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| I have several shady areas where my Bermuda has a very difficult time growing if it does at all:
1. Under two large bald cypress in my front yard
I am considering seeding these areas with tall Fescue. The front yard has some Bermuda left under these trees, but it is getting very thin. And due to the 10-15 degree slope of the yard, I am starting to lose soil. The front area gets some late afternoon sun, but that's about it. The area on the north side may get a little morning and a little evening sun. The areas next to the fence get no direct sun. Is mixing Fescue with Bermuda a good idea? Is there something better? I do have a sprinkler system (if that makes a differnce). |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by lou_midlothian_tx z8 DFW, Tx (My Page) on Sat, Apr 14, 12 at 18:58
| Fescue won't do well in north Texas during the summer. Like you, the north side of fence gets no sun half of year plus it slopes down quite a bit which makes it no fun to mow so I ended up building a plant bed the entire length of that fence with about 8-10 feet deep. You have bermuda... they need a lot of sun to thrive so perhaps you should look for more shade tolerant grass. There's a *shade* tolerant bermuda called Tifgrand but it just came out on the market last year and there's not enough information to see just how much more shade tolerant it is. Another option - Zoysia. Fine bladed type probably would blend in with bermuda but it's a little more demanding. Coarse blade zoysia like Palisades, Empire and Jamur are easier to maintain. They look more like fescue, I think. Sometimes described as dwarf st augustine. |
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- Posted by texas-weed 7A (My Page) on Sun, Apr 15, 12 at 11:27
| Forget Fescue in TX, it is a lost cause. Come July it will all be toast. The only grass that will have a remote chance is Saint Augustine. Of the Saint Augustine varieties Palmetto has the best shade tolerance and readily available in TX. Even the Orange and Blue box stores carry it in the garden centers. I would recommend Zoysia because it does blend in well with Bermuda, but its shade tolerance is only marginal and is very expensive sod to experiment with. |
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- Posted by john_in_sc z7, upstate SC (My Page) on Wed, Apr 18, 12 at 15:49
| Texas... Try out "Shadow Turf" - it's a shade loving fine bladed Zoysia that's a dead ringer for Bermuda.... and it came out of the Texas A&M program - so it should do pretty well out in Texas... I set out a test patch in my back yard... It's still hanging in there somehow - even though I have renovated that area twice since I set out the test patch... (It was just too expensive for me to do the whole back yard in the stuff - I went to TTTF) but a bunch of guys from Texas swear by the stuff.... Unfortunately, as Tx Weed says - it's crazy expensive.... Available only in plug trays... but it might be worth buying 1 tray and trying it out as an experiment.... Thanks |
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