilitating the established lawn is covered later), ask yourself this question: "If I were to upset a 100-gallon barrel of water in the middle of the area where I want to plant a lawn, where would the water go?" The answer is of vital importance.

03. Soil - This chapter includes much practical information about soil, specifically topsoil. But first, since soil is a most important element of success with lawns, let's take a quick look at it. An understanding of this amazingly complex "community" that lies under the greensward of a lawn will explain why many things that have been or will be recommended are important.

04. Feeding Your Lawn - Every soil that contains organic matter has what the experts call "native fertility." The more richly organic a soil is, the greater is its "built-in" or native fertility. (We improve this when we add sludges and other organic matter.) This is quite different from the kind of fertility that we add to a soil by the use of organic and inorganic fertilizer products. Native fertility is available over a long period of years. It is something on which the grass can draw to carry it over a period of neglect. In fact, as we know, the grasses in un-tended fields are wholly dependent on their own natural renewal of the soil's native fertility.

05. Importance of pH - The symbol pH has acquired a mysterious connotation out of proportion to the facts. Admittedly, the pH theory is not the easiest thing in the world to understand. Many of its controversial aspects were only settled within comparatively recent times. However, this does not prevent us from putting the theory to work to grow better grass. Just as we do not have to know kinetics to drive a nail, or thermodynamics to read a thermometer, so we can juggle the acidity and alkalinity of our soil without a clear comprehension of the pH or hydrogen-ion theory.

06. Grass Kinds? - Although it may sound incredible, a reliable estimate is that 80 per cent of the lawns in the United States are seeded with the wrong grass. Walk into any garden center, hardware store or supermarket in mid-May (an unfavorable time for lawn seeding, as explained in the next chapter), and you will see counters piled with packages and bags of grass seed. It's the same in Texas or Minnesota, California or Maine. Each package has a label, but all too many shoppers, if they look at the label at all, are merely checking the price. No thought of what is in the package: grass seed is grass seed to them.

07. New Lawn - At the beginning of the previous chapter, I cited an estimate that had been made about the prevalence (80 per cent) of improper seed selection in American lawns. There's a parallel estimate for this chapter: 75 per cent of the lawns in this country are planted at the wrong time!

08. Good Work - This chapter's presentation of the various phases of after-sowing lawn care is more than a follow-up to the Chapter 7 discussion on starting new lawns. It is all-inclusive, applying to the upkeep of any lawn, young or old.

Since mowing is a critical factor in lawn success, especially with a new lawn, it seems logical to start a lawn maintenance discussion with some facts about the machines that do the mowing.

09. Renovation - THE term "lawn renovation" has different meanings for different people. Many homeowners speak of renovation when they actually mean maintenance—the year-to-year feeding and reseeding any lawn must have if it is to remain healthy and beautiful. No stretch of turf, regardless of how well it may have been started, can be expected to retain its beauty without some attention to these factors.

10. Shady Sites - Perhaps the knottiest problem the lawn-builder has to face is trying to make grass thrive where it just naturally does not want to thrive—in shade. The shaded lawn, if we are to judge by the high percentage of failure, has not yet benefited greatly from modern scientific advances in other phases of turf culture.

11. Rough Lawns - The word lawn can and should have more than one meaning for you if you own a fairly large piece of land (perhaps one or two acres or more, depending on the layout). A well-groomed turf is important around the house, but it may not be necessary to give the same pampering to outlying parts of the property. These areas can be quite attractive if kept as a rough-mown meadow.

12. Pests - A home lawn has all kinds of enemies. I've done my best in the preceding chapters to keep you from being your lawn's worst enemy, in so far as cultural practices are concerned. But that's only the beginning of the battle. In the course of a few seasons you may have to cope with a host of natural lawn enemies, including, 1. insects and animal pests, 2. fungus diseases, and 3. a variety of weeds. These three groups are discussed separately in this and the next two chapters.

13. Turf Diseases - Until about 1955, turf diseases were largely discussed in college courses and in meetings of golf greens keepers. No one denied that they existed, but since their treatment presented problems too difficult for the amateur to solve, the general tendency was to play them down.

14. Crab Grass - No matter how much care you take to exclude weeds from the lawn, they remain a constant threat to every plot of mowed turf. While a weed-free sod is possible, it is probable only with constant attention. Before we go into that, let me call your attention to an excellent guide to the common lawn weeds—the accompanying set of weed drawings, plus descriptions and best controls.

Index -

"Lime line,", 47
2,4,S-T, for weed control, 128
Airstrip, fescue for, 60
Aldrin, for pest control, 117
Ammonia, as plant food, 15
Ammonium nitrate, 42
Ammonium sulfate, 54
Annual bluegrass, 96
Anthracnose, disease, 109
Arasan, 78
Arboretum, 88
Arboretum bluegrass, 88
Autumn planting, 77

THE END