LAWN

grass turf or greensward cultivated in private yard or public park. A good lawn, or green, has both beauty and usefulness; its maintenance for golf, tennis, baseball, and other sports is a costly and specialized procedure. It requires good soil, frequent watering and mowing, and occasional rolling and fertilizing. Weed pests, such as dandelions and crabgrass, are eliminated by root removal or by spraying. Most lawn plants are types of clover and, especially, of grass. Bluegrass, white clover, and a few types of fescue and bent grass are most often selected for temperate climates in the United States. Bermuda grass, rye grass, St. Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum), and carpet grass (Axonopus affinus) are planted in warmer regions.

See U.S. Dept. of Agriculture bulletins; J. U. Crochett, Lawns and Ground Covers (1971).

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.

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