The only real option, if you want a dense stand of turf, considering all the wear/traffic is to cut down some trees and use bermudagrass. Bermudagrass is most aggressive and wear/traffic tolerant turfgrass. You will also have to maintain the bermuda at a high level. This means core aerification a couple of times during the growing season and keeping the fertility relatively high. The other turfgrasses mentioned, St. Augustine will not hold up to concentrated traffic, fine fescue will never hold up to the traffic, zoysia is a slow grower and probably won't be able to recover fast enough. Tall fescue maybe an option it will most likely look terrible by the end of the summer, but if you can keep the boys off the lawn for three weeks in the early fall. You can reseed the worn areas and anything that gets taken out by disease and have your yard looking good by the end of the fall. Just read your last post jdawg, the reason why fescue is not ideal is the amount of traffic your yard is getting. Tall fescue is a cool season bunch type grass. That means when you lose some grass from traffic or disease the tall fescue is not going to fill in the area, and over time that leads to bare ground.

Hi The ground ivy is creeping charlie and it was everywhere; It's sort of under control now except for the "lawn" where it's deep into the thatch throughout. It's a challenge. Is "wild clover" the type that people use for a grass alternative? I thought it was (and thought that's what I had) but after I weeded around the clover, it looked kind of fragile and weak. It's hard to imagine it could ever be a stand alone ground cover. The problem with the wild ajuga in the "lawn" is that its It's not a consistent color. Even sometimes the offspring from the same parent are a totally different color (dark purple, light purple, green, brown). Thanks for taking the time to read this. I'll post a picture here of the ground ivy. and some more photos in the following posts. Any advice is appreciated. Kathy

Wow, Las Palitas doesn't make it sound like such a great option... Are they wrong? "Dune Sedge, Carex pansa is a very small creeping dune plant. Leaves making little tufts where it is happy. The happier the plant, the bigger the lawn. Needs near beach sand. The only time I've ever seen it look good in the wild was in an inner dune low spot that was moist and protected, then Dune Sedge almost made a lumpy lawn. Dune sedge cannot compete with alien grasses such as Veldt or Bromus. It sometimes gets called out for restoration, in that situation it should be either grown from propagules from the site, or divided on site. In yards it will only work in beach sand, moist protected flagstone/paver crack type situations. Someone has been spending time talking this one up. Here's a typical email or conversation. We want a lawn for about 5000 sq. feet of our backyard. However, we don't want to water or mow much (with the emphasis on water). We live in Los Osos where our soil is relatively fine-grained, dirty sand. We have two kids ages 7 and 4 who want to play sports (soccer, wiffle ball, etc.) in the backyard. Carex pansa looks like it might do the trick but we have a few questions: 1. Will it take traffic? no 2. Would it be a good idea to add something like composted steer manure to the soil? no 3. Can a gallon be split to create plugs? yes but we only have a few 4. Will we really be using less water than something like a dwarf tall fescue or other slow-growing, drought resistant grass mixes that could be grown from seed? (In the driest months, in areas that we don't water, the sand is moist 6-10 inches down and deeper.) Carex pansa is native there, forming little clumps separated by feet of open sand kinda like a dog with mange. Will not work as lawn, none of the natives will that we've seen, except maybe Dantonia, but it needs more water than some of the turf lawn grasses. If you wish to try to make a lawn with Dune Sedge make the lawn as small as you can to make the kids happy, put in 'trails' , native groundcovers and shrubs. Wildlife, kids and you will be happy." Here is a link that might be useful: Las Pilitas link

I have a kitchen that sounds a lot like your living room as far as wear goes. It's the hub of the house, largest & brightest room. The garage door and backyard sliders open into the room. The floor gets the heaviest traffic and toughest use. We're also on a slab. We had a flood over two months ago and are currently without any type of flooring over the concrete slab while we 'negotiate' with our insurance company. I'm in my 50s and hope whatever flooring I choose will be the last flooring I have to put down. I'm sick to death of 28 years of cleaning vinyl. I thought I wanted tile. I decided porcelain was my best bet due to the hardness rating and best durability. Why I don't want tile: I am usually barefoot. The cement is COLD and HARD and my back and hips now hurt if I stand in the kitchen long enough. My 2 year old grandson has fallen twice on the floor--the thud was sickening and he really got hurt. Tile is too hard and cold a surface for me. Same for etched concrete. I considered laminate. Kitchen=moisture and spills. I am a decent housekeeper but not a slave to it. I worry that the traffic will be too tough on the surface or water will lift the seams. I also don't care for the artificial look of it or the sound it makes when walked on with shoes. A weird kind of clicking. After doing a lot of research and shopping around, I'm going with engineered hardwood in a distressed style. It will be warmer and softer under the feet (and grandkid's head and limbs). The distressed style in a matte finish won't taunt me daily to "come clean me . . .I'm not shiney anymore." I've been told a daily Swiffering keeps it mostly happy and presentable. I like that the finish is baked on in the factory and won't need on site finishing. We really can't afford to have the room out of commission for days while it cures. I'll use mats or area rugs at the doorways and sink. That said, I raised two boys in this house with vinyl in the kitchen and carpeting throughout the rest of the rooms. Where there are children, there is cleaning and upkeep and repairs to be done. You're smart to try and minimize your work.