Though we are becoming aggressively anti-lawn and the boundaries of the gardens deepen, we do have some lawn in the back (about 1/3rd of the yard?) and some lawn in front (about 1/2 of the yard?), and because the dogs do like to play on lawn, we are trying to improve their playground as much as we can. The backyard is about 3/4 shaded; front yard about half shaded.
Here's the deal. We laid St. Augustine twice -- first time it didn't take over winter (even though we followed directions); second time about half of what we put down "took", but even that isn't thick and lush. We have seeded "holes" additionally with fescue and, in the sunnier areas, some bermuda, but that has not had a chance to establish yet. Who knows what has happened with it in all this rain, also.
We cannot figure out why we can't get St. Augustine to take well in the backyard, though I suppose the presence of the dogs may have something to do with it (urine issues? though we're not getting "burned" patches). In the front, St. Augustine came with the house on one side and one part of the front yard, and it thrives, but there's a spot in the front where the grass won't take also.
On principal because we are so often dry, and I'm trying to think about water conservation, xeriscaping, and eco-friendly choices, I don't love St. Augustine. I've only tried it because theoretically it tolerates a bit more shade. All I would like is for the dogs to have some lawn to play in. The Golden, a working search-and-rescue dog, loves a deep, soulful roll in the grass, and she works so hard in all conditions that it seems like a kind thing we can give her here at home -- just a chance to roll belly-up on the lawn and relax.
I don't know if we've got sick soil in the back or ...?? I do hose it down when the dogs have gone out to take care of business, and I'm meticulous about poop-scooping 3-4x a day. Last year we put down beneficial nematodes as a grub combatant, and we've seen very, very few grubs anywhere in the yard this year (a few in a couple of empty container pots, but that's it). The grass isn't behaving like it's grub-eaten. It just doesn't seem to thrive.
Meanwhile, the garden is going gangbusters.
At this point I'm about willing to invest in re-sodding the yard yearly, if that's what it takes. We have so little lawn area now that it wouldn't be horrifically expensive, but if I can simply figure out what the problem is and go with a different grass or ...whatever ... I'd prefer to do that.
Any ideas? Our neighborhood is an old one, established around 1910 or so. The house was built in 1938.
Thanks for any insight you might have going!
Good Grass! Good Grief!
It has been pointed out to me that St.Aug. doesn't thrive in your area the way it does down here. While not my favorite grass, it does fit the bill for our area. Like any other plant it does need good soil and lots of fertilizer and, unfortunately, lots of water to look good. When mowing it you need to mow just the top so that you get a good spread of grass - don't scalp it and don't collect any clippings as the clippings provide it w/its mulch. It needs to be fertilized w/a 3-1-2 fertilizer (preferably 21-7-14 w/trace minerals) 4 times a year - at Easter, Memorial Day, July 4 and the final fertilizing at Labor Day. While it is shade tolerant to a certain extent it will not grow in shade. For shady areas here people resort to ground cover - under trees, for instance. I am not familiar w/grasses that grow in your area but any grass farm up there should be able to help you. Good luck!
Ann
try using hastagrow... It helps with lawns a lot.
I think Ann's advice about getting in touch with a grass farm is a sound one. I'm not familiar with fescue as a lawn grass, but I am with Bermuda grass. Once you get it, you will have it for life. It is very invasive and difficult to remove from flower beds because it is so deep rooted. If you don't mind using herbicides, Ornamec will knock it down for a few months.
The good thing about St. Augustine is that it's easy to remove from flower beds. It does need good soil to grow in and has difficulty growing in rocky soil.
I found a website that may be of help:
http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/turf/dog_lawn_problems.html
Susannah, I have doggies too. Last year when we got the house, they were pups. We have dogs to the side of us and in back of us so they are constantly running back and forth with them. By the end of last summer we had almost no grass. We laid down a small bag of fescue as for some reason that is what DH likes. i didn't really care, I just wanted grass. I don't like the bare look. Well, then come spring, wowzers with the weeds! We had weeds everywhere. So we sprayed weed killer, waited about 5-7 days and bought a big bag of fescue seed for like $6.99. We sprinkled it all over, just went to town. I know they say more isn't always better but we were fed up. Well, the birds did pick at some of it, but if you look at my yard now, almost all of it has filled in. We had 5 paths the dogs had run. One along each fenceline we share with the neghboring dogs and then three starting from the deck branching out to different parts of the yard. lol They only paths left are along the fenceline and that will always be there I think. The fescue worked for us since we have a lot of shade in the backyard.
Thanks for this note of encouragement. The dogs have two common "paths" they have carved out -- one along the fenceline (the better to bark up the passing doggies on leashes) and one around La Folie, the little dog-and-person cottage in the backyard. The Golden likes to get the Poms to chase her around La Folie (we call it "the Folie 500"), and there will always be a ring around that little cottage, I think. And that's fine. That's their play zone.
We have laid down a LOT of fescue today, so here's hoping our success is a direct echo of yours.
You can see the track of the Folie 500 in this picture (and one of the zippiest of the Poms in the background), the track curving around both ends of the little cottage. It is a funny sight when a little herd of Pomeranians take out after one Golden, her tongue hanging out the wide grin of her mouth as she runs.
This message was edited Jun 5, 2007 5:09 PM
This message was edited Jun 5, 2007 5:10 PM
LOL, I am sure that is a funny sight! We have two pit bulls, big dogs, and our neighbors have two boxer and in back a doberman - all bully breeds. All the other neighbors must hate us when they all get barking at each other. I can't even imagine having another dog to egg these two on! Although, its a possibility, we have nearly 4 week old puppies right now...
BTW, good luck getting the fescue to grow! =) I'll be sending good vibes your way!
This message was edited Jun 5, 2007 5:29 PM
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.
Thanks for all of this -- the good news is that we had a tree service come in and remove some of our deepest, thickest branches in order to give the rose and butterfly garden more sun, and the resulting effect was more sun on the grassy area, too. I would say the back is now dappled shade to light shade to to full sun, rather than deep shade, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that something will be green all summer long.
We'd considered ground covers, but many of them won't hold up to dog traffic well enough. That said, we're still considering all, trying and failing and trying again. We do have monkey grass in one garden near the house, where the shade is deepest.
Again, thanks for all comments here! :-)
St Aug in the Dallas area, grown under favorable conditions, is actually an easy grass to care for. Give it a goodly amount of sun, cut it at the highest mower setting, give it 1" of water a week, and fertilize 4x a year. That's about it. I *love* St Augustine grass -- the look, the texture, the soft carpety feel of it underfoot, and how easy it is to care for.
It's one downside is that it does not like to be trod upon. You won't get St Aug to grow in areas that you walk on or that your dogs frequent. It is very fussy in that respect.
Carla
Has anyone tried the Turfalo grass? The sun and shade variety look the same so they can be mixed in a lawn. My friend has it in sun, but doesn't have dog traffic.It needs very little water once established.