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| The Raleigh St. Augustine sod I planted last May died. I'm in the process of digging it up and I noticed a lot of, what look like, tree roots underneath. I've been thinking the sod died because it was too shady or I didn't water enough but maybe the tree roots taking up all the moisture? Possible?
Picture of the area. Back of house faces south. Several large trees filter the sun.
Tree roots under the sod?
View of another root(?) and proximity to tree
What do you guys think? I'm going to give it another shot. Debating between Raleigh again or Palmetto. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by texas-weed 7A (My Page) on Fri, Mar 16, 12 at 9:05
| OK maybe a dumb question but how long have you lived in Dallas? Did you move there from the north? The only thing I see in the pictures is semi dormant SA grass that has thinned out from lack of sun light. The problem area that I can make out is next to the house as it looks like it dried out and burned up. |
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| I've lived in Dallas for a while but I haven't been a homeowner that long. The problem area is the long strip of brown stuff next to the house. That's the Raleigh I planted last year. Next to that is Zoysia that's thin from the shade and won't grow next to the house. I've been hoping some St. Augustine will take hold and take over the Zoysia. My main concern is why my sod died from last year. My thoughts are too much shade and/or not enough water. I have a working irrigation system, which I ran about 20 minutes/zone 3 days a week in the summer. I added supplemental water when the sod was new as well. Last summer was pretty brutal and I planted at the end of May so I'm trying to get a head start on the replanting this year. I purchased a pallet of Palmetto and I'm preparing the area. Aside from pulling up the old sod is there any other soil prep I should do? The dirt looks ok to me but I see those tree roots, and the soil gets quite hard around an inch or 2 down. I've done some reading on here and see not to till. When jamming the shovel in the ground It only goes this far |
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- Posted by lou_midlothian_tx z8 DFW, Tx (My Page) on Fri, Mar 16, 12 at 20:01
| Pacu, You need to figure out how long it takes for your sprinkler system to put out one inch of water. Using tuna cans in various places will help you figure out how long it takes to fill up one inch depth of tuna can. I'm sorry to tell you that but Raleigh has very door drought tolerance. Palmetto is supposed to be significantly better but mine got hit badly with SAD virus. I have both Sapphire and Floratam variety. So far so good since 2005.... The long strip of brown stuff next to the house is on the north side, right? No grass can tolerate total shade on the north side of house half of the year. Perhaps, build a shade garden bed? |
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- Posted by texas-weed 7A (My Page) on Fri, Mar 16, 12 at 22:48
| The problem area is the long strip of brown stuff next to the house. OK that explains a lot because the area was just to square to be natural. Now let me ask you another dumb question. What makes you think the grass next to the house is dead? Dead SA has dark gray color. Dormant SA is a tan straw color. I've been hoping some St. Augustine will take hold and take over the Zoysia. Sorry but it is the other way around. SA cannot out compete Zoysia. OK let's go with the existing SA is dead because you already dug it out. The biggest disadvantage of Raleigh SA is it does not like really hot weather. The Palmetto is a better choice. It will take the heat, and has pretty good shade tolerance, but I agree with Lou. If that is the north side of your house, no grass will grow in total shade. |
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- Posted by texasredhead z8Texas (My Page) on Sun, Mar 18, 12 at 14:54
| There is NO grass that will tolerate heavy shade. Zoysia is a full sunshine sod that will not tolerate foot traffic. St augustine, regardless of the variety, will tolerate moderate shade but does requiore 5 or 6 hours of sun daily. |
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