My yard is very shady, I have more moss than grass - help!!

Dianne Cecil
by Dianne Cecil
What can I do?
  10 answers
  • Shoshana Shoshana on Mar 23, 2017

    There's a good product called Moss Out- good luck!

  • BabyBoomerSC BabyBoomerSC on Mar 23, 2017

    If your yard is very shady, you'll need to plant grass that does well in shady, damp areas. First get rid of the moss (Moss Out is a good product to use) and then prepare the yard for the new sod or seed. Talk to a local nursery and see what they recommend for grass. You can also carve out flower beds in the really shady, wet areas and choose planting that do well in those types of soil and conditions.



  • Melissa Winey Chapman Melissa Winey Chapman on Mar 23, 2017

    Cultivate the moss- it makes a beautiful no mow lawn.

  • Michelle Michelle on Mar 25, 2017

    I agree wth Melissa I have a small front yard slowly been adding bulbs, flowers to fill in yard, less mowing. I also don't edge or mulch to time consuming.

  • Joan Joan on Mar 25, 2017

    Love the moss !!! Try experimenting with different kinds from the nursery. Also my nadnina (sp) bamboo does well for some reason.

  • Carly Jones Carly Jones on Mar 26, 2017

    I pulled the pitiful bits of grass and weeds from my backyard and allowed the moss to spread naturally. Now, I have a fairyland to enjoy! It was a lot of work but so worth it.

  • Kathleen Werner Kathleen Werner on Mar 26, 2017

    Embrace the moss! In my old house, I maintained a beautiful lawn which required a lot of work. After I retired, I bought a small cottage, with a moss filled yard. I have come to love it. It is soft to walk on, requires no mowing, requires no watering, keeps weeds away, discourages ticks, and is a lovely green year round. My front yard has some grass which has grown from my neighbors blowing seeds, and pesticides and irrigation spray. I now consider grass my weed!

  • Elaine Elaine on Mar 26, 2017

    I LOVE shade gardens!! They can be absolutely beautiful! We receive intense hot and humid conditions in southern Ontario which makes a sunny garden very uncomfortable in which to sit, especially from June through to September. You can plant lovely ferns, shade-loving impatiens, begonias, hostas, ajuga, wooly thyme and such. There's another spreading very hardy plant that I can picture but can't recall its name right now. It makes a beautiful ground cover. If I remember it later, I'll pass it on.

  • Elaine Elaine on Mar 26, 2017

    i just remembered the name of one of my favorites ... Pachysandra ... and there's also Sweet Woodruff. When the stems of Pachysandra get a good height, snip them off, insert a pencil in the soil at an angle, stick the cutting in and keep it moist (but not sopping) and you can easily grow more ground cover. English ivy also does well in the shade as well as lily of the valley and bleeding hearts.