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need recommendation for shade/drought tolerant lawn

15 years ago

I have a small lawn area in my backyard (around 400 sq. feet) that is having a hard time as most of it is in the shade, particulary in the winter. My gardener has tried seeding a few times (not sure what kind he tried) but it is just not taking. I'm ready to take matters into my own hands, and would appreciate suggestions. In anticipation of water rationing and always looking for low maintenance alternatives, I've come across Eco Grass from Wildflower Farms in Canada that sounds perfect. Has anyone used it, particularly in a warm, dry climate such as mine? Or does anyone have any other suggestions? Because it's my only grassy area -- the entire front of the house is xeroscopic -- I'm looking for lush and green and I'd rather not have to overseed in the cooler weather. Thank you!

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Comments (11)

garycinchicago
15 years ago
Why not just a shade garden?
lou_spicewood_tx
15 years ago
creeping, chewing, red fescue. I don't remember which one so google each one for into. You do have to water occasionally...
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I'd agree with Ryan that Kikuyu grass is amongst the most drought tolerant of subtropical grasses for coastal California conditions, north or south. It is much easier to manage for invasiveness than Bermuda grass, in my opinion, although it can spread fast into planting beds if not regularly edged. The main advantage over Bermuda grass is that it is not as deep rooting when it invades surrounding areas, and so not as hard to dig out. In my Berkeley neighborhood, this stays green all year round in clay soils, and needs no irrigation at all at any time of year to stay green. You can't say the same for Bermuda grass here, it definitely needs some water to keep green in summer. For other lawn substitutes in California conditions, you are probably going to have to consider alternatives like Buffalo grass(slow to establish and goes dormant in winter), or one of the Carex species such as C. pansa, C. praegacilis or C. tumulicola. Only the Carex tumulicola is fast from seed, and none are available as sod. I've used all three of these Carex species as lawn substitutes here in the SF Bay Area, and find that I can get some dieback of the C. praegacilis and C. pansa in winter if they stay too wet, and they can also be much more sensitive to fertilizer burn than a normal lawn, so you need to go light on the fertilizer, which I still don't always remember when I am trying to encourage faster growth...
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What about Lysimachia? There's Firecracker (deep purple leaves with bright small yellow flowers that look like they're popping out of the plant. This one is doing well in a shaded garden with dry soil. I don't usually mulch, but did so with these, which helps. I do not consider it a 'bully', and when it goes beyond it's limits, just pull out the new shoot, and cut back to the mama plant. I am also trying Eupatoriums - Chocolate and the regular Joe Pye. These gardens are surrounded by boulders coming out of the ground, and the front boulders get sun for a couple of hours. Since they absorb heat, the ground dries-up quickly, yet the gardens behind the boulders are in shade... Nicole.
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texas_weed
15 years ago
Saint Augustine.
lou_spicewood_tx
15 years ago
Floratam st augustine to be specific if you can get them... Over here in Texas, Floratam is number 1 by a a mile over others for drought tolerant...
danyoni
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you for the responses. Are the St. Augustines also good for shade? Holly
dchall_san_antonio
15 years ago
St Augustine is great for shade and should grow anywhere in SoCal. The house below has St Augustine, faces north, and has five live oak trees in the front. The yard down hill to the west has a big tree and the yard to the east has five live oaks. The only opening to the sky is the driveway to the left.

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If you have more shade than that, St Aug will survive but be a thin grass that allows some broadleaf weeds like henbit and dichondra in.

Have you considered using dwarf monkey grass for the really shady areas? It does very well and looks like grass (but it isn't). It never needs mowing and takes darned little moisture. It spreads very slowly but consistently. Here is a picture to show roughly what it looks like invading St Aug. It is the dark green patch. 15 years ago it was about 1 square foot. Now it is more like 10 square feet. Slow spreader.

{{gwi:81436}}
texas_weed
15 years ago
Saint Augustine is the most shade tolerant of the warm season grasses.

The one thing I do not know if it is available in So Cal or not, as it is mostly found in th eGulf Coast states that have much higher rainfall.
andy10917
15 years ago
While there is nothing specifically wrong with Eco-Lawn, it is nothing but a blend of creeping red fescues, chewings fescues and hard fescues (the varieties are in the FAQ on their website) that sells for $300 a 50-lb bag ($33 for 5-lbs). They're marketing a specialty product that isn't special, at a specialty price. Note that Eco-Lawn (in the fine print) says that Eco-Lawn lawns should be fully reseeded every 2 years.
danyoni
Original Author
15 years ago
Andy -- will these fescues go dormant in the winter and have to be re-seeded?
bpgreen
15 years ago
The fescues will do fine in the winter, but they will probably have problems in your summers. They're cool season grasses, so I don't know how well they'd do in LA.
denverdude
15 years ago
There are many herbicides out there that bermuda tolerates and st augustine does not. A hot dose of a regular broadleaf herbicide can knock back the st augustine.

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