I have a small backyard lawn that have been giving me lots of trouble. I would give up and put in a Japanese garden, but we have baby on the way and playing on the lawn just seems the right way to go. Here is the lowdown: - some significant sunny spots undernearth a huge fir that sucks up all the water. Can't get the the grass to grow solid, and its bown July-Sept. - some shady areas that turn to mud in a bad week of rainy - 5 types of trees dumping pine needles, maple leaves, etc all the time. I don't mind raking, but the grass is very acidic (I think that's what one says). I'd consider allowing the small bits of moss to take over, but I hear that won't stand up to kids. Any suggestions on how I can get a lawn (grass, moss, or ?) to fully establish? Thanks, Geoff
I wonder what would happen if you just let things go. Are there any undisturbed woodlands nearby? Because it's possible that natural local plants would spread to fill some of those difficult places. We had pretty good experience with moss-covered areas when our kids were small and running around everywhere. Typically these areas were a mix of mosses and various wild stuff that seeded around. We were beneath a canopy of oaks, which was pretty nice for all of us, plants and humans. Your situation sounds more challenging. For the damp-to-wet areas, some native sedges might mingle with ferns there to create something pleasant and largely maintenance-free. Dry spots, like under the fir, are more problematic. The nice thing is that with the new baby, you won't have much time to even think about the backyard, so it should be possible to see what Nature does there when left more or less to her own devices.
I normally wouldn't suggest this as it has the ability to invade a lawn, but Creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea) does very well in the kind of acidic, droughty conditions that are normally found under conifers. It will do equally well in the wet spots. I used to have an entire lawn of it mixed with white clover, which I rolled with a 45-gal barrel full of water rather than mowing. It releases a lovely lavender-mint smell when it's crushed and it's very soft on the feet, but at the same time very resilient to abuse. I used to play soccer on it on weekends with a bunch of my rowdy friends, and the next day you couldn't even tell we were there.
oh, god, no! don't put creeping charlie in!!! yes, it's got a lovely purple flower and yes it smells nice when the leaves are crushed. it's nasty invasive, though. you'll regret it if you put it in. you could try sweet woodruff - they like acidic conditions and shade. they do like it a bit on the moist side, so if the area isn't exactly perfect that would keep it from being too invasive (your colder conditions will also assist in keeping it in check).
Geoff, If you want to have a vibrant lawn, you will need to build up the soil. For the wet parts, add sand every few weeks until a good 5cm is built up. The sand will assist in reducing moss. Though, on our Coast, moss grows on a rock! For the dry parts, add rich topsoil. If the trees are an issue, perhaps they need some remedy too? Pruning may help? For the truly dry brown areas, you may want to experiment with Thymus (Wooly Thyme) as a carpet like ground cover.... I trample over mine, and it thrives...
Just curious why you can't lime the daylights out of the grass? My yard has ~500ft of limestone below it and it's growing just fine.
In Vancouver we all lime our gardens at least once a year. That is minimal maintenance for a healthy lawn: replace the base that was washed out by the winter monsoons.
