There are possibly two varieties of zoysia that handle shade. They might be the same variety discovered by different researchers - who knows? One is called Shadow Turf. I've seen it growing under a very dense English walnut tree. Here is a pic I took of it. This lawn was blocked by the house to the east, the walnut tree right overhead, and a large tree to the west across the street. If any of it got more than 2 hours of direct sunlight I'd be surprised. It had been installed with 1-inch plugs about 18 months prior. The uneven area in the center of the picture is the only spot where it had not completely filled in. The 1-inch plugs had grown to 12 inch patches but they had not knit together yet. Otherwise the grass was very dense. Even if it had been growing in full sun I would have called it dense. I did an experiment with Shadow Turf and was not thrilled with it. It is just about as aggressive as bermuda and much less tolerant of the heat. I guess it goes dormant in the heat. It certainly does come back, though. In all fairness, the location is isolated and it must get special treatment. I was not home to water as needed so it looked dead during most of our recent 2-year long drought. My wife is going to try to pull it out this year. I'll be reporting on the success of that project later. I forget the name of the other variety of shade tolerant zoysia. I'm thinking it is called Diamond but could be very wrong. It is used on golf courses in the east.

I agree with dirtmonkey. Buttermilk is great for outside growth only but the rest is not needed. If one were growing moss outside; mix chopped moss with clay from the ground along with a little ground-up peat. Add water just enough to make it useable. Place this mixture over a rock or area and cover with cheese cloth. Tie in place with bonsai wire or cotton string. Lightly mist daily and insure it stays moist. Place in a semi shaded area and moss should sprout. There are many ways to grow moss. Air flow is important. Moss needs the air. The bark chip idea is also a great one. I use composted finely chopped pine bark. I then ground it after it is composted. Leaf mold is also great.

Hi bosewichte, Well, of course, it's hard to tell what may have caused your problems by just reading your post. Basically, it sounds like you did everything about right. There are a few things that I do wonder about however; they may or may not be the cause of the problems. First of all, I think you should get a thermostat for your heat mat. Without it, you really don't know what the temperature of the growing media is. Usually, you don't want the temperature to go over about 75 or 76 degrees. Then, you mentioned filling and using plastic dixie cups. Actually, they're pretty deep for seed germination. To prevent the growing media from staying too wet, shallower containers probably would have been better. In any case, you want the media to be moist and not wet. When the seeds germinate, their roots will need oxygen, which can be driven out by too much water. Also, watering seeds from the top can easily cause the seeds to be buried too deep. Most folks agree that gentle bottom watering is the best. If the growing media is moist (not wet) before you put it into the germination containers, and you use the plastic domes, you probably would not need to add any more water until after the seeds have germinated. My guess is that your seeds ended up too deep and/or the growing media was too wet. You should see slight condensation on the underside of the dome, but if water runs down the sides it's too wet. Hope this is helpful and good luck in the future with your seed germinating. Art

Balancing out is always a goal. I am suggesting that the tree at the left be same species ... or similar size. Not that rigid about it as there is asymmetry to the overall house structure. ... Balance. It would be completely reasonable to interpret the 3 green mounds as possibly being boxwoods. I am not "covering the columns" ... just giving them a base. Would not want to see it taller than what is shown. I'm not picking plants; just giving you ideas of forms and sizes to help you figure out an arranging scheme. You'll be able to evaluate what might work well to create those things based on plants available for your area. You can consult with other forums on it as well. Also, look around your neighborhood and town and see what's nice that would work for you.