Grass in My Backyard
Is it all all possible to have grass in my North facing Brooklyn backyard? We have a very large tree that shades the yard in the morning, the afternoon gets some full sun. If I can grow grass, any suggestions on how to prep the yard and what type of grass I could get? Thanks!
Is it all all possible to have grass in my North facing Brooklyn backyard? We have a very large tree that shades the yard in the morning, the afternoon gets some full sun.
If I can grow grass, any suggestions on how to prep the yard and what type of grass I could get?
Thanks!
don’t
i’m the opposite of a gardener, but mine says that it’s a waste of time in Brooklyn. also, you need a place to keep some sort of mower even a push mower.
i thought about grass, and ended up with blue stone, small plants/small trees in soil/dirt around the stone and then pots which can have changed plants when you want. overall, very happy, and really glad that didn’t do grass.
Part of the equation is what type of tree is it. Some trees have more surface roots than others. Maples for instance are much more difficult to grow grass under than something with fewer surface roots and deeper tap roots. If it’s a maple, I wouldn’t bother, something like an oak you’ll have better odds. It’s largely a matter of the plants competing for water. Most garden centers have shade tolerant seed mixes.
I really like the idea of using one of the new sports-turf covers. They are beautiful, durable, and eco-friendly. That really is probably the way to go if you want a patch of thick green lawn in a shady backyard.
Brilliant idea Grand Army!
I agree, its doable, but tough. I have a decent 8 x 12 grass oval of fescue mix that recently germinated. But as a shade grass…in the shade…the blades are very thin and I have some “bald” spots where the crabgrass is coming back and filling in. Most of these the dog tore up though. (Yes, crabgrass is a war I WILL lose and I DO accept that but I have a realistic, non-obsessive and healthy tolerance as a gardener.)
And I’ll disclose that this is my first brownstone garden but in my opinion yeah, its gonna take a big amendment no matter what you plant. I dug the whole gardenonce over in most spots and dug the grass area twice with a couple amendments to get what I got.
I’m not a big fan of ground covers in central focal spaces though, because they’ve never been all that traffic tolerant for me compared to a fescue mix, even when you can’t get the grass to grow perfectly. Particularly through spring you will have to treat the ground cover area with kid gloves. I’d rather have a little lawn shabiness than have to try to keep the dog and guests and the husband off the groundcover! That to me is the real advantage of pushing the egg through the hen and trying to cover and over seed and fertilize like a madman. This has been my experience in small gardens a zone or two north of here anyway.
To me its half a dozen of one, 6 of the other. Which ever you decide, good luck!
The last few years I have been aggressive in overseeding, watering and seasonal lawn care for my 20’x20′ patch of grass in my yard. Where grass has taken hold it is seemingly resilient, but there are always patchy bits in the spring and by the fall. Plus the water use is ridiculous. I am roughly guessing 300-700 dollars in water use for the recommended watering needs annually.
I’ve made a decision: go with the flow. There is considerable clover that is filling the space in. It mows like grass, doesn’t get too high and needs a fraction of the water. I’m thinking about over seeding with a clover seed mix, but honestly in a year or two most of the lawn will be clover anyway. Indigenous, green, cheaper and low maintenance.
For the record, my yard is on the northern side of my building and gets considerable shade through the day. On the morning a beam of sunlight moves across the whole yard and the rest of the day the back half (furthest away from the building) has pretty solid light. The patches are not just in the shady parts either.
I’ve been trying to grow grass in my north garden for 35 years. In the past I’ve sometimes had a halfway descant lawn, but in recent years, since the trees in diagonally opposite corners of my yard have grown larger, I re-seed and have fairly good grass through July, but it disappears by late Summer. I’m looking into ground cover or, possibly, just mulch.
No mention of pot, at all. The posters are showing great restraint today.
The Brooklyn Botanical Garden has a booklet entitled “Easy Lawns, Low Maintenance Native Grasses for Gardeners Everywhere.” $9.95.
I would not advocate a conventional lawn – they need to be fertilized and mown. Do an image search for “Carex Lawn”
Good luck
Our yard faces north and also has several very large trees throwing deep shade. I’ve struggled to grow grass in an oval area about 8′ x 12′ for the past 4-5 years, always using shade seed (hard to find, btw), over-seeding, watering (a lot!), carefully cutting, fertilizing etc etc. What do I have for my efforts? Lots of bald patches and nasty grubs. I’m about to give up and invest in artificial turf. I’ve seen some pretty good ones. Frankly, it’s more enviromentally friendly (no watering, no fertilizers) and while you should by all means consider other groundcovers that are more shade tolerant, don’t let anyone tell you they are walkable or sittable because they ain’t.