Texas Gardening: Good Grass! Good Grief!, 0 by LouC

LouC wrote:
Susan,

I'm sure you would prefer that I just go away. The fescue will last only a short time as it is a cool season grass and our heat and water requirements are enormous. I have had tried to do the same with fescue. If it is totally dark shade nothing but ground cover will work. We have our trees "limbed up" about every 2-3 years so the light will be sufficient for St. Augustine. We fertilize same every spring with Scott's Turf Builder with 3#s of Epsom Salt added to the spreader for every 1000 feet. Although our good friends from the Houston area are very helpful our needs are very different. When I used to visit Houston often to see our friends in Cypress I was dismayed to see St. Augustine growing wild in the bar ditches. We fertilize once again in Sept. with Scott's winterizer.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, will grow in full, dark shade....except various ground covers. We settled for Monkey Grass around some of the trees. Also many trees have roots that are close to the surface and confound our efforts no matter.