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I bought a house two years ago, quite some big trees in the back yard, and I have failed to grow grass under the trees TWICE. Even if I bought Scotts Turf shade grass seed, it is really hard for the grass the survive, since I think the grass still need about 3 hours of sunlight. It is almost impossible to get 3 hours under quite some big trees.
The previous home owner just covered the ground with mulch, but I don't like it.
The #1 reason for me to plant something is to protect soil, otherwise, the soil will be washed away (at least a little every time). There is a big slope from my back yard to neighbor back yard, so during late spring and early summer, there is a lot of rains, and the trees don't really have many leaves (leaves are gone during winter season). Big rain falls directly on the ground and easily washes away some soil.
I need some kind of ground cover (if not grass) to protect soil, something can tolerate deep shade (almost 24 hours shade during summer time). Hostas can survive, but that is not what I am looking for, I can not walk on hostas. I need something I can step on it just like grass), and easily clean leaves during late fall season. Very short ground cover, so that I can also feel safe to walk on it (if somewhat taller than 5-6 inches, small snakes may hide in the backyard.
I could NOT think of anything else beside grass, so I tried to plant grass twice (once a year), failed both times. Maybe I need grass seed to tolerate shade more(above grass seed does not mention how much sunlight needed), or look for alternative ground cover. Hopefully, I can find something which can tolerate both dense shade and dry (hopefully no need to spend time to water it, hostas is pretty good for dry soil too).
Too dark for grass. You need a very shade tolerant ground cover. There are many such as vinca. Just google "shade ground covers or go to Merrifields and talk to their experts. You'd need quite a few plants, but you can get them in flats.
Too dark for grass. You need a very shade tolerant ground cover. There are many such as vinca. Just google "shade ground covers or go to Merrifields and talk to their experts. You'd need quite a few plants, but you can get them in flats.
Is vinca all season green? It is hard to clean leaves on vinca, I use this kind of rake to clean tree leaves, guess it hurts vinca.
How about below grass seed, I may try it, but it says NOT organic, is it a big deal???
Actually, I have no problem to cover with mulch to protect soil loss, but it is really really difficult to use rake to clean tree leaves on the mulch.
It is not just above ground cover, I still need to consider how to clean tree leaves, there are a lot of tree leaves fallen on the ground when it turns to late fall.
I am not sure on the name of this but I'm thinking mondo grass can grow low - is a very very dark green and pretty. I have transplanted sprigs of what I believe is it to add some color to some funky beds but it also grows in my back yard which is seriously shaded by old oak trees. In the back, it never seems to get tall and just spreads on its own. The trouble is that it is likely expensive to buy but so many little plants unless you have a really small back yard. But depending on your level of patience, it is a thought. When I mow the back, I just mow it like grass and it seems happy.
I also have used creeping jenny which loves shade (but is a very limey green) - periwinkle likes shade - the vinca minora is probably a better choice as the leaves are smaller and it doesn't stand as high as the majora (I'm winging it on names/it goes insane in my beds and periodically, I thin it out - in the yard it can be a death trap with all the vines.
I did put down a Rebel fescue last year - extreme shade I believe it was called (Pennington Seed product). It wasn't cheap. It looked very nice in the spring but the summer here was tough. I have read it will take three years for it to really do much so I'll weigh in in two. Considering the drought this year and the awful heat in S.C. , the fact that anything is back there is amazing so it must be pretty hardy. I doubt the areas where I seeded get 4 hours of sun. I suspect if anything back there gets a true hour of sun it would be a miracle except in the winter when the trees have dropped their leaves. The extreme shade product may do something after a few years so verdict is out on my part. At least it isn't just bare dirt and that was where it was last year prior to seeding. (except for the cute little mundo things).
Hope you come up with something. Speedwell stays low and is pretty/mine is happiest without much sun. I have lithadora which is supposed to love sun but apparently not the amount I have in my southwest presentation of my front yard. I'm not sure how well some of these ground covers would do for you if you wish to walk on them. The monkey grass, mundo types would be fine - but the others, unknown. I step on most everything but I don't go clogging on the delicate looking ones.
Best of luck to you. There are gorgeous ground covers. They aren't cheap if you have a large are but some are fast spreaders. A thought would be to put a variety of hard scape pieces in the area you have and dot the ground covers in between. The stone and the vegetation would provide erosion control, give you less to fill in with the greenery but still give color and softness as well as allow rain to soak in to the root system of the tree. I find nice stones that I can dig into the ground, don't worry about them matching or having a particular size - just a random stepping stone look. Hmmm, you could even slip in some taller pieces like Cast iron plant or something like that . They love abuse and shade; water deprivation and look very natural in a tree bed. With your low growing stuff and those scattered around, it could be very inviting and solve your no grass issues. (if I can find the names of any of this stuff, I will add them in. For now, I'm going from memory/)
I bought a house two years ago, quite some big trees in the back yard, and I have failed to grow grass under the trees TWICE. Even if I bought Scotts Turf shade grass seed, it is really hard for the grass the survive, since I think the grass still need about 3 hours of sunlight. It is almost impossible to get 3 hours under quite some big trees.
The previous home owner just covered the ground with mulch, but I don't like it.
The #1 reason for me to plant something is to protect soil, otherwise, the soil will be washed away (at least a little every time). There is a big slope from my back yard to neighbor back yard, so during late spring and early summer, there is a lot of rains, and the trees don't really have many leaves (leaves are gone during winter season). Big rain falls directly on the ground and easily washes away some soil.
I need some kind of ground cover (if not grass) to protect soil, something can tolerate deep shade (almost 24 hours shade during summer time). Hostas can survive, but that is not what I am looking for, I can not walk on hostas. I need something I can step on it just like grass), and easily clean leaves during late fall season. Very short ground cover, so that I can also feel safe to walk on it (if somewhat taller than 5-6 inches, small snakes may hide in the backyard.
I could NOT think of anything else beside grass, so I tried to plant grass twice (once a year), failed both times. Maybe I need grass seed to tolerate shade more(above grass seed does not mention how much sunlight needed), or look for alternative ground cover. Hopefully, I can find something which can tolerate both dense shade and dry (hopefully no need to spend time to water it, hostas is pretty good for dry soil too).
I did find Pennington Seed (see the third post, see above your post), but not sure if non-organic is a big deal.
Thanks for your reply.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mzfroggez
I am not sure on the name of this but I'm thinking mondo grass can grow low - is a very very dark green and pretty. I have transplanted sprigs of what I believe is it to add some color to some funky beds but it also grows in my back yard which is seriously shaded by old oak trees. In the back, it never seems to get tall and just spreads on its own. The trouble is that it is likely expensive to buy but so many little plants unless you have a really small back yard. But depending on your level of patience, it is a thought. When I mow the back, I just mow it like grass and it seems happy.
I also have used creeping jenny which loves shade (but is a very limey green) - periwinkle likes shade - the vinca minora is probably a better choice as the leaves are smaller and it doesn't stand as high as the majora (I'm winging it on names/it goes insane in my beds and periodically, I thin it out - in the yard it can be a death trap with all the vines.
I did put down a Rebel fescue last year - extreme shade I believe it was called (Pennington Seed product). It wasn't cheap. It looked very nice in the spring but the summer here was tough. I have read it will take three years for it to really do much so I'll weigh in in two. Considering the drought this year and the awful heat in S.C. , the fact that anything is back there is amazing so it must be pretty hardy. I doubt the areas where I seeded get 4 hours of sun. I suspect if anything back there gets a true hour of sun it would be a miracle except in the winter when the trees have dropped their leaves. The extreme shade product may do something after a few years so verdict is out on my part. At least it isn't just bare dirt and that was where it was last year prior to seeding. (except for the cute little mundo things).
Hope you come up with something. Speedwell stays low and is pretty/mine is happiest without much sun. I have lithadora which is supposed to love sun but apparently not the amount I have in my southwest presentation of my front yard. I'm not sure how well some of these ground covers would do for you if you wish to walk on them. The monkey grass, mundo types would be fine - but the others, unknown. I step on most everything but I don't go clogging on the delicate looking ones.
Best of luck to you. There are gorgeous ground covers. They aren't cheap if you have a large are but some are fast spreaders. A thought would be to put a variety of hard scape pieces in the area you have and dot the ground covers in between. The stone and the vegetation would provide erosion control, give you less to fill in with the greenery but still give color and softness as well as allow rain to soak in to the root system of the tree. I find nice stones that I can dig into the ground, don't worry about them matching or having a particular size - just a random stepping stone look. Hmmm, you could even slip in some taller pieces like Cast iron plant or something like that . They love abuse and shade; water deprivation and look very natural in a tree bed. With your low growing stuff and those scattered around, it could be very inviting and solve your no grass issues. (if I can find the names of any of this stuff, I will add them in. For now, I'm going from memory/)
Vinca is green all year, at least it is here and as I recall was in NOVA when I lived up there. Yes it would be hard to rake in. Why not use a blower when the leaves fall? Likely a daily pain in the neck however the mondo sprigs and stepping stones and the other would provide you a more "rakable" surface (new word) if you're limited to raking.
The Pennington I mentioned is not smart seed stuff - it is a specific extreme shade pennington and I think is called Rebel if I recall correctly. (That could be just in South Carolina and not in Northern Virginia because we all know that Northern Virginia is not committed to THE cause.)
Of course, Ivy also loves shade......and would grow quickly and stay green year round. Not fun to rake in and the vines will curl around your legs and trip you if you stand still too long.
Vinca is green all year, at least it is here and as I recall was in NOVA when I lived up there. Yes it would be hard to rake in. Why not use a blower when the leaves fall? Likely a daily pain in the neck however the mondo sprigs and stepping stones and the other would provide you a more "rakable" surface (new word) if you're limited to raking.
The Pennington I mentioned is not smart seed stuff - it is a specific extreme shade pennington and I think is called Rebel if I recall correctly. (That could be just in South Carolina and not in Northern Virginia because we all know that Northern Virginia is not committed to THE cause.)
Of course, Ivy also loves shade......and would grow quickly and stay green year round. Not fun to rake in and the vines will curl around your legs and trip you if you stand still too long.
I bought blower but never used it. Back yard is too far from house, don't like to use blower, it is quick and easy to use rake.
LOL - you were responding while I was typing the last piece. The organic aspect - not sure that it would matter. I am thinking the Smart Seed products are generally coated with something which may be the non-organic aspect of it.....they need less water as I recall/maybe germinate faster.
This mondo grass looks great, it can tolerate shade. But it is quite expensive to buy many, prefer to buy mondo grass seed, not sure if it is easy to plant, not even know where to buy mondo grass seed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mzfroggez
I am not sure on the name of this but I'm thinking mondo grass can grow low - is a very very dark green and pretty. I have transplanted sprigs of what I believe is it to add some color to some funky beds but it also grows in my back yard which is seriously shaded by old oak trees. In the back, it never seems to get tall and just spreads on its own. The trouble is that it is likely expensive to buy but so many little plants unless you have a really small back yard. But depending on your level of patience, it is a thought. When I mow the back, I just mow it like grass and it seems happy.
I also have used creeping jenny which loves shade (but is a very limey green) - periwinkle likes shade - the vinca minora is probably a better choice as the leaves are smaller and it doesn't stand as high as the majora (I'm winging it on names/it goes insane in my beds and periodically, I thin it out - in the yard it can be a death trap with all the vines.
I did put down a Rebel fescue last year - extreme shade I believe it was called (Pennington Seed product). It wasn't cheap. It looked very nice in the spring but the summer here was tough. I have read it will take three years for it to really do much so I'll weigh in in two. Considering the drought this year and the awful heat in S.C. , the fact that anything is back there is amazing so it must be pretty hardy. I doubt the areas where I seeded get 4 hours of sun. I suspect if anything back there gets a true hour of sun it would be a miracle except in the winter when the trees have dropped their leaves. The extreme shade product may do something after a few years so verdict is out on my part. At least it isn't just bare dirt and that was where it was last year prior to seeding. (except for the cute little mundo things).
Hope you come up with something. Speedwell stays low and is pretty/mine is happiest without much sun. I have lithadora which is supposed to love sun but apparently not the amount I have in my southwest presentation of my front yard. I'm not sure how well some of these ground covers would do for you if you wish to walk on them. The monkey grass, mundo types would be fine - but the others, unknown. I step on most everything but I don't go clogging on the delicate looking ones.
Best of luck to you. There are gorgeous ground covers. They aren't cheap if you have a large are but some are fast spreaders. A thought would be to put a variety of hard scape pieces in the area you have and dot the ground covers in between. The stone and the vegetation would provide erosion control, give you less to fill in with the greenery but still give color and softness as well as allow rain to soak in to the root system of the tree. I find nice stones that I can dig into the ground, don't worry about them matching or having a particular size - just a random stepping stone look. Hmmm, you could even slip in some taller pieces like Cast iron plant or something like that . They love abuse and shade; water deprivation and look very natural in a tree bed. With your low growing stuff and those scattered around, it could be very inviting and solve your no grass issues. (if I can find the names of any of this stuff, I will add them in. For now, I'm going from memory/)
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