Growing Lawns in Shady Areas

Healthy lawns need at least six hours of direct sunlight in the growing season. In the southern US, five hours is enough. Some grasses are called "shade grasses" and can grow satisfactorily with a little less light.

You can tell if light levels are too low by observing how many hours a day each area of the lawn receives. If the grass is sparse, light green, and dying out it could be because of too much shade.

Trim the trees.

There are several ways to deal with insufficient light. If trees are shading the area, trim some of the branches, any that are damaged, too close together, or hang near the ground. Low limbs casts more intense shade, while higher limbs let in more indirect light.

If you plan on planting a tree where it will shade the yard, choose one with a more open canopy that will cast only mottled shade.

If the shade is due to a fence, replace it with one that lets more sun through, at least through the upper section.

Some lawn areas can benefit from reflected sunlight. The north side of my house would have low light levels except for the next door neighbor's three large, south-facing windows which cast considerable reflected light on the area.

In a few situations you might be able to reflect a modest amount of light on a lawn area by painting nearby structures such as a wooden fence white. The painted wall would have to be in direct sun for a good part of the day to reflect much light. Using landscape lights to help grow grass is not practical.

Encourage the grass.

You can give the grass in a marginal area the best chance possible by reducing all other factors that might be stressing it. Water the grass when needed, raise the mowing height to two or more inches, and take care of pest, disease, and weed problems. You can eliminate the problem of foot traffic by installing stepping stones or concrete paving blocks. Lay them out about a foot apart, draw the outline in the turf with a garden trowel, then remove the soil within the outlines so that the top of each stepping stone is near ground level and can be easily mowed over.

Try shade grasses or ground covers.

Try shade grass mixtures where other grasses do not work. If you have an area that receives less than a couple of hours of direct sun, you should try growing something other than grass in that area-- a ground cover or a "shade flower garden", or cover the area in mulch.

Of course, the amount of shade casts by a tree or structure changes with the seasons and the angle of the sun. Trees that lose their leaves have less shade in the fall, winter, and spring. In June when the sun is the highest in the northern hemisphere, noon shadows are shorter and the intensity of the light is stronger supporting more plant growth.