It seems rather strange that practical tools for aerating the lawn were only made available to homemakers after this. There is nothing new about the principle involved.
Soil tends to become compacted for various reasons. This reduces the amount of air in the ground. It also limits water penetration, resulting in the grass becoming shallow-rooted and more likely to dry out in the drought.
Greenskeepers have long practiced aeration because they know fertilizer spread on a hard surface is slow to reach the grassroots. Indeed, much of it is washed away. They know, too, that much of the water applied does not soak into the ground.
Spiking Tools Are Impractical
Tools that remedy these conditions are sure to play a prominent part in the maintenance of home lawns. Spiking tools have sometimes been recommended but seldom used because it was back-breaking work to push them into the ground a foot at a time across a property.
Some ingenious gardeners made their own spiking devices by driving spikes through a board. They would tread on the board to force the points into the ground, which is also a slow and tedious process.
The best of the new tools can be pushed like a lawn mower; they will loosen the soil to a depth of several inches. Then fertilizer can be placed where the grassroots can make prompt use, and seed can be sown where it will not wash away.
Likewise, artificial watering will supply moisture where it is needed. The renovation of lawns can now be effected much more readily than in the past.
Properties can be restored by this method. Whereas otherwise, plowing and reseeding would be required.
Fertilizer Spreaders
Various devices for distributing fertilizers with the aid of the hose have been used for several years. Still, the plan is being taken up now in a way that will interest all those who have sufficient hose connections to reach the garden plot.
Very efficient sprayers powered by water deliver delicate, forceful, fan-shaped sprays over or under the plants. They will measure just the right amount of material into the water at any pressure.
The insecticide may be a liquid or in the form of a wettable powder. It is held in a glass jar from which it is fed into the distributor.
Devices of this kind will fit in well with the greater use of fertilizers applied to the foliage of growing plants, a development that is receiving much attention now. The hose-powered sprayers can be used to advantage when feeding liquid fertilizers to the lawn.
Even now, there is a contrivance that, when set in the middle of the property, will spray fertilizers in all directions.
Lawn sprinklers are legion, but it will interest some gardeners to know that there are kinds that will supply water to a perfect square or rectangular plot instead of distributing it in a circle.
There are places where this is very desirable. Then there is a sprinkler which can be operated by remote control. A slight tug on the hose regulates the spray or shuts off the water.
A novelty that has attracted much attention at the flower shows is a sprinkling device which is very simple and, therefore, very inexpensive.
The water passes through a rubber tube whipped into a rotary motion by this action, causing the water to be distributed over a wide area. It does not rust or gets out of order.
An Automatic Mulcher
A simple lawn seeding device introduced last year found favorable reports. It is carried in hand, and the seed is delivered in a wide semi-circle when a crank on the bottom of the appliance is turned.
The amount can be regulated by turning a screw. Dry fertilizers and weed killers may be distributed in the same manner. Naturally, the device should not be used when the wind is blowing.
Another novelty is a simple baffle to be installed on the front of hand lawnmowers. Its purpose is to throw the grass back into the cutting blades, where it can be cut into small pieces which will disappear between the blades of grass. The grass is mulched automatically, and no raking is required.
44659 by Edward I. Farrington