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neustkg

Help with grass growing in mostly shade

neustkg
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago

I live in Colorado. In my backyard (faces east), grass doesn't grow well due to two trees that provide a ton of shade in the summer. There isn't a lot of direct sunlight in an area of about 30 feet by 10 feet under the trees. Other places the grass grows fine. It doesn't help that we now have a dog that has taken some of that grass out last fall. Two weeks ago, just before all the rain we've received, I spread organic lawn (Ace Shady Grass Seed Mix) fertilizer with a hand spreader, then planted plenty of shade type grass seed with the spreader and sprinkled a light layer of straw over that to keep the seed from washing away. In two weeks, some of the grass has sprouted, but now the leaves on the trees are starting to block out the sun, so I am thinking the grass coverage will be average, maybe about the same as last summer. Here is a question: I've heard of some kind of microbe or fungus (harmless to plants) that when spread over grass in shady areas assists in photosynthesis. Has anyone heard of any product like this? Other option is to keep spreading the same kind of grass seed all summer hoping more grass will sprout. I also have a few cans of clover seed I will probably mix in with the grass (I'm not a lawn purist -- I grew up in the country) as clover will help with biodiversity and help attract honey bees to the area. Plus clover does well in the shade.

Long term I'm thinking about having a concrete contractor put down a stamped concrete patio poured to cover much of the area and then put down concrete type pavers in the rest of the area, doing this work myself. This will also cut down on having to water part of the back yard, too (I can block out maybe 3 sprinkler heads for this). But we probably won't be doing this for at least a few years.


Also, in my front yard (faces NW), I have an Ash tree and the grass below it doesn't grow all that well, either. Grass grows well on the edges, but the grass just under the tree stays pretty short all season. Right now, it's getting a lot of sun as the Ash tree doesn't have all it's leaves, yet. I also fertilized this area. Any ideas what I can do here?

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