 By practicing the following tips on a consistent basis, you can still have a healthy, green lawn in most shady lawn situations...
• Select shade-tolerant cultivars (plants). You may need to
consider a groundcover for deeply shaded locations
• Use mixtures or blends of turf grasses specifically intended
for cool-season use when renovating or establishing your
lawn area
• Improve the airflow across your landscape by removing any
trees and ornamentals which obstruct wind movement.
This will help you deal with disease problems, as well.
• Prune your lower tree branches to improve the penetration
of low-angle light
• Selectively prune upper tree limbs to improve light penetration
(sun flecks)
• Set your lawn mower to cut your grass relatively high, and don’t allow the grass clipping to
accumulate on your lawn (in other words, bag them, and if there’s no disease, compost them…
otherwise dispose of them off-property)
• Prune the roots of tree and ornamentals using a spade-type shovel… or edge your lawn with a
trencher periodically. Be sure not to remove more than half of the viable roots beneath the drip
line of the tree (the outer edge of the branch/leaf canopy). This is beneficial for trees as well as
the grass & turf.
• Control/reduce traffic on the lawn
• Remove fallen tree leaves and clumps of mowing clippings
quickly. Letting them stand encourages the growth of
fungus and molds.
• Water less frequently but more deeply with each watering.
Because it promotes disease, avoid watering your lawn in
the late afternoon and evening irrigation.
• Unless prescribed by a professional lawn care provider, reduce
your use of nitrogen-based fertilizers and increase the use of potassium-based fertilizers.
You can supplement with an iron additive for deeper, greener color.
• When necessary to check disease outbreaks, apply fungicides
• Leave a two-to-four foot turf-free zone – commonly referred to as a mulch ring – around
small trees to improve their growth
• Keep the pH of your soil consistent.
Want to let someone else handle your shady lawn issues for you?
E-mail or call us (at one of the numbers below) to get started, for answers to your questions, or for your FREE Bio Green lawn analysis TODAY!
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