About Lawns:

Maintenance, Mowing, Fertilizing, Treatment, and Seeding.

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All about Lawns Lawns are an integral part of the landscape, framing each house while also connecting it to the neighborhood. A lawn-often the simplest feature of a home landscape-serves as a foundation for the entire garden. And it need not be large to enhance the overall beauty of a property. A compact and well designed grassy area is just as functional and handsome as an expanse of turf, and it requires much less work. A well-tended lawn offers many assets to the home landscape. Pleasing to the eye and soft underfoot (yet durable enough to withstand foot traffic), a lawn offers an exemplary surface for entertaining, relaxing, and playing. It also helps show off other plants to their best advantage.

Lawn grass offers environmental benefits as well. It absorbs carbon dioxide and chemical pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and ground-level ozone from the atmosphere, and it releases oxygen. A lawn also stabilizes dust and pollen, muffles sound levels, and absorbs glare. A chemical-free lawn acts as a sponge, collecting surface water so that the underlying soil can filter out impurities and replenish underground aquifers with untainted water. Many songbirds are attracted by the "edge effect," where a lawn meets plantings of trees, shrubs, and flowers.

Lawns in the landscape: A lawn area needn't be square or rectangular. In a formal garden, for example, a small circle of lawn ringed by trees and flowers makes a beautiful centerpiece. A curved or kidney-shaped lawn directs the eye to a focal point, such as a specimen tree or sculpture. A grass path entices a visitor around a stand of shrubs to a private garden room beyond. And squares of turf alternated with paving create a striking patterned carpet for a seating area.

When designing a lawn, give serious thought to the amount of care grass requires. In a shady spot or on a dry slope, you may be better off planting a ground cover such as periwinkle or creeping juniper. If you prefer tending your plants to mowing the lawn, consider a low-maintenance grass such as buffalo grass.

Installing mowing strips around the perimeter of the lawn will also reduce the work required to maintain it. A ribbon of concrete, brick or stone set slightly lower than lawn level will allow you to cut right to the edge of the grass.

For quickest mowing, design your lawn with a simple shape, uninterrupted by plantings or decorative obstacles. To contain the lawn (as well as any plantings on the other side) invisibly, sink plastic or metal edgings in the ground along its border. If you plant a grass that spreads by stolon

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