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New Grasses and Lawn Substitutes

Tremendous interest is shown in new types of lawn grasses and substitutes for grass. Some of the new grasses have many attributes to recommend them, and the grass substitutes are certainly of horticultural interest, even artificial grass.

Before deciding to use a new grass or grass substitute it is most important for the homeowner to consider all the factors involved, particularly if he believes that any of these plants will be the answer to all his varied lawn troubles.

Despite introduction of these new types, a high quality seed mixture for home lawns in the cool humid regions of the United States, as in former years, contains at least 75 per cent by weight of one or more of the following well-known permanent grasses: Kentucky bluegrass, creeping red fescue or Chewings red fescue, Colonial bent grass, velvet bent grass and rough-stalked meadow (for shade).

The Medea Bluegrass

When the first three are mixed together with five to 25 per cent by weight of a quick growing nurse grass such as domestic rye, a mixture is obtained that is remarkably well adapted to many of the varied conditions found on home lawns. Moreover, seeds of Kentucky blue and of strains of creeping red fescue and Colonial bent are in fairly good supply.

A few fortunate people, however, will be able to obtain seed of Merlon bluegrass, an improved form of Kentucky blue. Merlon is a superb grass for home turf, but there is only a limited supply of seed available this year. In many ways it is superior to the older Kentucky blue. For instance, it spreads much more rapidly to form a turf. And is almost immune to the fungus disease, Helminthosporiunt leafspot, which frequently kills large patches of an ordinary bluegrass lawn. It is also more drought-resistant. Because it has a spreading rather than an upright habit of growth it will not look too unsightly if mowing is neglected for a few weeks. Such neglect, however, offsets one of the major advantages of this grass, the fact that it can be clipped closer than the older bluegrass, thus presenting a sward of neater and trimmer appearance.

Merlon Goes a Long Way

The cost of Merlon seed is high, but one to one and one half pounds per 1,000 square feet, is sufficient for a new lawn. Comparing this rate to three-four pounds for Kentucky bluegrass, the extra cost per 1,000 square feet is not excessive. A homeowner obtaining a small quantity of this seed would find it useful for patching his lawn in thin and bare spots, but this valuable seed will be wasted unless a good seed bed is prepared before sowing. To do this, the patch can be spiked, and then fertilized with a few ounces of superphosphate and a complete fertilizer. After seeding, the patch should be covered with a piece of burlap or with a light covering of screened soil. Patching from year to year in this manner might eventually result in a Merion lawn.

Other Lawn Grasses

Mixtures containing a percentage of Merlon are also obtainable, and will be useful for seeding new lawns. Merlon is indeed a superior grass, but it is not a miracle grass as some suppose. Its introduction to a lawn will not be a substitute for adequate maintenance.

Zoysia grass, a fine-bladed form of Japanese lawn grass, Zoysia japonica, is available in some districts in the form of plugs supplied by nurseries. These can be inserted in new or old lawns at one-foot intervals. In two to three years, they probably will have taken over the entire lawn, making a turf that is almost crab grass free and one that remains green in the driest Summer months. In addition to being expensive to purchase and slow to spread. This grass has another major disadvantage. It browns off during the first heavy frosts of Autumn, remaining in this dormant and colorless state until fairly late the following Spring.

Improved Bermuda Grass

Older forms of Japanese lawn grass until recently recommended for home lawns are proving too coarse and too slow to spread and, therefore, are only of value on parts of the lawn where more beautiful turf grasses will not grow. Alta fescue also has too coarse a blade to make a presentable home lawn. Until last year it was hoped that U-3 Bermuda, a new form of the Bermuda grass used extensively in the South, would be sufficiently Winter hardy for lawns in the North, but such is not proving to be the case, and the use of this grass for home lawns in the cool humid regions, except in the most southerly portions, is now ruled out. Plant breeding has produced varieties of creeping bent grass, termed polycross strains, for golf putting greens. It is unlikely, however, that these will become important for home turf.

Grass substitutes include a number of low growing species suggested for use on lawns in place of grass. A distinction must be drawn, of course, between these and the conventional ground covers used for special locations in the garden.

It is sometimes claimed that grass substitutes require little or no mowing, a characteristic that would naturally endear them to any man were it not that they require most careful and specialized care in other respects, particularly in regard to weeding, rolling and fertilizing. In the long run greater labor is usually expended in growing these plants than in growing grass. Very often, too, the result of using one of these substitutes is an inferior lawn.

Dichondra and Pearlwort

Last Summer dichondra, Dichondra repcns, attracted some attention. The plant spreads rapidly to cover the ground with its stems and leaves. Since the latter have an area of one-half to one square inch. The covering obtained is not particularly pleasing in appearance. Dichondra can stand little wear, and therefore does not appear to he a very practical plant for the average, muchtrod-upon home lawn.

Sod of pearlwort, Sagina procumbens, can be purchased. In moderate to fairly heavy tree shade where it is difficult to grow grass, pearlwort may thrive, and produce a very beautiful moss-like turf when heavily watered. Although costly to purchase, it is sometimes possible to obtain small quantities of this material from the local golf superintendent, who is usually glad to get rid of it, because its spongy nature makes it a most objectionable weed on golf greens.

Little Mowing for Pearlwort

A unique and beautiful lawn, but one that is by no means pest and trouble free. Can be made by planting two-inch squares of pearlwort sod about six inches apart. With plenty of water, fertilizer and rolling, a lawn will be obtained in a season or two, but considerably more labor is involved than in building one from grass despite the fact that pearlwort requires little mowing. Until a homeowner has experimented on a small scale with this plant and observed its performance, thus drawing his own conclusions as to its usefulness for his purposes. It is not recommended that he use it extensively on his lawn.

Dichondra and pearlwort arc two grass substitutes currently attracting attention. But over the years many others have come and gone. Seed of chamomile, Anthemis nobilis, was at one time sold for this purpose as also was yarrow, AcheIlea millefolium. Sandwort, arenaria species, and plants of turfing daisy, matricaria species.

Merion Is Spectacular

Of all the new grasses only Merion can be considered spectacular, and that is because it makes a better lawn when properly maintained and not because it is a labor saver. Zoysia is also promising, and in the future it is indeed probable that both these grasses will become increasingly popular as more and more seed becomes available.