Thank you!

You can expect to need to water it down there...in the heat and (usually) drought. I know you've had quite a lot of rainfall this year...too bad you didn't seed about a month ago.

Fine fescue goes dormant in the SPRING "heat" in the my area (transition zone, central VA). I don't see how it will survive in Texas.

Since It's just a rental property, you could also try throwing down old faithful...Kentucky-31 tall fescue. It's cheap and it will germinate from seed in a few days. The shade probably will help it in the summer. In the fall/winter/early spring..when the tree doesn't have leaves...the fescue should be able to get more sunlight. Just keep it maintained / cut at 4 inches or higher so the plants can maximize the sunlight exposure they get.

But you're really fighting a hard battle. Cool season grass isn't going to perform very wel south of the northern regions; it does OK in the transition zone. In Texas, you probably should be looking at warm season grass.

I'm not really a warm season grass expert, but I hear that St Augustine does OK in the shade. That might get expensive because I think you have to use plugs or sod.

You could be right, owlnsr. I just assumed that it was solar radiation, not temperature, that caused that.

Great tip on the tall fescue. Hardier and still somewhat shade tolerant.

Actually, fescue tends to be a winter foliage only grass here, I assumed you knew that. In Texas, I'd say October through March or so.

Cheapest thing you can do is thin the trees out some more and get more light back there. Can't tell if you have St. Augustine or Bermuda, but the former is more shade tolerant if you decide to buy sod.

So far it looks like you're getting advice from Yankees. Growing fescue here is a waste of time and money. It should be criminalized for wasting water.

It looks like you already have St Augustine. No other grass could look that good in there. A close up photo would be nice - from 3 inches away - on an overcast day - with a clean camera lens. All you have to do is water St Aug and it will spread 15 feet per year. That might look like a lot of shade, but St Aug can handle a lot worse than that. If you want to get it started in places where it isn't already growing, buy a piece from the local nursery. They might try to sell you Floratam. That's okay but Floratam does better in full sun than in the shade. There are other varieties that do better in that much shade. If Floratam is all they have, use that. Just get a few pieces and put it down. Water those pieces by hand 3x per day until they knit into the underlying soil. You'll notice the grass growing up tall when it is knit in.

Here's how to water.

Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall.

I strongly recommend an oscillator sprinkler for your rectangular lawn. Get the turbo oscillator. They don't all say turbo on them anymore. Some say gear driven. Just don't get the one with the exposed mechanical linkage. Those are bad from the factory. I've had gear/turbo driven oscillators last for years and years. $20.

For St Augustine mulch mow at the mower's highest setting every week or two (or three). Taller grass develops deeper roots that get nutrients and moisture from deeper down.

Fertilize 3x per year, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving (or so). Or you could fertilize with an organic fertilizer now or any time. Give that 3 weeks and the grass should look 100% better in color, density, and growing speed.

Thank you! This is great advice!