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Top 6 Tips to Grow Grass in a Shady Yard
Like any other plant, growing and sustaining grass requires knowing how to properly water your lawn, provide it with nutrients, and ensure it has enough sunlight. Most all warm-season grasses require a degree of sunlight in order to grow, so if you have a shady yard, you will need to take extra care to help your grass grow. Our top 6 tips to grow grass in a shady yard are to thin trees, use shade grass seed, dethatch the lawn, fertilize grass, eliminate weeds, and lay shade-tolerant sod.
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What is Casting Shade on the Lawn?
The first step in deciding how to grow a healthy lawn in shady areas will be to determine what is causing the shade. It will be necessary to know if the shade is being caused by something that can be changed or not. If the lawn is struggling from low-light conditions because of excess leaves, debris, or even an overgrown tree, then a little lawn and landscape maintenance work may be all that is needed to correct the problem. On the other hand, if a tall fence or structure is casting a shadow over the grass, then you may need to lay new sod that requires less light. Once you have determined the cause of your shady yard, you can apply some of the following strategies.
Thin and Limb up Trees
If overgrown trees are casting shade, the simplest solution may be to limb up and thin the trees. Limbing up a tree is the practice of pruning the lower branches on the tree to lift up the canopy. Thinning a tree is the process of strategically pruning certain branches of a tree to open it up. Pruning trees as described will allow for more sunlight and air to pass through the tree and reach struggling grass areas.
Add Dense-Shade Grass Seed
In areas of the yard that are thinning due to a lack of sunlight, it may help to simply overseed it. Depending on the level of shade, look for either a dense-shade grass seed or a sun and shade grass seed mix.
Dethatch the Lawn
Another reason your lawn might not be getting the sunlight it needs is due to thatch buildup on the soil. This is typically a combination of leaves, lawn clippings, acorns, etc. Over time, this debris will compact and prevent air, sunlight, and nutrients from reaching your soil and grass. The cheapest way to dethatch your lawn is to rake it regularly. If your lawn has not been raked in a while and you see large areas of excess thatch building up, you may need to hire a professional to dethatch your lawn with a power rake machine.
Fertilize Grass
Applying a slow-release fertilizer to your turfgrass regularly will add nutrients and stimulate growth. A lush green lawn with proper nutrients will be much more robust in less-than-ideal growing conditions and be able to fend off invasive weeds easier.
Eliminate Weeds
Lawn weeds are invasive and will continually compete with your grass if left unchecked. Particularly broadleaf weeds because they have a much larger leaf structure that can cast shade over thin grass blades and contend with your lawn. Some weeds are even more shade tolerant than grass and will take over areas of the lawn with less sunlight. You must be vigilant in fighting weeds. In addition to pulling weeds out by hand on a regular basis, you may need to use a pre-emergent weed control application each fall and early spring and treat existing weeds with a post-emergent herbicide.
Replace with Shade-Tolerant Sod
If all else fails, you should consider replacing your struggling grass with a more shade-tolerant grass variety. The most shade-tolerant, warm-season lawn grasses in Texas are St. Augustine and Zoysia sod grass varieties.