This spring I planted grass underneath and around a tree in my front yard with a sun/shade mix. The grass sprang up quickly and seemed healthy most of the summer. Over the last two weeks the grass has almost completely disappeared in the shaded area leaving me with just dirt.
Is there a particular type of seed I should use? Is it too late to re-seed the area this year (I'm in Maine)?
Thanks for any advise.
Problems with turf beneith trees can stem from the shade OR the tree absorbing the soil moisture. Checkout which is more likely (is the soild desicated?) and try a remedy such as irrigation or pruning the tree. Neil
Well, it's probably not your sun/shade grass mix then.
Your problem is due to one or more of the following:
Even shade grasses need a minimum of a couple of hours of sun a day. The tree may have leafed out more since the spring and grown additional limbs. Or the angle and direction of the sun has since changed; not allowing as much sunlight to get under the tree, etc. If the area doesn't get much sun, limbing up the tree and thinning the canopy on a semi-regular basis will help.
Drainage could be an issue. Too much water in a shady area isn't good for grass and can lead to lawn fungus, gradual decline, and so on. Pruning the tree to allow more sunlight in can also help in this case unless the drainage is extremely poor.
If you've got a lot of surface roots, it will be hard to grow grass as the tree roots will always suck the moisture and nutrients out of the soil. You can compensate somewhat by watering and fertilizing more, but it will mostly be a losing battle.
Until you figure out the cause and correct it; not much point in reseeding.
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