You can look for a grass type that grows better in shade. A lot of newer grass seed has improved cultivars that are much better than older ones as well, so trying to overseed them into your yard might be worth a look.
your yard
You have a while, because fall is the best time. I'd be happy to talk, but my wife is gonna give me the same Judge Judy eye roll as you got when she finds out
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We have three giant oak tress in the front of our house which makes it very difficult to get our grass to grow, plus we are in Florida so our "grass" is really just a weed anyway. Our county also puts restrictions on when you can use fertilizer so it doesn't run down into the storm drains, but the county over has no restrictions which has always been funny to me, because all you need to do is drive 5 minutes and get it.
I think maybe this weekend or when life is a little more "normal" we need to pick up some more and see if we can do something about the dead spots. They drive me crazy. I also really want to redo our flower beds, so a trip to the nursery will be in order. We have one spot that has a raised bed and half of it is in no mans land, it gets no sun and too much water, we have never been able to get anything to successfully grow there.
I think maybe this weekend or when life is a little more "normal" we need to pick up some more and see if we can do something about the dead spots. They drive me crazy. I also really want to redo our flower beds, so a trip to the nursery will be in order. We have one spot that has a raised bed and half of it is in no mans land, it gets no sun and too much water, we have never been able to get anything to successfully grow there.
X.Man
Well-known member
I belive those are 2" x 4" x 10ft
I do everything except the chemicals/treatment.
I just started a project in my backayrd actually. Apparently the owners before me ripped out the grass, layed down garden screen and covered it with all black mulch. Now weeds have grown all through it and it looks awful. Problem is I want grass for my dog and my 2 year old. Its about 1100 sq ft of space so not massive but a pain to pull up all the screen. Then a pretty penny to order sod and ill lay it myself just because it isnt that much space.
I just started a project in my backayrd actually. Apparently the owners before me ripped out the grass, layed down garden screen and covered it with all black mulch. Now weeds have grown all through it and it looks awful. Problem is I want grass for my dog and my 2 year old. Its about 1100 sq ft of space so not massive but a pain to pull up all the screen. Then a pretty penny to order sod and ill lay it myself just because it isnt that much space.
You have a while, because fall is the best time. I'd be happy to talk, but my wife is gonna give me the same Judge Judy eye roll as you got when she finds out
She is just jealous of your wealth of knowledge. There is nothing wrong with an early spring meeting to prepare for the fall project
I'm down!She is just jealous of your wealth of knowledge. There is nothing wrong with an early spring meeting to prepare for the fall project
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- #83
Your on the right path. Aeration is good as is dethatching. I have not used Scotts or any other chemicals on my yard since i built the home in 13'. I have a canal behind my home and don't want chemical leeching into the water. Everything i use is organic and natural products. True it is hard to find 100% organic for your lawn unless you are getting or making a Lot or compost, <alorganite is good stuff, so is Corn Gluten for pre-emergents, Granulated Molassas is good for the beneficial microbes and a good source for carbon and potash. also pretty goof for chasing away fire ants. you can get Chicken Urea is good for increasing the moisture holding and nutrient holding properties of your yard. Gardens Alive has a good fertilixzer called WOW Supreme and also a weed killer called Iron X. Spot treat weds with that and watch em die....I will use the preemergents early wait 3 weeks to a month, aerate overseed spread some topsoil to top dress if needed. When you put down the Molassas, it greens up quick
I had to battle oak trees when I lived in Kansas City. Those big guys just don’t want to let anything grow under them!
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- #85
They really don't, and these trees are 37 years old, so they are huge and completely cover our front yard. It's great for shade, but not so great for our grass.
I enjoy taking care of my yard (mowing, trimming, etc) but am beginning to get tired of spring/fall cleanup. We have .75 acre of tree-lined yard that dumps a metric ton of stick and leaves, which takes a few days to get through. Going to hire someone to advise and plant the beds this year as I have NO clue what I'm doing there...
Our yard in Minneapolis is basically covered in oak, maple, and white pine shade and the grass on 75% of our lot grows sporadically at best. We don’t even try to keep the grass looking good and instead my wife focuses on the 16 planters that are around the house. Much of the shady spots are bark, ground cover, or mostly moss instead of grass.
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We moved from a townhouse to our home in October, so this will be the first time I have to do yard work, I’ve been mowing but will probably hire someone to do some initial clearing of bushes and some treatments to get rid of weeds/crabgrass. Once it is set up, I will do the maintenance.
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- #89
When lived in Ft Walton, There was Centipede grass in the yard, in rough shape. Its a slow growing grass that stays low to the ground but really good with Alkaline soils.
It is also really susceptible to pests and nematodes. BUT, it is shade tolerant.
I am just glad to be in a place as long as I have in north Texas. Seems like every time i got my yard looking good, i would get transferred.
Whoops! Slight miscommunication. How long does the palm need to be supported by the boards before they can be removed?
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I have one big bare spot in the back yard that is where I am looking to put my practice area. It is under a big Oak tree on one side and another on the other so it is under almost full shade. I am looking and found some Bermuda grass that will grow just have to pick it up and get it planted.
X.Man
Well-known member
Oh gotcha. Up to 1 year. Although root ball of a palm doesn't spread out far like say an oak tree. It should grab pretty quick. If it was a tree with large branching roots I would probably keep it longer. I'm leaving them up through hurricane season and I'll take them down in the Fall.
Ok cool. Hope the roots catch prett quickly and it makes it through hurricane season unscathed
I have a pool and a decent (for Vegas) side-yard with grass. I have a pool guy and a yard guy. Best money I've ever spent.
X.Man
Well-known member
Ok cool. Hope the roots catch prett quickly and it makes it through hurricane season unscathed
Thanks man. I am hoping for the same. Most trees go into shock after transplanting so the palm lost it frawns. So I cut them all down and left the center leader in place. That way the palm could focus it's energy on spreading roots instead of feeding the frawns. Its already sprouted 2 fresh green frawns! Pumped! LOL
Oh man! That's awesome. Good vibes, it WANTS to grow.
Side note, the last time my family and I were in Orlando we really liked seeing the massive palms outside of the new housing developments. It seemed that every one had 2 gigantic palms, one on each side of the entry. We thought about something like that at our house in SC but the cost was and we aren't exactly in the best zone for a palm.
Side note, the last time my family and I were in Orlando we really liked seeing the massive palms outside of the new housing developments. It seemed that every one had 2 gigantic palms, one on each side of the entry. We thought about something like that at our house in SC but the cost was
and we aren't exactly in the best zone for a palm.
X.Man
Well-known member
Oh man! That's awesome. Good vibes, it WANTS to grow.
Side note, the last time my family and I were in Orlando we really liked seeing the massive palms outside of the new housing developments. It seemed that every one had 2 gigantic palms, one on each side of the entry. We thought about something like that at our house in SC but the cost was
Palms fully grown can be $$$$
My mantra is "I'd rather mow my half acre than blow my 70'x25' driveway."
I've been going the natural way, and I decided to go away from Milorganite about two years ago because I was a little concenred about the potential for heavy metals in it. I found a product by Clarus called Screamin Green and after a year of it my lawn is looking better than it has in years. It's usually the first lawn in the neighborhood to green up in spring, faster than many lawn service lawns, and three neighbors have asked me what I'm doing. Unfortunately, the local distributor no longer carries it so I'm trying a series of organic//natural products from Simple Lawn Solutions. Their schedule calls for one application of Milorganite or equivalent, which really does green up the lawn thanks to its iron content, and some regular old fertilizer in the fall. My focus is on making the lawn thicker through fertilization, soil amendments, and overseeding, with the ultimate goal of choking out weeds, At that point, I think I can go even more natural, but until then, I go chemical for crabgrass and ground ivy. For the first time, I'm trying corn gluten around the vegetable and fruit beds (instead of nothing) so I will be interested in seeing how that comes out.
Your post was timely. I was thinking of starting one asking people what they are using, but now I can just ask here and add WOW Supreme and Iron X to my evaluation list.
I received my soil test results last night. Scouring the internet to try and wrap my head around the numbers. Fortunately, the store I went through has provided a plan - though I still want to understand it.
I'm happy to see the pH level is pretty good. That was worrying me the most. I feel nutrients can be increased by the time I over-seed in the fall. I'm going to work on half of the property this year, and the other half next year.
At the suggestion of @donny475, as well as my son, I'm going the organic route.
I'm happy to see the pH level is pretty good. That was worrying me the most. I feel nutrients can be increased by the time I over-seed in the fall. I'm going to work on half of the property this year, and the other half next year.
At the suggestion of @donny475, as well as my son, I'm going the organic route.