# Gatormacs Dying Lawn Journal



## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

Thought I would go ahead and document the south side of my lawn that has a forest blocking the sun for most of the day. The area gets about 4 hours of sun in the morning, but afternoon is constant shade.



It's progressively become thinner over the two years the sod was installed to the point of being nothing but dead grass and dirt with the occasional blade of grass here and there.









This area also remains damp well after the rest of the yard has dried so drainage is an issue along with the shade.

Hoping some grass geniuses can tell me what I need to do to coax this zoysia back to life.


----------



## raymond (May 4, 2018)

Cutting trees to allow more light out of the question?


----------



## Sbcgenii (May 13, 2018)

I am a newb but the first thing i would try is putting some fescue down. We have areas of heavy shade in our lawn and all the Tif sprigs and sod did the same thing. After doing some research on the amount of light required for any grass commercially available it seemed like nothing was going to work. We tried creeping red fescue because we thought the blade thickness would match good and for 2-3 years it has been doing well.


----------



## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

raymond said:


> Cutting trees to allow more light out of the question?


Yep. Unfortunately I don't own that land the trees are on.


----------



## Sbcgenii (May 13, 2018)

Found this video last year. 
https://youtu.be/ZeE-RL2h-yQ


----------



## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

Sbcgenii said:


> I am a newb but the first thing i would try is putting some fescue down. We have areas of heavy shade in our lawn and all the Tif sprigs and sod did the same thing. After doing some research on the amount of light required for any grass commercially available it seemed like nothing was going to work. We tried creeping red fescue because we thought the blade thickness would match good and for 2-3 years it has been doing well.


So you have fescue in the shade and tif in the sun?


----------



## Sbcgenii (May 13, 2018)

gatormac2112 said:


> Sbcgenii said:
> 
> 
> > I am a newb but the first thing i would try is putting some fescue down. We have areas of heavy shade in our lawn and all the Tif sprigs and sod did the same thing. After doing some research on the amount of light required for any grass commercially available it seemed like nothing was going to work. We tried creeping red fescue because we thought the blade thickness would match good and for 2-3 years it has been doing well.
> ...


Yes. Creeping red fescue in the shade and Tiff in the sun.


----------



## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

Well, I'm assuming the house faces West? If so, the zoysia is probably lost close to the tree line. Creeping Red Fescue might be an option, but it prefers dry, well drained soil, likely isn't much more shade tolerant than the zoysia, and will probably be quite a bit darker in color.

That might be a good area for some hydrangeas, hostas, etc. Ajuga is a good shade tolerant ground cover, but spreads aggressively via stolons and would try to invade the grass.


----------



## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

Spammage said:


> Well, I'm assuming the house faces West? If so, the zoysia is probably lost close to the tree line. Creeping Red Fescue might be an option, but it prefers dry, well drained soil, likely isn't much more shade tolerant than the zoysia, and will probably be quite a bit darker in color.
> 
> That might be a good area for some hydrangeas, hostas, etc. Ajuga is a good shade tolerant ground cover, but spreads aggressively via stolons and would try to invade the grass.


Yep, the house faces West. My wife wants me to try to resurrect the grass there if possible. I'm going to get all the dead grass out of there and see if I can nurse the bit of grass that is there to spread. A tall order in the shade, but maybe with PGR and aerating I can slowly over time get it back.

If not, I was planning on doing a Hosta bed surrounding the yard in the shade anyway, it just might be moved a bit closer :lol:


----------



## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

Sbcgenii said:


> gatormac2112 said:
> 
> 
> > Sbcgenii said:
> ...


How does that work with coloration? Do the 2 grasses meet or are they in separate areas? If they meet, how well do they blend? I also know they would both require different care plans, how do you manage that?


----------



## Sbcgenii (May 13, 2018)

I will take some pictures tomorrow after I mow. It's gets the same fertilizer and I just mow it a lot higher. It wants to be tall.


----------



## Sbcgenii (May 13, 2018)




----------



## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

Sbcgenii said:


>


Thanks!


----------

