Why cant I grow grass?

[Bob Bowles]

[Frankenberry]

I have a small lawn that is shaded on one end. Since I have owned the house the shaded part was mostly dirt.

I dug up and turned the soil over and layed sod in this area. I also turned over the soil and planted shady grass seed in the area between the existing grass and the new sod. I also patched up areas one the grassy side to fill it in. Within a week or so the grass and sod looked beautiful almost golf course like.

But now 3 weeks-4 weeks later all the new areas have thinned quite a bit (sod, patches, seeded areas). The original grassy area looks the same.

I tried fertilizing the lawn 4-5 days ago and so far no difference, everyday the lawn looks worse. More dirt less grass.

I have watered it quite a bit and it has rained quite a bit too.

Does anyone have any sugestions why this might be happening and how to fix it?

Also no one has been on the grass as its a fairly unused lawn.

[Joseph Meehan]

Don't bother trying to grow good looking grass in shade, grass is a sun loving plant.

Consider alternatives for ground cover. Trying to make something grow where it does not do well is just asking for a lot of work and little return.

Sorry.

[Herman Munster]

Contact you local extension office and get a soil test. Mine was about $8.00. They sent me a nice printout telling me exactly what my soil needed to grow grass. Weight to area ratio's for fertalizer for example. I was very happy with the response and have had much better success with my grass. My lawn is rather shady and amending the soil properly really worked. (properly being the key word, my yard was very scarcein some of the much needed nutrients) Hope this helps. kraM

[Andrew Duane USG]

Depends on where you live and what kind of grass. My lawn is half shade and half sun. It's also half grass and half dead grass/dirt. The living, healthy, gorgeous grass is in the shade.

[Peter H]

It sounds like you tried to put a lawn in in mid-July. Not the best time of year to try this.

It's not unusual for new seed to come in very lush and thick initially and then thin out a bit, but when it's very young and then goes into the heat of July and August as well the results are predictable.

Try overseeding the seeded area again later this month. You don't mention where you are located, but in the northern US and Canada you can use creeping red fescue seed for a shade seed. I've had great results w/ this seed even on poor soils and very shady areas. You must be patient though. It may take a couple of years to really fill in.

btw. you don't want to fertilize your lawn in the summer. Spring and fall are the times when you stimulate it.

Peter H

[Brad]

Nothing like advice from an ignorant person. Isn't that what usenet is all about?

[Wade Lippman]

Why not ask your neighbors? They have the same soil, weather, etc.

FWIW, the half of my lawn thats in the shade needs to be mowed every couple days in the summer, while I don't mow the sunny parts for weeks at a time.

[Phisherman]

[Art Todesco]

[RamblinOn]

Shady mix grasses need some minimum amount of sun each day - depending on the variety. If the grass is in dense, full shade the entire day, it likely will die. If shade is such that you can trim/lift trees to bring more light it may improve the situation. If not, then a different ground cover may work much better. Under trees, the ground can dry faster because the trees take up a lot of water. When you water, do you water deep or just surface? There can be pests involved, such as fungus or grubs, but you can't diagnose those on the internet. Try taking a couple of plugs of grass from the problem area, along with a scoop of soil from 4-5 spots to your county extension service if they do soil testing. They should be able to tell you whether the soil is the problem. No sun = no grass. All grass has to have some sun.

[Joseph Meehan]

The original writer indicated that the grass in the non-shade areas was ok and the grass in the shade was not. Not said by inferred was that it was an established situation.

Now it is possible that the soil conditions and or type of grass might be wrong and could be fixed, but most of the time when these conditions exist they exist because of the excessive shade. Even a change in type of grass and soil improvement will not eliminate the shade which caused the condition in the first place.

That is why I suggest it would be a lot of work and little return. I stand by that statement. base on the information provided. While it may be your opinion that I am ignorant, you are free to make that mistake. I doubt if your opinion will make much difference to either of us.

Sometimes the best advice is to admit defeat.

It may be that my reading of the original message was wrong and one or more of the ideas suggested may be helpful, but in the end, grass in shade is seldom successful.

I noticed that neither you nor Andrew had any ideas to offer.

[thunder]

Is it a tree causing the shade? What kind of tree? Some trees, black walnuts among them, give of a toxin to better allow them to compete. I have a magnolia that manages to kill anything out to the leaves drip line. If this is your problem, there are some solutions. Do a search on allelopathic.

[JTM]

And the answer is--sod or plant St.Augustine grass in shaded areas, since no other grass is as shade tolerant. Kentuck blue grass and Bermuda grass just will not grow in shade so homes with fully shaded areas have to rely on St. Augustine or ground covers (Asiatic jasmine, English Ivy).

Regards,

John