Best grass?

[slate_leeper]

For a mostly-shady but heavily traveled (by my dogs) area? Northeastern Tennessee near the Virginia border.

-dan z-

[krw]

Zoysia should grow there. It's in the "transition zone" but it should go. Zoysia is dense, wear resistant, drought resistant and will take over anything in its path. Great stuff but if you have flower beds, they need a *good* border. If it's kept healthy, you'll never see another weed. Keep it cut or you're going to need a sharp sickle. It's dense stuff.

[gfretwell]

I have a patch of Zoysia by my pool and it is the only grass that has survived but I still get weeds in there.

[krw]

Try fertilizing with 0-45-0 once every other year. Mine would get dandelions in it but after hitting it with the triple-superphosphate they all disappeared. The Zoysia woke up and strangled them all. It worked for about two years between treatments (plus normal fertilization a couple of times each year).

[gfretwell]

I'll give it a shot.

[slate_leeper]

Thanks for the suggestion. A neighbor down the street used that. It grew fine, but in the winter turns brown unlike the grasses on the other lawns.

[Wade Garrett]

Pay a visit to the biggest nursery in town, find a guy with gray hair, ask him...

[trader_4]

It grows fine here in NJ, if you want it. Biggest negative aside from it invading everywhere is that it's straw colored from Oct thru April while cool season grasses are green and growing. So you have about 3 months more of it dormant and looking like crap. Good cool season grasses have some green most of the winter.

I just used some shade seed mix from Tractor Supply for the backyard. It was highly rated and so far it's coming in nicely. They had it at a good price. Depends on how much shade he has too. If it's not dense shade then a good tall fescue product would work, it's tough, used on sports fields, etc. When buying seed you need to be careful and read the label. In recent years, the new scam is to coat seed. That can be a good thing, but the way they charge, it's not really. You pay for 7 lbs of a product, but only 3 lbs of it is seed and they charge as much or more per actual pound as pure seed. I avoid it. Pure seed should cost him $3 a pound or less, that's a good deal. Except for bluegrass. That seed is so tiny that you get a lot more seed per pound.

[rbowman]

That's an advantage to living in the north. The lawn turns white in November and stays that way.

[Tekkie©]

On Mon, 17 May 2021 19:43:41 -0400, [e-mail] posted for all of us to digest...

To OP: Your local Dept of Agriculture or 4H or whatever it's called can advise you. I can tell Zoysia a mile away because in the winter it looks horrible, IMHO

[Tekkie©]

On Tue, 18 May 2021 08:01:38 -0600, rbowman posted for all of us to digest...

Not mine, it stays a dull green, unless you mean snow. ;(

[rbowman]

That's the stuff. The path to the shed really looks like crap in the spring not that the rest is all that great.

[slate_leeper]

Chuckle.... Not a bad idea.

[invalid unparseable]

It is a good idea. I generally see seeds for sale suitable for the area you live in local stores. Also many considerations like full sun or full shade.

I have seen zoysia here in Delaware. They usually start from sprigs but I see seed is available. It does make a nice lawn but browns out in winter. It is also invasive and could take over a neighbor's lawn and they might not like it.

[krw]

Yes, that's typical of warm-weather grasses. They stay brown until late in the spring. IIRC, the soil temperature has to get to 70F, or some such. Everyone uses warm-weather grasses (mostly Bermuda) here so everyone's yard is the same color.

[krw]

But so do the driveways and roads. No thanks. I've had enough of that for a lifetime.

[krw]

It looks the same as Bermuda grass, just more dense. Yes, advice from the state's Ag Extension is a good idea. Nothing is going to take a beating like Zoysia, though.

[rbowman]

Yeah, N 47 degrees keeps the undesirables out.

[krw]

You're welcome to keep your Siberia.