Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I'm looking for the best & toughest grass for use in a no sun zone of my yard. The area gets a lot of traffic, so it has to be a durable grass.

I appreciate all types that meet my needs, but also if a particular brand is better than the competition.

Before coming back to Abby's recently I posted this request for the best grass to grow throughout the web. Needless to say most respondents advised using the kind of grass you smoke, not mow.

Most seed companies have a shade mix. You are getting a pretty late start. You might want to try the week before Labor Day. How big an area? What is making the shade? If it is a tree, what kind? Did you do a soil test?

A local garden center or landscape company should really be able to help. I use two local (to me) seed companies Landreth, and Meyers. I get then at various garden centers.

You need the correct ph. It most likely can't hurt to put down some compost/topsoil mix. Seed, starter fertilze, and straw to cover (not hay, it has seed in it).

To choose a specific seed I would check with a good garden center or landscape suppy. You might not want to expect a miracle, grass likes sun.

http://www.fescue.com/

Not a bad site.

The Jonathan Green stuff is about as good as you are going to get, IMO, of the nationally branded seed.

A good local seed will be far better than any nationally branded seed you can think of. IMO.

What are your expectations? Are you trying too stop erosion? Do you want it to look real good, or will anything that is green and grass  do?

Careful, there is perennial and annual seed. A perennial seed mix might cost three times or more of what an annual seed will. Depends on what you want.

This is about the worst time of the year to plant grass.  It will start to grow just as the weather gets hot which is very stressful on the young plants.  You will have to water a lot to keep the roots (and therefore entire plant) from dying.  If you can wait until the fall, the plant will have two good growing seasons (fall, spring) to establish itself before next year's hot weather appears.  Planting now would not be cost effective.

LL

Good advise.

I do this most every year is some parts of my yard, very shady parts that get 115lb and 90lb Lab dog use. The fescue I have tried works good for looks but for heavy traffic it's not worth a damn. I switched to Perennial rye grass, it's tougher which meets my need better. Rob's right on the money about PH, a soil test is best. It could need lime, or a number of things. Might be just right?

• I rake the soil, break it up, where it's bare.
• Through down a mix of Peat/Manurer/Top soil.
• Seed it.
• Put down more of the mixture to cover it. Not much.
  
• Water
• Fertilize with a "new grass mixture". Very little hydrogen, a lot of potash and phosphate.
• Water
• Water
• Water
• Water
• Water
• Etc.
  

You might want to use a blend too. There's different blends out there for Shady Wet or Shady Dry and variations therof. I found that the ones with a high content of the Perennial rye were tougher.

Hi...

I have a similar grass situation too...

Fell for an ad on Zoisa Grass... sounds good...  "Buyer beware..." 

Bought and and planted "1,200 plugs"  ((yeah !   right !))  of it in a ~~12x40' area... thought it would (advertised to) plant twice this  area...

No results yet...  just 2-3 weeks planted... ordered more...    S U C K E R  ? ? ?  

Looks like "the hair club for men"... a hair transplant...

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If U get it... buy the expensive $25 drill bit for planting...

Mr. Nieve...    Dave___in___CT           

Dave, the Zoisa is good in sun. However, in northern areas it takes a while for it to turn green and in the fall it's amoung the first to brown. It's good for an area with long warm periods and sun. It's a tough grass when conditions are right. Give it time, keep it watered and fertilized.

Bahia works real good in the sun and shade down here in Fl.  Also St. Augustine does ok in the shade.

It will spread Dave. They have rhizomes that will spread once the heat hits the plant. They will take over, weather you like it or not.

robmints wrote:
Nothing is making the shade - yet. We're building a pool and a pool house. The pool house, according to my calculations, will create a 32 ft x 8 ft shady area. During sunrise, a bunch of trees shade the area, and the pool house will have an 8 ft overhang, shading the area from the sun at mid-day. Then the building itself will block the area during the evening.

The idea some had about later (Labor Day) I will probably take to heart, since the pool and building won't be complete until mid-July. I can live 45 days without planting grass.

We believe the kids/neighbors/family will lounge around this area during the hottest summer days and feel the area will be heavily used.

So do most here believe a mix is better than a specific type?

Thanks for the replies.

SR, I don't have a good enough handle, being in Oklahoma, on the local weather, rainfall, temps, etc. to recommend an exact blend or whatever. Maybe others know that area better than I do and can give you better advise. I would Google search the web for information on the best shade blends for your temp/weather zone. You might even find it on a site like Scotts.

Here's something I found for you, it's for Suffolk County from Cornell Coop Extension. Looks like pretty darn good info. The key is soil analysis. You might contact Cornell Cooperative Extension - Suffolk County for information on having your soil tested, if you're in that area?

SR, contact these folks.




http://www.albanycounty.com/departments/cornellcoop/programs/home.htm

Same thing, your county.