Interesting problem - I'm not a landscape designer, but I think the first issue is that, without a completely continuous barrier that sinks into the soil, you may have to deal with bits of turf attempting to colonize the woods - although if the woods are deep shade, the turf grass won't survive. There are such barriers, I think, and I don't know much about them, except the ones I've seen aren't very attractive.

I would use something natural - rocks maybe or fallen tree trunks or large branches - to create a barrier that runs the length of the border. Then, to create a little more distance between the woods and the lawn, I might create a path with gravel or wood chips (or even paved - wouldn't be my first choice) to follow along the barrier you've created, and separate the turf from the barrier.

It's not clear from your post how steep the slope is - a steep slope might require a more complicated approach.

-- wd

A shallow trench will slow down the spread of the grass but no matter what system you use you will have to pull up the occassional bit of grass and occassionally re-scrape the trench. When you mow the grass make sure not to spray the clippings towards the planting bed if there is even the slightest chance of any seed in the turf you are cutting. The edge of your planting bed should be well mulched (mulch over newspaper is good). I don't think I have enough info to determine whether erosion will be an issue for you.

I didn't think turf grass even COULD invade, I mean its dead by summers end if it doest rain good, it usealy dies back from weeds some of which are natives, (wild violets), in gen its weak IMO, based on my dads lawn and unattractive unless you dump loads of lawn stuff on it.
I'd go for Canada ammone, ( Maybe misspelled the name), Its a white ground cowering flower and its pretty aggressive I'm told, if your worried about turf

Columbine is another good native for wooded lots in shady areas, I love the red hanging blooms, Bloodroot is a striking native, it comes up early and sometimes is popping up where you least expect it, it dies back early however so if you plant, put something like Jack in the pulpit or wild ginger to help add intrest. Mary bells I like but never have grown, you could add solomans seal, I've got false, and its doing fine. Trillium is nice but imo the Great whites don't do well in my area and they have shallow root systems so you may want to be careful with those, I' trying yellow to see if it works out better.

terry, there should be a natural graduation from turf to shade cover. The more native plantings you get going on the edge of the cover in, the more it will crowd out the turf. It might look scraggly for awhile, but unless your parents cannot abide that then it should be temporary.

Mulch heavily with newspaper (like was mentioned above) and leaves or chipped branches. Recreate a forest floor to maximize native success and minimize "weed" pressure.

Hope that helps! It is late and I am getting a little punchy! :o)

Well, let's see...⺠The area that I'm going to do, starts as more sun and goes into more shade. Since the slope goes down and is west of the house, it gets more sun than if it were even land. The slope isn't so bad you can't walk it, it doesn't simple fall off like I've seen elsewhere, but it does start the slope up at the house. So the whole back yard is a slight slope down and goes into the timber, which keeps on slopping, sometimes more steep, then goes back into a gentle slope. The house sits on approximately 2 1/2 acres, the timber is 3 1/2 and at the very bottom, after the slope and the timber, is a field that's cash rented out to a local farmer. The field is 10 acres. I'm sure Don (farmer) uses chemicals on the field and yes, my parents use chemicals on the turf grass. This has to be a compromise. It can't be all what I want, it has to take into consideration how and what they feel. I hope that makes sense to any other person with parents in the age bracket of late 60's to early 70's. My dad feels it's park like and I don't, but that's another story⺠That's why it's very important to do a compromise. I want to start with a 20 ft. long section by about 10 feet deep.

Something natural is what I'd like or even the trench as suggested by bobb64. Unfortunately, rocks aren't in or on our soils in this area, so those wouldn't be natural. Fallen trees are very natural in the timber, so those would be natural.

Greenhaven, I believe I can get my parents to abide, but you know how that goes sometimes!

I thank everyone for their suggestions!

Terry

I think planting groups of native shrubs and sub-shrubs could help. I, also, liked the idea of the path to help keep the turf grass out. Clumping native grasses and forbs could also help create a more natural transition.

If the soil is right for it, I *love* the look of low-bush blueberry...especially among rock outcroppings.

Hope this is helpful,

David

I would make a simple, sharp edge to the turf so that one side is nice, solid turf and the other side of the line there is no turf. I think a sharp edge makes the whole lawn look cared for, and makes mowing easy. As bob64 wrote, I'd cut the turf edge with a shovel and make a shallow trench, or simply a band of scraped soil. This band can be maintained by scraping with a shovel or hoe, and occasionally cutting back the edge of the turf, which will tend to spread. The band should be perhaps 6 inches wide, at least, to allow you room to work. On the other side of the scraped area, plant a garden of sun shade plants, put down mulch, or what ever your plans call for. THe edge of the turf should be laid out in a way that facilitates mowing - no sharp corners, odd shapes, etc.

In the south I had an area simmilar but not slopped. I just mowed up to the drip line of the forrest and let nature take over. after a few years I had a buffer of under story shrubs and wildflowers, but nothing colorful, that made a nice transition. This was an area I liked because many birds and other wildlife used the buffer zone for foraging. The down side to it though is it looks more like someone too lazy to drag out the string trimmer. With out a solid barrier I don't see a maintenance free method to stop the turf. But there is the use of mowing strips that don't protrude up they can be made flat at ground level so they are nearly invisible from a distance. Just do a search for mower strips in the hypertufa forum to see what I am talking about. Don't use google or you will get mostly cement curbs used as bordering for yards. Though that could be hidden with a dense low growing shrub as well. Might try a google image search on "natural buffer zone" and see if anything strikes you.

I'm thinking my best bet would be if I do a sharp cut into the turf in front of the area to be planted. There's brick edging around all the beds surrounding the house, but down there by the woods, brick just won't look right. If I remember tomorrow to grab my camera, I'll snap some pictures for a better visual than my trying to explain the area. Basically what I'm going for right now, would be a prairie area in front of the woods.

I thank everyone for their suggestions âº

My yard has a line of stones with grass on one side, ferns and other natives on the other. There is no hard barrier keeping the two apart; and in fact, the ferns and natives are the ones crossing the line and invading the grass, not the other way around (because the line between grass and natives was established a little too deep into the shade.) I don't think you need to do anything fancy if you don't want to. Just look for where the transition already occurs naturally (where the grass starts looking thin and mossy), decorate the edge as you see fit, then mow one side, and if necessary, weed the other.

I just stop mowing...in an undefined line...

sigh. What was started, has become as of yesterday, something and somewhere else. Now my parents want me to concentrate on 3 other, yet pre-existing beds. All in full sun. The area where I had wanted to do needs too much work in the woods themselves to start there. I decided that because of all the work, that there was a better spot. It's a flatter spot, further north-west on the property where the woods take a dip.

We go tomorrow to pick up all that I had already ordered (for me), and the forbs and grasses that were ordered late yesterday. Now to just hop in that clone machine and make at least 9 more of me.âº

Ooh! Can we make it ten and one can come here? :o)

LOL! Including the "real" me, it would be 10!!âº

The 19 flats of forbs/grasses that I had ordered, turned into only 8 1/2!! That's what happens when you don't pre-order!!