Sorry to hear about the confrontation with the neighbor. It's always good to have those survey markers put in so everything's clear from the start. But that's all in the past, so I hope your neighbor will calm down soon. We have a lot of those large oaks in our neighborhood, none with the classic shape, but it does give a nice dappled shade in which to garden and relax. The mulch is a good idea, but I'd like to see a grouping of plants there under the tree, sort of drawn out so they look natural - you can use understory trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs. The following are listed as thriving best in fertile, humusy soil with good drainage and light shade (4-6 hours of sun) and are also deer resistant (but remember that deer will eat just about anything if hungry enough); those with an asterisk can take more shade. A lot will depend on whether that oak is "limbed-up" and the amount of dappled sunlight coming through the canopy. Understory Trees: Amelanchier* (serviceberry), eastern redbud, witchhazel Shrubs: Caryopteris, Japanese Plum Yew, daphne*, grape holly, leucothoe, pieris*, skimmia japonica*, snowberry Perennials, biennials, bulbs, etc. Monkshood*, columbine, jack-in-the-pulpit, astilbe*, baptisia australis, boltonia, brunnera*, northern sea oats*, cimicifuga*, corydalis*, dicentra*, digitalis purpurea, ferns, euphorbia, filipendula (meadow sweet), sweet woodruff*, hakonechloa macra (golden variegated hakone grass), helleborus*, blue oat grass, daylily, candytuft (iberis sempervirens), siberian iris, Virginia bluebells* (mertensia virginica), monarda, forget-me-not (myosotis alpestris), daffodils, mondo grass*, pennisetum, polemonium* (Jacob's ladder), pulmonaria* (lungwort), rodgersia, celadine poppy*, tiarella*, tradescantia, trillium, rhubarb. Groundcovers: ajuga reptans* (bugleweed), lily-of-the-valley*, spotted deadnettle*, pachysandra*, obedient plant, mayapple, As you can see, your options are rather limited ;-) Pieris is one of my favorites - evergreen, early flower clusters, quite hardy and pest & disease resistant when grown in at least partial shade, many varietes now from which to choose. Wouldn't be without those spring bulbs. Tiarella blooms for at least a month here, and the dicentra eximia (fernleaf, or wild, bleeding heart) blooms all season except for the hottest part of summer. Polemonium and cimicifuga can give some height. Leucothoe is another favorite - evergreen, low maintenance, different varieties available. Amelanchier has many good attributes; it has lovely white flowers in the spring, followed by berries that the birds love, and some varieties have excellent fall color. If you get impatient for spring, consider a hellebore or two; they take a while to get established, but some varieties start blooming here in February and hold those blooms a very long time. As the sun moves across the sky, so moves the shade cast by the tree. Many shade plants appreciate morning sun and afternoon shade. Remember that anything you plant will be competing with the oak for nutrients and water, so, unless you pick plants that prefer dry shade, you'll want to compensate for that. Best of luck ... I think you could wind up with a lovely spot there ... you might even eventually decide to put a garden bench or a few Adirondack chairs in the vicinity.

That is a hilarious request! We see it every year, too. The only grass that comes close is St Augustine and not Floratam. If that is all the damage your dog has done, then St Aug should work. It will need deep water once per week as will ANY grass you put in. The difference with St Aug is that it's the only southern grass which will tolerate any shade. And it will tolerate a lot more than you have. Chances are you already have St Aug back there. If that's the case you can nurse that until it spreads to cover the entire area. All it needs is weekly water and mowing at the highest setting. You can mow once per week or once every 2 or 3 weeks. If you want it to fill fast, then I would fertilize with an organic fertilizer once per month. I like alfalfa pellets at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet as a fertilizer. Get it in 50-pound bags at your local feed store - sold as rabbit chow. Apply by hand for that small area. Water deeply once per week. Deep means a full inch as measured by several cat food or tuna cans set out in the yard. For that area I would use an oscillator sprinkler. It might take many hours to fill the cans, so don't be surprised. Don't look now but your dog photobombed your picture.

If a grass lawn is as lumpy as the person has described, adding sandy loam is not going to help much. I use horticultural sand as top dressing to help build up the grass layer. But beneath such layer, you will still encounter the hardpack clay which because of it's quality will take a long time to straighten out. Lumps can be caused by stones, building refuse and wood, animal holes, etc. Also, when it rains, these become a muddy, soggy mess. In my own yard, I have a heavy clay area - such that when i walk on it when it;'s wet, I leave shoe prints. It will take a lot more than simply top dressing. If the lady is desperate, then add a good deal of good topsoil, have it leveled properly, and then lay down sod. This way, the grass is instant, the mess is kept to a miminum. Ianna

I'd cut it back, and try to spare the new growth as much as possible. Just cut it back as far as you need to make it look better, and that'll give the new growth a better chance to cover it up.