Any advice on grass? Or lack of??

[Gillian]

Hi gardeners! I love looking at your pictures! They inspire me to...think about gardening, LOL!

My backyard (in new jersey) is in sad shape. It's pretty small & very shady & damp, but we just had a huge maple taken out, which should help get some sun in there. We back up to community space (~20 feet) and then a community park with trees on the border. Tall maples & oaks. If I knew what to do with my digital pics, I'd post some!

Under where the maple was is just dirt. Actually, most of the yard is patches of grass alternating with patches of dirt. We had new grass growing last year, but it was so dry, and they restricted watering, so most of it died. This year has been too wet!! The only thing I can get to grow are hostas. Hostas, hostas everywhere!

So I'm looking for help with growing some kind of grass back there. Should I just wait for the Fall? Or try some deep shade stuff? How about those plugs of grass? Help, please!

I am also going to browse gardenweb and the net. Wish me luck!

 

[gina2000]

I have a pretty shady back yard also and the tree roots wreak havoc on the grass....especially right under the trees. You may want to consider sun/shade seed, multiple fertilizations and if all else fails....turning it over and starting from dirt again.

Personally, I've never been into a velvet lawn. It's alot of work. And I think you need a fair amount of constant sunshine AND a sprinkler system.

Perhaps another bud can help Gillian with an easy, fool proof method of lawn care????

 

[DebºoºS]

Let me start by saying I am no expert on grass just ask DH.

Living in " The Garden State" we're lucky in that we do get rain in the spring and enough sun to grow a lawn.
I'd try Scott's shade mix (very durable) in that area with a little layer of some good soil, scratch and seed, scratch and seed. You can tell I do it all the time. Please don't use that zoysa stuff. You'll hate it and then you won't be able to get rid of it.

You could even throw some down while it's raining and let the rain push in the cracks. Of course it could wash down the street the way it's raining here right now.
It will grow eventually unless the ground is so hard then you really have to loosen it up. I put some seed along the edge of the street where it meets the cobblestone and it's growing. That isn't even dirt it's gravel. I mixed in some potting soil with the seed in a kind of paste and sure enough it's coming up.

 

[marydmjj]

Deb: I've seen ads for Zoysia grass and the pictures (of course) look great. Why don't you like it? They don't allow it in WA for some reason.

 

[DebºoºS]

I don't like the way it looks. I do like the way Scott's "Play" looks. It's tough and will grow just about anywhere. They don't allow it in WA! What's next, grass height requirements?

 

[marydmjj]

LOL. I noticed at the bottom of the ad it said will not ship to WA or OR (I think). Maybe you just have to buy it from a retailer here or something.

 

[Gillian]

I forgot about my grass thread! Thank you for your replies. One more thing to blame on pregnancy. I can only use that excuse for another 2-3 weeks, and then I can blame it on lack of sleep from the baby.

I think I will try the Scotts shade stuff. My nephew may be able to get us some topsoil too. It's just a mess back there.

But at least we have SUN today, and with my tree gone, I can actually enjoy it! I'll just ignore the big brown patches for now.

 

[Tulirose]

Oh you gotta get a good lawn in there for the new baby to play on! Congratulations BTW regarding the upcoming blessed event!

Deb is SO right. Zosyia grass goes dormant early in the fall and comes to life late in the spring. Therefore, you have a brown mat for a long part of the growing season instead of a green lawn.

It also is much coarser and thicker and therefore harder to mow. It will slowly take over your entire yard and your neighbor's too. My mom has it in her backyard. It hurts your feet to walk on barefoot. It's just... not nice!

Can't go wrong with Scotts products IMHO.