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Lawns for the North: Bermuda

The Italian rye lasts only during one season. The Bermuda grass and St. Augustine grass will make a lawn nearly as permanent as any northern lawn, provided the proper maintenance and attention in rolling and watering is given. Lawns of these types should be watered at least once in ten days or two weeks, at which intervals they should be thoroughly soaked. In order to maintain a Bermuda grass lawn in its best condition the lawn should go through the process of renovation every second or third year. This process consists of a discing, done for the purpose of cutting the roots and producing new stoloniferous growth. The harrow should be permitted to cut this ground to a considerable depth, so as to encourage new root growth as well as a deeper root growth. Probably the average depth which the harrow cuts approximates from two to four inches. The ideal harrow for this purpose is known as the alfalfa renovator which is used for the purpose of cutting a deep furrow into the soil rather than disturbing the soil.

If the lawn area is composed of a combination of Bermuda grass and Italian rye, or of a southern mixture of northern grass seed, it should be thoroughly soaked with water as often as once every two days. Superficial watering under conditions of hot sun and dry climate is more injurious to the southern lawn than a similar watering would be to a northern lawn. Where an excellent lawn turf is desired from November to April, it is much preferable to top dress the Bermuda grass foundation with a thin coating of muck, or rich soil, and to seed each fall with Italian rye as a filler. If a lawn of northern grasses is to be maintained from November to April, experience to date has taught us that the most practical method is that of reseeding the entire lawn area during the middle or latter part of October, or early November, rather than to expend the labour necessary to maintain a turf during the hot summer months when it is not used.