Best Grass for Partial Shade in Bakersfield?

last month

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I live in Bakersfield and my lawn was a mess when I moved into my house. I planted marathon seed and it is doing well in areas that are shaded but completely dried out in the areas that have all day sun. Weeds have basically overrun the front quarter of my lawn from the sidewalk. We get up to 110+ during summer. My house is south facing and I am looking for alternatives that are more drought resistant. Most of my neighbors have Bermuda but they also don't have to deal with shade from trees. The lawn isn't completely shaded and it's hard to describe so I've included pictures below during summer and winter (both pictures are before my Marathon seeding).

After much thought and research I have narrowed my options to St. Augustine (Citrablue) or Zoysia (Innovation). They seem like shade tolerant summer grasses. Any other suggestions? I really dislike the St. Augustine leaves and thick stolons so I am leaning Zoysia. The problem is there are virtually no local sod farms so I am left with buying plugs from amazon, which seems risky. My back yard doesn't have any shade so I am leaning towards UC Verde plugs or maybe Celebration or Tahoma 31 Bermuda. Any help or tips would be appreciated, thank you! @dchall_san_antonio

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dchall_san_antonio
last month
If you still have Marathon growing in the shade, leave that alone and install UC Verde in the sunny areas. Let the two mingle through the transition from shade to sun. If you find the Marathon fading out on you, then you can use a zoysia in the shade.

My problem with zoysia is that if something happens to it (drought, insects, disease), then it's gone for the rest of the growing season until April of the following year. Here's a picture to show what I mean.

There is a low path running from the house to the street through the middle of the bed and to the curb. We had had an excessively rainy few weeks, so the water never really stopped flowing through that dead area. A fungal disease got started and knocked back the zoysia. The picture was taken in July 2013, and the grass remained brown until the following April. I had the same thing happen where I tried some zoysia. It's been many years, so these folks have figured out a solution (no, I don't know what they did). But had that been bermuda or St Augustine, they could have recovered in the same season and not had to endure the brown grass for so long.

There are too many varieties of zoysia for me to keep up with. If I were to pick on for my yard, I'd find an installation in my neighborhood and ask where they got their sod and use that. As it happens, the house we bought in 2022 came with some very hardy zoysia, that my wife has been trying to eradicate. We are having problems with our St Augustine in the front, so I'm about to propose patching in some of the happy zoysia and see what happens.

As for buying UC Verde plugs, no longer is there only one source for the plugs, so the price is coming down.
Jose Fernandez thanked dchall_san_antonio
Jose Fernandez
Original Author
last month
Thanks dchall, I've always respected your recommendations for grass on various online forums throughout the years. You've really been the guiding light for folks in a sea of noise and nonsense.

As for mixing UC Verde with Marathon, you don't think it'll look spotty during the winter when the fescue is green and the buffalo is dormant?
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I was hoping someone would answer your post cause it is kind of interesting. Perhaps it is because you have laid a lot of requirements on simple grass. I'm not sure there is one type that meets all of your desires. You may want to research the hybrid bluegrasses though some say the newer elite varieties of KBG are just as heat tolerant. Mixed with tall fescue appears to be popular with sod producers in the more southern parts of the transition zone. Overseeding bermuda with rye is a traditional southern golf course technique for green winter cover, but is expensive and can be hard on the bermuda. What level of maintenance, cost, and effort are you willing to go to to achieve your desires? The shepherds will wear out the grass if left in a small space. There is no grass that can tolerate that kind of wear without intensive maintenance. You may want to find out what grass is used on football and soccer fields in your area. Chances are that will be the most wear resistant. How do you intend to maintain the turf?
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I think you would be fine with hydrangeas there. If salvias are too floppy, try some veronicas or agastaches. You might even be able to grow baptista (false indigo). I have a similar exposure in my zone 5 Iowa yard. Trees along one side, and then it slopes too, so it is a bit of an odd long bed. It used to be grass and mostly invasive Asian honesuckle shrubs. I have only been gardening at this house for 1 1/2 years, so I am still experimenting; plus I am new to this zone and previously lived in zone 9. I first considered this area part shade and planted accordingly. Now I see there are pockets of more and less sun. In this area the plants doing best are: Hostas--This surprised me, but I see them in full sun around town now that I have started looking. Not sure if it is the same for zone 6. Foam flower--this looks GREAT right now with tidy foliage and is still blooming. I had some red tulips behind the foam flower and they looked lovely. Columbines--flowering nicely with airy foliage. Agastache--the one I have has short white flowers, but blues are common I think. Overwintered and re-sowed abundantly. My soil drains well so may be why they like it there. Garden phlox--were small plants last year from Bluestone spring sale. SO far they are growing nicely but will see if they flop. Today the whole area seemed to be in so much sun! Daylillies--will see how they do this year Foxglove--sowed last summer, getting ready to bloom, seems to be good for them in this spot. Monarda, bloomed last summer and no flopping. Soloman's seal--in a shadier pocket, but still gets some afternoon sun. Doing really well right now. helleborus--one little helleborus which has been doing great so far this spring, to my surprise. When I realized how sunny the spot was, I thought I'd move this little plant, but it is doign well. Toad lily--these are growing nicely and had attractive late flowers last year. Lobelia--there are some nice blue lobelias available. low growing veronicas--doing very well and blooming profusely. Happy planting. :)
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GG, is there a good reference book for botanical latin translations? Well, I haven't found one yet :-) I do have a handy pocket guide that explains many species names, as these tend to illustrate particular characteristics of the plant....like its bloom color, origins, similarities to other plants, leaf characteristics, etc. The Schizophragma mentioned above is a good example - the species name hydrangeoides simply means "hydrangea-like". But the guide is by no means complete. When it comes to genus names, all bets are off! Many are not Latin based at all but Greek in origin (like the Schizophragma, ditto Hydrangea, Helleborus and countless others). Many others are latinized versions of the person attributed with 'discovering' or popularizing the plant, like Fuchsia, which is named after the German botanist Leonhart Fuchs. Or Heuchera, named for Johann Heinrich von Heucher (pronounced HOY-ker). Being an overly curious person, if I encounter a plant name that intrigues me a lot or if it is a plant that I am preparing a class or seminar on, I often do research the name and I find the Internet pretty invaluable in this regard. Somebody somewhere has done the research and you can almost always find an explanation of the botanical name if you look hard enough :-)
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You can do that with cheap annuals now like the impatients; or you can scratch in some seeds. I am still not clear on how much shade you have. You and your child could plant some sun flower seeds or zinnias if you have sun. I can still remember picking out a tuberous begonia at a greenhouse when I was a child. My mother would buy bedding plants for 35 cents a dozen in San Diego. I took bouquets of orange and yellow big marigolds to school for my second grade teacher. If I can remember that, it made an impression because I have a Medicare card. If they don't do well you'll know that you need amendments. Garden centers are full of 4 and 6 packs for about $2. You could also buy some very big pots and have little container gardens. Little pots have to be watered often and are a pain unless you fiddle in your garden every day. Containers need a good soil less mix not the cheap stuff. You could start some perennials from seed; it will take them a year or more to bloom. It depends or whether you want to work in your garden as a hobby and enjoy the process or hire people to create a beautiful area for you with not much labor on your part. Several of us here like the process but I for one don't have a show place. I get my exercise and entertain myself; I plant pink roses next to orange azaleas. If you get it landscaped do it in the fall. My friend's son built a new house and the landscaper put in a ton of young trees in midsummer that had to be watered all summer; many died. He got his job done and they were container plants, but he left busy people a chore. Mid summer is hard on new plants.
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dchall_san_antonio
last month
Well, there is that. If you want something that goes dormant along with the buffalo grass, then St Augustine is the only shade tolerant and heat resistant grass. There is a fine bladed variety of St Aug which is supposed to look better with bermuda and other fine bladed grasses. I don't recall that variety name and finding a source for it might be a problem. If you try to mix St Aug and buffalo I would think the St Aug would dominate given enough water. I wish I was more familiar with UC Verde, but I've never seen it in person.

Best Grass for Partial Shade in Bakersfield?

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dchall_san_antonio

Jose Fernandez
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Best Grass for Partial Shade in Bakersfield?

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dchall_san_antonio

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