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SHAPE AND GENERAL CARE OF LAWNS

Design the shape of the lawns rather than that of the beds. The contour of the lawns will always be conspicuous, but that of the beds will soon be obscured by plants, except in the case of small feature-beds. These are seldom attractive and are suited only to low-growing plants, but if one is desired, place it, not in the centre of the lawn, but towards one corner, thus helping to create an illusion of distance. This impression is never easy to obtain in small areas, but no detail should be overlooked in striving for it.

In the same quest, lawns can be made to look longer and bigger by running them nearly to the corners of the area. This will leave short narrow parts of beds at the ends of these lawns. They must be filled in with climbers or with dense vertical shrubs to hide the fence or wall. If the area is a little bigger than average, it may be possible to hide the ends of these elongated parts of the lawns so that they almost become paths and appear to lead farther on. This extra space is found more often at the back of the house, where, too, the beds should be so shaped that the plants in them screen garages, fowl-pens, incinerators, and tool-sheds, whether any or all of them are your own or your neighbour's.

In the maintenance of your garden give your lawns plenty of attention. Water them frequently and manure them from time to time, preferably with blood-and-bone, compost, or steam-sterilized sheep manure. Not only do lawns make or mar the whole appearance of a garden, but, if they suffer from underwatering and underfeeding, the plants near the lawn edges will suffer similarly. In the case of gravel paths, never use weed-killers or tar near the edges of beds. When using the modern hormone weed-killing sprays on lawns, choose a per­fectly windless day, for they are absorbed through leaves and the least amount on certain garden plants will be fatal. Heavy losses of plants have resulted from traces left in spraying appar­atus. It is advisable to keep the one spray-pump especially for applying those compounds, using another for all other spray­ing that needs to be done. The present-day hormone weed-killing sprays are very selective in action and will not kill grasses.

Plant the lawns to overlap slightly the areas to be allotted to beds. Let the former grow well before marking out the bed. Then dig the beds a second time, placing the pieces of growing lawn at least a foot below the surface. This will ensure closely grown lawns with good edges. See that the lawns are left wide enough in all parts to allow ample room for mowing.

Your neighbour may boast of having had a garden full of colour within three months without all the work you have done, while you still have only bare earth, but it is worth thinking of a garden in terms of years. Your preparation will give lawns with better resistance to drought and heat, roses, shrubs, and trees better in growth, and a whole garden less prone to disease.