Another grass question....

[TheOverdog]

We had excellent results with Zoysia (Cavalier) when redoing our backyard.

I hope you have concrete curb or something around your yard, because zoysia is a beautiful but a really weak, slow growing grass, and runners from your neighbor's yard if they can get in and just wind blowing in grass seed will defeat it in a few years. It requires more maintenance and vigilance than bermuda or st augustine by far.


Even if zoysia is fully established, st augustine and bermuda come back from winter hibernation earlier, and this gives them a leg up on early spring invasions.

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

I hope you have concrete curb or something around your yard, because zoysia is a beautiful but a really weak, slow growing grass, and runners from your neighbor's yard if they can get in and just wind blowing in grass seed will defeat it in a few years. It requires more maintenance and vigilance than bermuda or st augustine by far.


Even if zoysia is fully established, st augustine and bermuda come back from winter hibernation earlier, and this gives them a leg up on early spring invasions.

You are correct. We did our backyard, which was fully enclosed by a retaining wall. However, it still got invaded by our existing bermuda which was under the new sod and buried by sand/dirt. Lesson learned, we needed to kill all vegetation completely before setting down new zoysia sod.

[milwaukeegirl]

May I suggest you also check your sprinkler system if you have one? These bare patches might be from lack of irrigation, ie the spray doesn't reach those patches or waters them very little.

I have the same problem as you - too much shade. I didn't even try ground cover plants. I put down weed barrier, edging and made a pretty decomposed granite patio. (you can blow leaves off dc granite in the fall and the rocks won't blow away) Given that we're looking at 1x/week watering where I live, this was a good decision.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by milwaukeegirl

May I suggest you also check your sprinkler system if you have one? These bare patches might be from lack of irrigation, ie the spray doesn't reach those patches or waters them very little.

I have the same problem as you - too much shade. I didn't even try ground cover plants. I put down weed barrier, edging and made a pretty decomposed granite patio. (you can blow leaves off dc granite in the fall and the rocks won't blow away) Given that we're looking at 1x/week watering where I live, this was a good decision.

Thanks but I'm really handy - my irrigation system functions as it should. I tried varying water quantities and it boils down to a dearth sunlight more than water quantity.

[jbsb]

I second looking into zoysia. We planted zoysia in an area of our yard that received very little sunlight and it did well. I would think that mondo grass would do great as well. When all else fails, a lot of mulch (but not too close to your trees) and hostas.