Part 1

KEEPING THE LAWN

BY LEONARD BARRON

Editor The Garden Magazine

PUBLISHED BY COLDWELL LAWN MOWER CO. NEWBURGH, N. Y.

Copyright, 1921, by Coldwell Lawn Mower Company Newburgh, N. Y.

KEEPING THE LAWN

The lawn is the dominant, characteristic feature of the American home garden. You may have the spread of green grass and nothing else and get a fairly pleasing setting for the house, but never a satisfying home from the latter without the lawn. It is almost a platitude, yet it is something to be considered by every home builder.

The lawn is indeed the essential base of the country, suburban or rural home. It distinguishes the “country” from the “city” with its paved yards and asphalted approaches. The lawn pleases the eye and it gives to the mind that sense of relaxation and repose which is looked for in all places away from the city itself. It has been well likened to the canvas on which the artist paints his picture; for when the landscape gardener comes to the problem of planting and embellishing the home grounds with an appropriate selection of trees, shrubs, and flowers his first consideration is the lawn, its place, extent, and the support it gives to the property as a whole. Without the lawn no garden worthy the name!

In view of the supreme importance of the lawn, then, an understanding of its upkeep is most desirable. And the delight of it is that there is nothing mysterious, nothing very onerous in keeping a lawn good.

Maintenance consists of a few simple details: rolling, cutting, watering, and feeding, and with a lawn properly made the most important of these is the cutting. In the old days this was done by a scythe, an effective instrument in the hands of the expert worker, but otherwise extremely unsatisfactory.

The invention of the lawn mower, less than a hundred years ago, marks one of those eras of progress that works revolution. Grass must be cut continuously throughout its growing season if the lawn is to retain the perfection of velvety evenness that is today within the possibility of every lawn owner, and this cutting can be accomplished easily in a definite way by means of the modern lawn mower, the credit for which in its present day form must be given to Thomas Coldwell, who somewhere about 1860 began his improvements on the original foreign-made model imported by Mr. H. W. Sargent for his extensive gardens at Fishkill, N. Y., directly across the Hudson River from Newburgh.

Thus was laid the foundation of an industry that has progressed by rapid strides to this day when there are available lawn mowers in a multitude of types and sizes, hand-operated, horse-drawn and motor driven, a size and style to fit every size and style of garden and lawn to the most extensive country estate, park, and golf course.

So accustomed are we of this day to see the well-mown lawn in the typical residential districts of our suburb and countryside that but little thought is given to the part played in the development of the lawn by the lawn mower having superseded the scythe.

Perhaps because the modern lawn mower does its work so well, —is such an efficient tool in operation, —there is a certain tendency among some gardeners to cut too close to the roots of the grass. Frequent mowings to keep the growth under proper control adds to the beauty of any lawn in keeping up a uniformly “well-kept” look. Irregular mowing leads to an unkempt irregular appearance of the turf because of the likelihood of putting off the job of cutting, on one pretext or another, until the grass has become unduly long.

When cut in that condition the exposed surface is brownish in color and thin looking—having none of the appearance of fresh grass.

The first cutting in spring as the season opens may well be deferred as long as possible in order to get a good growth started; and because in the early spring the uncertain fluctuations of the weather—from hot to cold and back again seemingly without any system—is likely to leave the newly exposed roots and lower parts of the grass stalks open to the burning rays of a sudden burst of extra strong heat.

But once the cutting is begun the work is to be kept up at frequent, fairly regular intervals to keep an uniform appearance to the grass. Cutting the grass has direct benefits, too, in that it prevents the grass plants from going to seed, and induces them to push up blades of fresh green in a dense mat that gives the so called desired velvety appearance.

Particularly is this desirable in the case of grass areas close around the house, on tennis or croquet lawns, and on grass edgings to walks, flower beds and borders.

After the first cutting in the season the grass will, as a rule, need cutting about once a week, and in some cases when the growing conditions are very favorable in the height of the season perhaps more frequently. As a matter of fact, judgment must be exercised here, the object being to keep the grass as nearly as possible at an uniform height.

The height of the cut is easily determined by a simple adjustment of the mower. About two inches is most satisfactory for the best interests of the grass itself—but a more well kept appearance may be desired and a much closer cut adopted. But the closer the cut the more feeding and other attention the lawn will need. But whatever height is determined, let the machine be set to that height and kept there, and regularly run over the lawn about once a week, and a constantly neat greensward is assured.

At the same time there need be no arbitrary “mowing day,” and a longer or shorter interval may be allowed according to circumstances. If for any reason the grass has been permitted to get unduly long it may be better to use a scythe and not cut very close, thus avoiding exposure of the under-texture of the turf.

The ideal day for cutting the grass is dull and cloudy—then the grass actually cuts more easily, and the little plants do not suffer any shock from the “pruning.”

With the knives all properly set the mower really keeps itself sharp while in use. The adjustment may be tested by inserting a piece of writing paper against the bottom knife and revolving the blades by hand, in this way testing the entire cutting surface. Improperly adjusted and blunt knives result in an irregular surface of the lawn or results in so pulling the little grass plants as to loosen the roots. This may later on in a hot spell cause the death of the grass plant.

When using the lawn mower begin at one side of the lawn, pushing steadily forward at a brisk walking pace and traveling in a straight line to the opposite end of the lawn, thus making a clean straight strip of cut grass. Then return on a parallel strip with one of the guide wheels a couple of inches inside the previously cut strip. And so continue to the finish. This assures a perfect job and obviates leaving little uncut tufts here and there over the lawn which are certain to result from any irregular criss-cross manner of working. The next time of cutting start at the opposite end or at right angles.

Some lawn mowers have a provision for catching the clippings as they are thrown up by the revolving knives, when this is desired, and some way of gathering these clippings becomes necessary if the grass be allowed to become unduly long before it is cut. If there is no gathering box such clippings must be removed by raking, for which purpose a wooden rake is preferable to an ordinary garden rake. But as a general rule it will not be necessary or desirable to gather the clippings, but rather let them lie where they fall to act as a light mulch and protection to the grass. The short clippings which are likely to be the rule from a regularly cut lawn are thus distinctly beneficial to the grass plants. Only in extreme cases where the cuttings are very heavy should they be removed.

Next to cutting, rolling is the most important detail in keeping up the appearance of the lawn but, unlike cutting, rolling can generally be dispensed with after the season is well open. The purpose of rolling is to ensure a good contact between the roots of the grass plants and the soil in which they are growing, and there is a certain benefit from the use of a mower which is also equipped with a roller.

The degree of rolling of necessity will vary according to the soil, being greater in the case of a heavy soil than in one of a light, sandy nature. The action of alternations of frost and thaw during the winter results in loosening the roots of the plants in their hold on the soil and the effect of rolling is to compact this loosened mass of roots and soil and to maintain this condition so that as the plant grows it can draw its proper supply of nourishment from the ground.

In public parks and wherever great stretches of lawn exist the cutting is usually done by means of a machine of considerable size, horse drawn or motor driven. Such machines have rollers as integral parts and consequently the separate rolling operation may usually be dispensed with. But on the small hand-cut lawn preliminary rolling at the beginning of the season is a very important factor in its future welfare.