best grass for shade in Dallas

gmoses – posted 03 March 2011 11:20

I’m looking for some advice on the best grass to put in my backyard in the Dallas, TX area. It is part full sun, but under a Bradford pear tree and in a 3-4 feet strip along the fence it is full shade. The Bermuda grass and weeds are doing ok in the sunny area, but the shady area is just dirt. I’ve tried seeding this area a few times with a “shade tolerant” bag of seeds bought from Lowes (mostly fescue varieties, I think), but they don’t stand up well to the long hot, dry summers.

As much as my kids like digging holes in the dirt, I’ve decided it’s time to sod. Even if I trim the tree a little, the strip along the fence will still be full shade. So ideally I’m looking for a low maintenance, drought tolerant, kid tolerant, shade tolerant variety. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?

After some googling, I was hoping Zoysia Palisades might work, but I was told it wouldn’t do well in the full shade. St. Augustine Del Mar was then recommended to me, but I was hoping to avoid having such a thirsty lawn. Any suggestions for my situation?

GolfSuper – posted 24 March 2011 10:34

I don’t know if any cultivar will tolerate a full-shade situation.

A zoysia cultivar will most likely be your best option, providing the drought tolerance you’re looking for, as well as some shade tolerance … as long as you can do something to give it 3-4 hours of partial sun per day.

-Perry Whaley Owner, ConsultantGreen

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