need help with grass in front yard

[christstar7]

hello my name is Teena and i moved in this house about three yrs. ago and the man that owned it before us was in a wheel chair and drove up to the front door so hte yard was very hard.we ruffed up the ground and added more dirt thnking that the st. augustine grass would just start growing from the sprigs that were around it.not!!! so we tried to plant some from other spots in hte yard and realized that there wasn't enough sun.we since removed some pine trees and there is still no change.some one recommended buffalo grass but i have never heard of it and do not have money to just throw away on trying.could someone please help.
It only gets sun in the morning early noon.thanks teena

[Scott Fl]

landscape it with a groundcover!

[khwoz]

Search this site and the other discussion forums. You should get all the info. you need. It seems like your soil is lacking in everything.

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_question.php?id=94

[christstar7]

Scott Fl wrote: landscape it with a groundcover!


what kind of ground cover will look good in the front yard of a house. do you know anything about buffalo grass?is it easy to grow?durable or hard to kill ha! ha!

[Scott Fl]

ivy, abelia, jasmine minima, dwarf azaleas, landscape peanut

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

Buffalo grass is not the world's best alternative. If there are any trees on the horizon, they are providing too much shade for buff to do well. Here's what I would do.

I would get a soaker hose, turn the water on very, Very, VERY low, and leave it soaking for a few weeks to soften the soil. At the same time you could apply some corn meal to the area to start feeding any beneficial microbes you might have in that compacted soil. The soil should never get to the point where there is standing water, so keep an eye on that. If you start to get standing water, move the soaker hose to somewhere else. This will be a slow process but it worked wonders for my soil. Now when it rains, walking on my grass is like walking on a deep sponge. It's almost unsettling it's so soft. Then, assuming you get some progress in the grass spreading, follow this regimen.

1. Water deeply and infrequently. Let your turf dry out between waterings. When the grass starts to look wilty is when you start thinking about watering again. It could be that you develop roots deep enough that you never have to water again. My neighbor's yard has not been watered in 4.5 years and looks better than mine (dang it!). Deep watering takes an hour or two per zone. Infrequent means not more than monthly during the winter and not more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Never let water stand or run off, it should all get absorbed into the soil.

2. Mulch mow your grass at the highest mower setting. If your mower goes to 6 inches, that's great! Tall grass shades the soil preventing weed seeds from sprouting. It also grows deep, drought resistant roots on the grass. That's what you want. And I'm not all that hot on weekly mowing. If you go two or even three weeks I think you get a little better roots and turf. You may have appearance issues with your spouse or neighbors, but the turf doesn't mind (in my opinion).

3. Fertilize regularly. That could mean twice a year or four times a year, but do it at least once a year. I do mine on Valentine's Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day. I use a ground grain product. For the last two year I used corn meal and alfalfa pellets. This year I got some corn/milo mix and some soy meal. I still have a lot of alfalfa left over from last year, but the price on the soy was so good I couldn't pass it up.

The deep infrequent watering is what is going to fix your compaction problem. The rest is just part of a program to minimize your maintenance hours and cost.

Now after I said all that, you're not going to tell me you're planting bermuda seed are you???