That is a hilarious request! We see it every year, too. The only grass that comes close is St Augustine and not Floratam. If that is all the damage your dog has done, then St Aug should work. It will need deep water once per week as will ANY grass you put in. The difference with St Aug is that it's the only southern grass which will tolerate any shade. And it will tolerate a lot more than you have. Chances are you already have St Aug back there. If that's the case you can nurse that until it spreads to cover the entire area. All it needs is weekly water and mowing at the highest setting. You can mow once per week or once every 2 or 3 weeks. If you want it to fill fast, then I would fertilize with an organic fertilizer once per month. I like alfalfa pellets at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet as a fertilizer. Get it in 50-pound bags at your local feed store - sold as rabbit chow. Apply by hand for that small area. Water deeply once per week. Deep means a full inch as measured by several cat food or tuna cans set out in the yard. For that area I would use an oscillator sprinkler. It might take many hours to fill the cans, so don't be surprised. Don't look now but your dog photobombed your picture.

I'm very interested in replacing my lawn with a low maintenance, durable ground cover (I love the look of thyme, but I'm worried it might be too expensive). When I look at lawn alternatives, it seems that most people use them in small spaces in a well-landscaped yard. But my yard has almost no landscaping-- just a huge lawn (about 1/4 acre) and a few trees. Are there any ground covers that can quickly cover that much space? I am hoping to find a ground cover that wont be too expensive, and can handle foot traffic.

Thanks so much for the feedback! Just to clarify, I'm not looking for a no-mow/no-maintenance yard, but I don't want to spend time babying a grass lawn that doesn't want to live here. :) The clover, however, seems happy and thick, and I have no problem letting it take over and maybe adding some microclover seeds. I also have four little kids, and heartily enjoy my weed bouquets they bring me, so having a pristine lawn may never make it onto my wish list. Having even coverage in the yard would be nice though, instead of this: Taken yesterday. Many of the dark green patches are clover. The coverage from the clover seems even and lush, but is slightly on the tall side (kids small toys and shoes seem to disappear in it easily). The patch to the left of the front porch is several inches taller than all the other clover patches (maybe because it's in morning shade?). The reason I'm asking about microclover in particular is because I have to do a thorough search in the clover patches before mowing the yard, and thought implementing microclover at this point may cut down on that small inconvenience. (But I don't want to be swayed simply based off advertising, so thought I'd ask for direct experience with microclover, and hear some of the downsides as well). Definitely won't be pulling anything up to put down seed, so I suppose it would be a grass/clover mixture in the yard. Thanks for the link to your thread, jb...glad to hear you're happy with it! Any tips on where to buy and dispersing the seeds? Hearing of others who are happy with a clover yard is really convincing me that this is the way to go. Thanks again for the great points, folks! You've got me thinking! Edited to add: The only area of the lawn that would be taken over by clover is what you see in the picture. Out of frame to the left is our vegetable garden, and directly behind where I'm standing is a wooded area. Also curious if anyone has experience with a clover lawn and chickens?? We don't have chickens now, but are thinking of getting a few next spring (not totally convinced this will happen). Will they destroy a clover lawn?

Microclover won't outcompete the lawn, it's just not that competitive and, just like any other stand of any plant, it'll also get weeds that you have to take care of. However, being clover, it's also susceptible to some of the herbicides you'd use to knock out other weeds, including other clovers, oxalis, and so forth. Adding it to the existing lawn will get you out of feeding your existing lawn for the most part (you still should, just not nearly as much or as often). The stuff is really more of a helper plant than a groundcover on its own. It's usually used at about five percent of the lawn grass seed count. Microclover, just like grass, would require watering during periods of extreme heat and dryness, although it'll need less water than most grasses. So you aren't completely out of the woods in terms of "lawn" care. :-) You'll also have a lot of bees, which may or may not be a concern for you. Personally, having dogs, I'd rather not have said bees at grass level but clouds of them in the gardens are fine with me. And lastly, clover is moderately wear tolerant, so it should be competitive with the lawn--but I've never tried it as a monoculture. Depending on your locale, there may be other lawn alternatives that would serve you better?