Grass at 8700 ft elevation in Colorado (lawn, growing, seeding, trees)

[waltcolorado]

I have a backyard in Colorado at 8700 ft in a fairly arid part of the state (Park County) where a previous owner had planted some sort of grass. The previous owner would water that grass and it did look nice but I dont want to water unless its to cut back on fire risk.

For the most part, I never water the backyard. Slowly over the years (about 10 now) the grass in this back yard has been dying and now looks pretty bad.

However, just outside the back yard, the natural grasses are doing very well. This area does get common afternoon rain but will also go for a month, maybe even two or so with no rain. This spot is in a grove of Aspen trees, Ponderosa pine, Engleman and Blue Spruce if that gives any hint to the climate. Snow on the ground for most of the winter.

Im looking for some sort of grass seed that I can spread in this area once per year that will at least survive during the droughts but gets by OK with just the natural rain that falls. I do mow the area during the summer.

If a picture helps of the area.. I can post.

Any ideas on what type of grass works for my particular case?

[silibran]

Wouldn’t it be best to use native plants in such an area?

[waltcolorado]

Yes. if I knew what it is or where to purchase????

Just after posting I also did a search and found a few interesting things

https://turf.arizona.edu/tips998.html

https://ask.extension.org/questions/475271

[waltcolorado]

Looks like right about now is a good time for seeding the "cool weather" grass. From this link https://www.greatdayimprovements.com...our-state.aspx

Seed cool weather grass seeds in late summer to early fall. This gives these grasses the best chance of survival. They don't have to deal with the heat of the summer and established grass will start going dormant soon which will give your growing seeds a better chance of grabbing up essential nutrients.

I will start looking for some grass seeds like below (from this link which looks to be good "local" advice)

A grass "group" that will do better in a high altitude lawn includes the "fine fescues": the Chewings fescues, hard fescues, blue/sheeps fescues, and creeping red fescues.They grow well on poor soils, prefer drier soil conditions, don't grow much (so don't require frequent mowing), and can even be left unmowed for a "nature lawn". Here is an example seed mix that can be purchased from Pawnee Buttes seed company in Greeley (even though it's called "Shady Lawn Mix", it will work find for a sunny lawn application):
https://pawneebuttesseed.com/pbsi-mi...hady-lawn-mix/
Creeping Red Fescue, Kentucky Bluegrass, Hard Fescue, Chewings Fescue
Seeding Rate: 4-5 lbs/1,000 s.f.

Well.. I guess I could have answered all my questions with some quick google search LOL..

[SuperDave72]

Originally Posted by waltcolorado

I have a backyard in Colorado at 8700 ft in a fairly arid part of the state (Park County) where a previous owner had planted some sort of grass. The previous owner would water that grass and it did look nice but I dont want to water unless its to cut back on fire risk.

For the most part, I never water the backyard. Slowly over the years (about 10 now) the grass in this back yard has been dying and now looks pretty bad.

However, just outside the back yard, the natural grasses are doing very well. This area does get common afternoon rain but will also go for a month, maybe even two or so with no rain. This spot is in a grove of Aspen trees, Ponderosa pine, Engleman and Blue Spruce if that gives any hint to the climate. Snow on the ground for most of the winter.

Im looking for some sort of grass seed that I can spread in this area once per year that will at least survive during the droughts but gets by OK with just the natural rain that falls. I do mow the area during the summer.

If a picture helps of the area.. I can post.

Any ideas on what type of grass works for my particular case?

Maybe Buffalograss?