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chris_chicago

side yard grass dead

chris_chicago
9 years ago

on the side of my house there is about 20-30ft of space before the next house, so it only gets good mid(ish) day sun. the lawn is year old bluegrass blend sod. a good bit of it died over winter and was replaced. there was a lot of dead spots in the remaining original sod and the landscaper put down a lot of seed and some blue Styrofoam pellet looking stuff that i assume was fertilizer. none of that seed sprouted and the new sod he laid is now very patchy with brown and dead spots. I overseeded a couple weeks ago and there is some new grass in the low spots but I suspect rain has washed the seed off a lot of the bare soil bc there is nothing going on there and I dont see any of the seeds or mulch I put down.

besides picking a deep shade seed blend, are there any tricks for overseeding in this low sun environment? And is there a way to keep the rain from washing away new seed?

Comments (4)

  • dchall_san_antonio
    9 years ago

    Deep shade grass (fescue) is what you need. Kentucky bluegrass needs about 8 hours of direct sun, so that won't work between the houses.

    If you seeded with Kentucky bluegrass, then you opened up a window of 3 weeks before the grass seed begins to germinate. And that is only if you keep it watered lightly 3x per day, every day. With fescue you only need 2 weeks. So if you're trying to predict rain either 2 weeks or 3 weeks in advance, 2 weeks is easier.

    The seed should be rolled down or walked on to push it into the soil. That is generally what Mother Nature does by having herbivores stomping all over Her grass seed. It might help to put a very light layer of compost over the new seed and step on that. Don't use soil because that will change the drainage between the houses. Compost is organic and will eventually "evaporate" and disappear, so it doesn't change the drainage. By light layer I'm talking about 1 cubic yard per 1,000 square feet.

    Fescue is something you'll have to keep an eye on all year. If it gets damaged by insects, pets, people, or disease, it will become thin and require reseeding next fall. Don't seed it in the spring if you can help it. Early fall is a LOT better.

  • duk748
    9 years ago

    hello - i had all ttf sod put down 1 year ago in august - i have almost the same conditions as you - i have a large maple that shades this area along w/ my neighbors redwood fence that obstructs all sun from this area - the sod looked great for about 2 months then suddenly it started to look dry & wilted - i watered & fed as required but nothing helped - i had a soil test done & that area is not prone to having any type of grass grow there - i decided to cut my losses & had all that new sod taken up & replaced that entire strip w/ river rock - it really looks good & i also cut my area down in mowing - it is also on a slight hill which didnt help matters but now i dont have to mow it - just a thought -

  • gsweater
    9 years ago

    "...I have a LARGE MAPLE..." hmm

  • chris_chicago
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    The soil test tells you no grass can grow there?