Is a large part of your garden covered in shade throughout the year? Well, I have a lot of large trees in my lawn too, and I know how the perennially shaded spots are. But don’t worry, just because a spot is shaded does not mean that you can’t have it add to the overall beauty of your garden!
In fact, there are quite a few solutions to actually cope with this problem. One of the main solutions that lawn owners mostly go for is actually growing specific types of grass there that can grow in shade. And that’s exactly what we are going to take a look at in today’s article. We are going to discuss about the best grass seed for shade out there that you might want to go for.
Of course, we are also going to recommend some steps that you might want to keep in mind. Because, after all, the seed isn’t everything. The shade undoubtedly does possess a great risk to your grass, so you have to be careful and you have to work a little harder to actually keep the shade-spots beautiful. So, are you ready to get started?
Things to know about your Shade-spots
There are quite a few things that you must keep in mind when it comes to shade-spots. This is mostly owing to the fact that you actually need to treat these spots a little differently than the rest of your lawn. How are these spots different, you ask? What are the main things you might want to know, you wonder? Well, here are a few of the top things that you should ideally always have in the back of your mind:
- There’s no Sunlight: Now, this one might sound obvious, but you need to know what it really means. It actually means that your grass in this spot would not be having any direct sunlight on it. This can actually mean that some plants or even some types of grasses will not grow here. So, that’s something you need to do a bit of research on.;
- Watering: You also need to be careful about how you water a spot like this one. This is mostly owing to the fact that this spot would require a different amount of water. The rate of transpiration and even evaporation are much lower here, so the water requirement is generally lower. You might actually end up overwatering your grass if you water it the same as the rest of the lawn, so you might want to pay a little extra attention to that.
- Vigilance: You also need to be a little more vigilant about the health of your grass in shaded spots. Now, don’t get me wrong, you need to be vigilant about all your lawn. Thing is, problems with the shaded spot are a little easier to ignore if you aren’t careful. So, don’t forget to give it a bit of extra attention to ensure that everything is alright.
Best Grass Seed for Shade
Now, as you might be already aware, there are quite a few kinds of grass out there. Now, some of these are naturally more suited for shade than some others. However, it might be a pretty tedious job to find out which one’s better if you plan to go the trail and error method!
So, we here at Turf Mechanic have done the research for you! We have come up with a list of the best ones that you might want to go with, and we are sure that this list is going to come in handy for you! So, which one is the best grass seed for shade, you ask? Well, you might want to consider these as among the best:
Fescues
Fescues are one of the best grasses you can go for if you want to plant them in the shade. These grasses are one of the best choices because you can get them as seeds, which reduces the cost too. Also, Fescues are among the only choices that you have for colder regions, making them the most obvious choice by far.
So, if you’re in a colder region and you’re looking for a shade-friendly grass, tall fascues might just be the right choice for you. Naturally, if you aren’t in a cold region, you might want to go for something else, and you must keep reading for that!
St Augustine Grass
St Augustine Grass is undisputed to be among the best choices when it comes to shade-tolerant grasses in the warmer areas. You can get them as seeds too, so they are pretty cost effective as well, making them a great choice for just about everyone.
You also have a few other choices such as the Zoysia and Centipede grass for the warmer areas, but these are strictly geographical location dependent, so we cannot recommend them in general. However, if you’re in a warmer area, you might want to do a little research on all of these and choose the other that you think would suit your lawn the best.
Some people also prefer to go for Artificial Turfs
Yes, it is true that artificial turfs have been around for a long time now. But have you seen the old ones available out there? They just looked so unnatural that people never actually went for them until they had no other choice left!
However, the modern ones that are coming out have changed this. The new Artificial turfs available out there have been designed and manufactured to perfectly look like real turfs. This is one of the main reasons why a lot of lawn owners have now started going for artificial turfs to avoid all of the hassle associated with maintaining a beautiful lawn.
So, if that’s what you think is going to be the best choice f0r you, you might actually consider having an artificial turf too. Yes, while it’s true that it might never be as good as the real one, the overall hassle is considerably less.
You know what goes well with artificial turfs? Trampolines! A lot of people are afraid of using sprinklers with trampolines, and if you’re one of them, click here to read our article on Do Sprinklers Ruin Trampolines?
Things that matter beside the seed
If you thought that choosing a shade-loving seed would solve the problem, that’s not true. There are, in fact, a few more things that you still have to do in order to make the shade-spots beautiful. Don’t worry, most of these are actually just taking care of the spot properly.
However, just in case you are not sure how you would want to deal with it, here are a few tips that you might want to follow in order to ensure that your lawn remains beautiful:
- Make way for light: Well, it’s true that the spot is a shade spot, but you can still try to make way for light as much as you can. For example, pruning the lower branches of larger trees if it’s under one might be of help. Even as a type of grass that can grow in shade, it still needs light.
- Water it properly: As I remarked earlier, the watering pattern might be significantly different. It might need both more and less water depending on where exactly the seeds are planted. So, you need to be careful about that as well.
- Use of fertilizer: Using fertilizer properly is also a really important thing. Especially in cases where the grass is under a large tree, regular application of fertilizer might actually help you get the perfect lush green grass you’re looking for.
Conclusion
To conclude all of it, we can easily say that choosing the right seed is not as easy as it seems. There are quite a few things that you might actually keep in mind when trying to choose the right seed for your shade-spots.
However, once you have actually done your research here on Turf Mechanic, you know what are the best seed types you might want to go for. All that remains now is the duty on your part to actually properly follow the rest of the instructions in order to get the perfect lawn that you’re aiming for.
We here at Turf Mechanic are always here for you. We understand that you might still have a few questions for us, and we are always available to answer them for you! So, please free to reach out to us if you have any queries!
Related Reading: You might have noticed the strange itchiness that’s there when you’re on grass with your friends and family. Well, do you think this itchiness is just something wrong with you or do you think it’s there for everyone? Turns out, it’s there for everyone! Why, you ask? Well, click here to read our article on Why Does Grass Make Us Itch?
