Sounds simple right? Its not. The back yard is turning into a mud pit. The soil is very rocky, does not drain well, and gets some sun until the leaves come in full. Soil is not nutrient rich, and I have exhausted many efforts to create a lawn. whenever I do, it grows and by mid summer its pretty much all dead. Can anybody suggest anything. Type of seed, new top soil, a certain type of fertilizer? The yard is used somewhat heavily, quad, trailer, ect. Thanks everyone.
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Lighting Up
Feeling the Heat
First thing would be a soil test...It sounds like you have enough nutrients in the soil to get the seed started but then not enough organic matter to keep it growing or your not watering it enough. My suggestion would be test the soil add the nutrients, apply 10-10-10 fertilizer, a perennial seed (NOT ANNUAL SEED) yes big difference and water...water...water...it. Water is the key...
Do it in the spring, one of the best time to start a lawn and in the fall of that year spread seed, alot of seed. You will have a great lawn. If you do this in a year you will be posting how tired you are cutting the grass every 4 days. Good Luck.
md
Do it in the spring, one of the best time to start a lawn and in the fall of that year spread seed, alot of seed. You will have a great lawn. If you do this in a year you will be posting how tired you are cutting the grass every 4 days. Good Luck.
md
Hardy groundcover like ivy or something for the areas that don't usually receive traffic. Put paths of bark/mulch/stone where you want to drive the quad/trailer, etc.
Grass doesn't work. Why fight it? You'll just have to mow it anyway. Do something lower maint.
Grass doesn't work. Why fight it? You'll just have to mow it anyway. Do something lower maint.
Backwoods said:
Sounds like in addition to the lack of sunlight and draingae issues, you may have some serious soil compaction going on. Fix any drainage issues (standing water) and aerate the pi$$ out of the area. Punch holes as deep and as many as you can. Rent the best aerator you can find, preferably not a rotary spike/plug type. Toro and Ryan are some of the best in the biz.
Nutrient content can be adjusted with the right fertilizers but you MUST do a soil analysis first or your just guessing.
For semi-shady areas that do not have any standing water, look into the various varieties of perennial ryegrass. It's cheap to seed, easy to grow, and very quick to germinate. There are some pretty good traffic-tolerant species too.
The aeration is key as it allows the seeds to establish a good root bed. Water is critical, do not allow standing water but also don't let it dry out either. You could be watering 2x a day in the beginning if you get a dry spring.
Do this after the danger of frost is gone but the daily highs are staying under 80 °F , 85 max.
Sounds to me like you are dealing with heavy clay. A soil test will tell. If so you need acid in the soil to break down the clays. Sulfur or heavy doses of manure will work. With grass you are dealing with the top 6" of soil which is easily compacted. Once compacted water ain't getting in. Aeration is a short term fix and probably won't last the season. Whatever you do you still have clay and if you drive on it your going to compact it.
A simple home test (what soil scientist use) is get a golf ball size piece and roll it between your hands. If you can roll it out thin without it falling apart you have clay.
A simple home test (what soil scientist use) is get a golf ball size piece and roll it between your hands. If you can roll it out thin without it falling apart you have clay.
I could go on for hours but in short:
1: Get a soil test- your simply guessing without one. $10 or so. Have it done by a professional, dont use an el cheapo meter from a big box store.
2: Trim up trees to get more sunlight--gotta have minimum of 4hrs--more for sunny type grasses.
3: lime, lime, lime. Pel lime to be specific unless we are talking acres and acres. If your soil ph is 1.0 off, your wasting HALF of the fertn you drop....but its worse....this wasted fert now goes into the water systems and causes huge issues (another few hours worth in itself)...not to mention, fert aint cheap anymore.
4: drainage issues (soil staying too wet) can cause fungi problems that can be treated with sprays, but better treated by solving the drainage issue. Downspouts are an area where you may see this if its not piped underground
5:Top dressing with good dirt is a good way to start seed but expensive and hard work.
6: Use twice as much seed as the bag says. Trust me. Youd rather grass be choking out grass than bare spots filling in with weeds.
7: Use innoculant on your seed. It dramatically helps germination.
8:Educate yourself on the different types of fert. There is so much more to the equation than just N-P-K. Fast acting N is good but will burn if overapplied. Most cheap ferts dont have hardly any of this in them. Thats the difference in scotts and the other junk ( at least from the big box store stuff)
9:Sounds like you want fescue as your seed. Itll take more traffic than most. Dont buy the K31 junk. Thats what gets the really fat blades of grass. Get a thin bladed variety. If you have a lesco or john deere landscapes near you, use thier athletic mix. Its about $70 for 50lbs. If you want a golf course, bluegrass it is. but get ready to pay thru the nose.
1: Get a soil test- your simply guessing without one. $10 or so. Have it done by a professional, dont use an el cheapo meter from a big box store.
2: Trim up trees to get more sunlight--gotta have minimum of 4hrs--more for sunny type grasses.
3: lime, lime, lime. Pel lime to be specific unless we are talking acres and acres. If your soil ph is 1.0 off, your wasting HALF of the fertn you drop....but its worse....this wasted fert now goes into the water systems and causes huge issues (another few hours worth in itself)...not to mention, fert aint cheap anymore.
4: drainage issues (soil staying too wet) can cause fungi problems that can be treated with sprays, but better treated by solving the drainage issue. Downspouts are an area where you may see this if its not piped underground
5:Top dressing with good dirt is a good way to start seed but expensive and hard work.
6: Use twice as much seed as the bag says. Trust me. Youd rather grass be choking out grass than bare spots filling in with weeds.
7: Use innoculant on your seed. It dramatically helps germination.
8:Educate yourself on the different types of fert. There is so much more to the equation than just N-P-K. Fast acting N is good but will burn if overapplied. Most cheap ferts dont have hardly any of this in them. Thats the difference in scotts and the other junk ( at least from the big box store stuff)
9:Sounds like you want fescue as your seed. Itll take more traffic than most. Dont buy the K31 junk. Thats what gets the really fat blades of grass. Get a thin bladed variety. If you have a lesco or john deere landscapes near you, use thier athletic mix. Its about $70 for 50lbs. If you want a golf course, bluegrass it is. but get ready to pay thru the nose.
eclecticcottage
Minister of Fire
mithesaint said:
I was thinking the same thing if it's in an area where ground cover might be appropriate. I'm thinking something tough like Pachasandra or Snow On The Mount (these can be invasive so don't plant near flower beds or gardens unless you want them there too, lol). I vaguely remember my grandfather using the tractor to pull out a bunch of well rooted Pachasandra that kept trying to spread.
semipro
Minister of Fire
Backwoods said:
My experience is if you don't have enough sunlight you won't grow grass...period.
Even shade-tolerant varieties need a fair amount of light.
maple1
Minister of Fire
smokinj
Minister of Fire
I've got the same issue under my oak trees. I let the leaves cover in the summer but I put out Marshall Rye Grass Seed in the winter. 1 bag is 50 lbs and $24 and will seed 1 acre. I spread it around and it grows all winter. In the summer it dies after going to seed in April. It comes back in the fall. The deer keep mine well mowed in the winter and in the spring when they leave it alone it grows a couple feet tall and goes to seed.
IMO Skip the polluting fertilizer, the eco-unfriendly solution of grass and put in an attractive road where you drive (you could use river rock over some fill and esge it with belgian block, for example), with raised perennial shade gardens (natives would be nice, and you can work it so you have blooms from February on) with seating or play (if you have young children) areas.. If you must have grass get native sedge that grows well under trees. My dense woodlot is a mass of flowers until the trees come into full leaf, then still lots of flowers but less conspicuous blooms, and beautiful green "grass" until winter. All native. Get composted material to build up your raised gardens to improve the soil...barley straw, mushroom compost, manure, sawdust, everything that is available in your area. Just be sure you know the compost is "clean" - no pesticides etc. I could give you a list of suggested easy care to carefree-plantings if you are interested. Shade plants that are happy will spread on their own.
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