Good grass for soil erosion and grows in shade?

[Frank]

I have this area under a Bradford pear near my street where I just can't get grass to grow near the tree. Every rain washes away soil. I have all St Augustine. Even though it is growing just about 4-5 feet away with now problem, I can't seem to get it to take near the bottom of the tree. Any suggestions here?

[Fordblue625]

I have this area under a Bradford pear near my street where I just can't get grass to grow near the tree. Every rain washes away soil. I have all St Augustine. Even though it is growing just about 4-5 feet away with now problem, I can't seem to get it to take near the bottom of the tree. Any suggestions here?

Cut down that shitty bradford pear and plant a real tree. St. Augustine should get plenty of sun and have time to establish itself while the new tree is growing. If you're not willing to part with the tree, Zoysia is shade tolerant but I'm not sure how it likes the texas summer.

[Vertnut]

Fescue does great in a shady/moist area. It won't spread at all, and it grows year-round, and it's hearty.

[8mpg]

St Augustine... a pallet runs $140 and covers 500ish square feet.

Throw down some top soil, wet it down, lay down the sod, roll it and water it twice a day for a week. Just helped my dad put down 4 pallets of it last week and its finally taking off. Same situation as you...grass wouldnt grow under the trees and soil kept washing away.

[bard]

Turn it into a flower bed, switch to a ground cover (mondo grass, etc) and/or thin out the branches above to let more light in. Mixing another grass with St. Aug will never blend in.

[90vert]

Rake the area out and make it look however you want, spread seed, and put curlex over the dirt/seed. Curlex is basically a blanket made from wood fibers that will keep the dirt from washing out before vegetation takes hold. The grass will grow up through the curlex and also hold moisture to help growth. You might be able to buy it at Lowes/HD, if not Whitecap will have it. Google Whitecap there's probably one close to you. Total cost is probably $50 if you do the work.

[YALE]

Cut down that shitty bradford pear and plant a real tree. St. Augustine should get plenty of sun and have time to establish itself while the new tree is growing. If you're not willing to part with the tree, Zoysia is shade tolerant but I'm not sure how it likes the texas summer.

Zoysia will do well in the heat, and take the whole yard over inch by inch, year after year. It smooth won't let anything else grow up through it.

[projectPONY]

I've got the same thing happening in my yard around three very mature trees. My yard is primarily st. Augustine, save for a few areas where some kind of wild grass has taken over and the areas at the base of the trees which are completely bare. I'm also on a corner lot and the west side of my lawn doesn't get as much sun as the rest of the yard. Primarily due to the large trees. I'm thinking about digging it all up and going with a different type grass.

I'm not familiar with the types of grasses so when you guys mention Zoysa(sp) I think about the stuff around the big office buildings downtown. Is this Zoysa?


sent from my htc EVO 4G, the iCrap killer.

[YALE]

Zoysia will take a lot less water than St. Augustine, too.

[scrapmetal]

I guess I'm going to Google Zoysia

[trailerparksuperstar]

Would it be easier to repair his yard using Zoysia seed or sod?
I saw Zoysia seed (Scot's Turf Builder) and wondered how well it would take on an aggressively sloped yard.

[zemog]

was unaware they made a zoysia seed, however i do now that zoysia is a very very slow coverage grass, much slower than st. aug., and it does take water just like everything, while it does ok in shade it will be that much slower to cover, also if this is a very shaded area, the water wont be that much different for any grass...and zoysia is $$$ compared to st. aug..