How does one maintain grass in an area that is mostly shade?

Ant15356533
by Ant15356533
Lots of huge maple trees in back yard that shade the grass. Have used grass made specifically for shade and starts of nice, but then either turns brownish of is spotty. Do I water more? Do I fertilize more? Any advice will be appreciated!

  8 answers
  • Janet Pizaro Janet Pizaro on Mar 15, 2018

    Do you follow a regular fertilizing program?How did you prepare the area for seeding?

    • Ant15356533 Ant15356533 on Mar 19, 2018

      Janet,


      I just did the basics: I raked the yard of all leaves, sticks, twigs, etc., used a spreader for the grass seeds and then some starter fertilizer, put some peat moss down for protection, and watered regularly. It started off good for awhile, but I'm guessing because of all the huge trees I have it sucked up all the water. Right now there are a lot of bare spots and moss growing in some spots where sun never shines. I actually had one tree close to the house cut down professionally (which was not cheap!), and that helped a little in some spots. Also, the dirt is on the sandy side, which means water seems to drain pretty good. So if I water more to make up for that, then the moss grows more because of all the shade and no sun to dry it out. It is a never ending battle.

  • Ellis Ellis on Mar 17, 2018

    I suspect the problem is not just the shade. There are many varieties of maple trees, and most (except sugar maples) have large, greedy root systems that are close to the surface. You will probably be better off finding a ground cover that will succeed under the maple trees rather than trying to grow grass.


    A neighbor's maple tree makes it impossible for me to grow grass in one corner of my yard. Instead, I am trying out various ground cover plants like vinca, pachysandra, and sweet woodruff. None is a clear winner yet, though the neighbor has been successful with ivy, which I don't like.

    • See 1 previous
    • Ellis Ellis on Apr 15, 2018

      Sorry I didn't reply sooner--computer troubles. The gallium odoratum (sweet woodruff) I mentioned will grow on very little soil (it's actually covered a pile of landscape pebbles in an out-of-the-way corner). It spreads nicely, so it would probably survive in an area where you want some green. It's very low-growing and gets tiny white flowers in spring, and has a nice scent. But it won't be as tough as a lawn would be--it just might cover the bare dirt where nothing grows nicely.

  • Janet Pizaro Janet Pizaro on Mar 19, 2018

    Due to the sandy soil the grass is not retaining enough moisture, if you are willing to try again ,start by applying ultra light top soil.This may help amend the soil somewhat

    • Ant15356533 Ant15356533 on Mar 19, 2018

      Janet,


      When you say "try again" do you mean start from scratch, aka – a new lawn? Or just add the ultra light top soil over the existing lawn and maybe re-seed?

  • Janet Pizaro Janet Pizaro on Mar 19, 2018

    just add the ultra light top soil and follow the last procedure you did

    • Ant15356533 Ant15356533 on Mar 20, 2018

      Janet,


      Thanks! I'm going to try that . . . as soon as it gets a little warmer!

  • Kathy Gydus Kathy Gydus on Mar 20, 2018

    Stop tossing out the leaves that you rake up. Use them for mulch to help amend the soil. Mix the leaves with topsoil and spread it out under the trees. Unfortunately it seems as if the only thing you may be able to grow is some sort of ground cover as someone mentioned above.


    Why did you use peat moss? If you want to protect the grass seed, most landscapers use straw to keep the birds away. Good luck.

    • See 2 previous
    • Ant15356533 Ant15356533 on Mar 21, 2018

      Kathy,


      Thanks for the kind words. The back thing is ongoing. Sucks getting old! Especially when your mind is saying GO GO GO, but your body is saying NO NO NO! Anyways, I trim the branches whenever it needs it. I hope I don't have to resort to my last option – fake grass. Too expensive.

  • Shore grandmom Shore grandmom on Mar 20, 2018

    Have you looked into Zoysia grass? We lived in the pine barrens in south Jersey and our property was shady with sandy soil. It was almost like beach sand. And zoysia grass grows great there. Keep in mind that zoysia grass is actually an invasive weed. Gardens and other places you don't want grass need to have a deep border, the roots travel underground. Zoysia grass doesn't need much water after it takes hold, doesn't need sun and stays green after other grass has browned and gets green before other grass does.

    https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/lawn-care/specific/zoysia/facts-about-zoysia-grass-zoysia-grass-problems.htm

    • See 1 previous
    • Shore grandmom Shore grandmom on Mar 21, 2018

      Yes, we planted it in Sweetwater, New Jersey, but I don't live there anymore. We planted it about 25 years ago and moved 15 years ago. And I haven't been back since. We got the plugs, it comes in pieces like sod which would be easier and faster. It took a while to grow from the plugs but it was still growing when we moved. It was actually into the woods a some, we were surrounded by forest . We actually got the plugs from a farm in south Jersey, it was growing there too. You could try a small spot and if it takes, you can always add more. I hope it works, I forgot to mention that it didn't need cutting as much as other grass does.

  • Ant15356533 Ant15356533 on Apr 10, 2018

    Thanks to everyone who gave me some advice. This past weekend I raked up some of the stuff that accumulates during the winter (sticks, twigs, tree bark pieces, leaves, etc.). It was still too cold to really spend a lot of time outside doing yard work, so I have more of that "fun stuff" to do. Once it gets warmer out, I'm going to tackle this thing and hopefully it will turn out nice. At this point "half-way decent" will be good enough for me! Thanks again everyone!