Growing grass in shade
The landscapes in the homes built in the 70's, 80's and 90's are maturing. The trees planted to shade the house are now large and throw shade not only on the house but the lawn as well. The common St Augustine grass can't get enough light to stay thick and competitive. Weeds like basket grass and wild strawberry will flourish where St. Augustine is struggling. There are safe, organic weed killers that kill those weeds but that still does not mean the grass will grow back in those areas. I, personally, would rather have basket grass than bare dirt.
If you are trying to grow grass with lots of shade be sure not to fertilize heavily. Grass growing in heavy shade is like a couch potato. Neither needs large amounts of nutrition. We have heard that applying dried molasses to shaded grass will help it thicken up. Apply at 20 lbs. per 1,000 square feet.
We have been offering a new St. Augustine hybrid grass that will grow much better in shaded areas than the old varieties. It is called "Amerishade". We have been selling it for about 3 years now. Our customer are saying that it really does grow well in the shade. The supply has been iffy because there is only one supplier in Texas. King Ranch Turf-Conroe (281-443-0915) has the rights to grow and sell it.
King Ranch limits us to one pallet per week. We would sell out within an hour or two this Spring. Folks were almost fighting over it in the parking lot. Now that it is August our pallet is lasting until Sunday from our Thursday delivery.
I didn't write about this grass in this blog this Spring because I didn't want to create more demand without being able to have the grass available for you. If this grass helps solve a problem for you we will have it in on Thursdays from now thru Fall.
Just a reminder, we only get it in on Thursdays if WEATHER PERMITS....sometimes we cannot get it if it is too wet for the tractors to get in the field and cut.
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Yeah, I've been having a small grass problem as my trees grow bigger and bigger. I didn't know there was a kind of grass that grows in the shade! I'll stop by your store next Thursday, hopefully you'll have some in stock
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I can't imagine people fighting over grass seed in the parking lot! However, if this seed is as great as you say that it is, then it must be in high demand. Growing in the shade is important as I do not want to have dirt on my lawn.
--Tim
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