Do you worry that your shaded lawn isn’t getting enough sunlight?
Maybe you live in an area that is surrounded by dense woods, or perhaps your tall home keeps an area of your lawn fully shaded.
In any case, getting your lawn to thrive under sparse sunlight can be difficult. Fortunately, there are certain steps you can take to promote your lawn’s growth. Here are our top 5 tips for maintaining a shaded lawn.
Here are our top 5 tips for maintaining a shaded lawn:
Five Tips for Maintaining a Shaded Lawn
Choose a Shade-Tolerant Type of Grass
Not all types of grass fare well in shaded environments. If you want your grass to thrive on minimal sunlight, it’s important that you use a shade-tolerant type of grass — such as Fescue, Bluegrass, Ryegrass, Zoysia, or St. Augustine.
These types of grass are able to survive with as little as 4–6 hours of partial sunlight per day — ideal for a shaded lawn!
Prune and Remove Trees
If you’re struggling to keep your shaded lawn healthy and strong, consider pruning your property’s trees or removing a few of them altogether. This will allow some additional sunlight to penetrate through the canopy toward your grass.
While you may value the extra privacy that the tall trees provide, a little pruning can go a long way toward helping your lawn get the nourishment it needs to thrive. Contact a lawn care company like LawnMart Inc. for help!
Remember to Fertilize (With Caution!)
While it’s true that fertilizer can boost any lawn’s growth, shaded lawns are in particular need of the extra nutrients. Keep in mind, however, that certain shade-tolerant types of grass require less fertilizer than others. Over-fertilizing can damage your already-stressed grass.
Make sure you know how to properly fertilize you lawn. You need to know how much fertilizer your type of grass requires and only fertilize your lawn twice per year — once in the spring and once in the fall!
Don’t Overwater Your Grass
With a shaded lawn, it’s crucial that you avoid overwatering your grass. The truth is that a shaded lawn requires even less water than the average lawn, as moisture doesn’t evaporate as quickly in shady conditions.
If anything, err on the side of watering less and shorter than you normally would. The exception to this rule is in areas where there are plenty of trees. As trees will be competing with your grass for nutrients, you can be more generous with water in these areas.
Set Your Lawn Mower Blade High
In order to avoid scalping your lawn, you should never remove more than one-third of your grass length when mowing. In the case of a shaded lawn, you should remove even less grass.
As a rule of thumb, keep your shaded grass roughly a half-inch taller than grass in open areas. Because grass blades store energy, the extra length will keep your grass strong when ample sunlight is hard to come by.
Do you need help taking care of your shaded lawn? Be sure to get in touch with the experts at LawnMart, Inc. today for all of your lawn care and grass maintenance needs!