1. The grading
A good time to grade is in the fall before the heavy rains come, and then allow the surface to settle until spring, when the finish may be made.

2. The terrace
In places in which the natural slope is very perceptible, there is a tendency to terrace the lawn for the purpose of making the various parts or sections of it more or less level and plane. In nearly all cases, however, a terrace in a main lawn is objectionable. It cuts the lawn into two or more portions, and thereby makes it look smaller and spoils the effect of the picture. When formal effects are desired, their success depends, however, very largely on the rigidity of the lines and the care with which they are maintained. If a terrace is necessary, it should be in the form of a retaining wall next the street, or else it should lie next the building, giving as broad and continuous a lawn as possible. A simple and gradually sloping bank can nearly always be made to take
the place of a terrace.

3. Bounding lines
In grading to the borders of the place, it is not always necessary, nor even desirable, that a continuous contour should be maintained; a somewhat irregular line of grade will appear to be most natural, and lend itself best to effective planting.
- if it is desirable that the lawn be as large and spacious as possible, then the boundary of it should be removed;
- nearly all trees are injured if the dirt is filled about the base to the depth of a foot or more. The natural base of the plant should be exposed so far as possible, not only for protection of the tree, but because the base of a tree trunk is one of its most distinctive features.

4. Walks and drives
They should be as few as possible, because they interfere with the artistic composition. The drives and walks should be direct. They should go where they appear to go, and should be practically the shortest distances between the points to be reached. The best materials for the main walks are cement and stone flagging. Gravel, cinders, ashes, and the like, are nearly always inadvisable, for they are liable to be loose in dry weather and sticky in wet weather.

5. Making the borders
The borders and groups of planting are laid out on the paper plan. There are several ways of transferring them to the ground. Sometimes they are not made until after the lawn is established, when the inexperienced operator may more readily lay them out. Usually, however, the planting
and lawn-making proceed more or less simultaneously. After the shaping of the ground has been completed, the areas are marked off by stakes. The margin once determined, the lawn may be seeded and rolled, and the planting allowed to proceed as it may.

6. The lawn
The first thing to be done is to establish the proper grade. This should be worked out with the greatest care, from the fact that when a lawn is once made, its level and contour should never be changed. The permanence of the sod will depend very largely on the fertility and preparation of the soil in the beginning. The soil should be deep and porous, so that the roots will strike far into it.