How to Grow Grass in the Shade

Many people will plant trees in their backyard, either so they will have a shady place to sit on hot summer days, or just because they like trees.

However, too much shade from your trees will prevent your lawn from getting enough sunlight. This will cause your lawn to become spotty and thin and with time will die out. So how do you get a nice lawn under your trees?

One thing you can do to ensure a lush, green lawn under your trees is to plant a type of grass that is shade tolerant. Also, when you mow the lawn under your trees, set your mower at a higher height. The longer the grass the more surface area there is on the blade to capture sunlight.

Too much fertilizer is not good for your lawn, so if you fertilizer your trees inject the fertilizer directly into the soil instead of spreading it on the ground around the tree.

If you water your trees, make sure you give them lots of water. If the water doesn't reach the roots down deep, the roots will come to the surface to get the water. Roots close to the surface will deprive your grass of water and nutrients, not to mention dulling the blade of your mower.

If you have lots of large adult trees in your yard, keep them pruned, or even consider removing one or two. If you plant trees in your yard look for trees that provide filtered shade.

In the fall be sure to rake up the leaves. Leaves left on the ground for any length of time will deprive your lawn of light as well as making a great place for insects and disease to thrive.

When you are mowing around your trees be careful not to hit them with the mower. Damaging the bark of the tree leaves the tree unprotected and makes it easy for insects and disease to attack the tree.

However, it is important to keep grass away from the trunk of a young tree. Grass growing around the trunk of a young tree can stunt the growth of the tree.

If for some reason you still can't grow grass in the shade and are absolutely against removing the trees, plant a ground cover that grows well in limited sunlight. A nice thick ground cover will look better than a thin brown spotted, sickly lawn.