I’ve taken phone calls on my radio program for 35 years, and I keep a log of the topic of every one of my calls. I’d estimate that’s 350,000 phone calls, and far and away, the most common question I’m asked deals with growing grass in the shade.
We love our shade here in Texas, and trees are the first thing many plant once we get the grass growing. However, grass and trees don’t always mix. There comes a time when the shade becomes so heavy that turf can’t survive. Most of us try thinning the trees, and some of us are even willing to remove one or two gnarled old trees in an attempt to get more light to the floor of the forest. But, all too often, our plans fall short, and the grass continues to struggle. St. Augustine is our most shade-tolerant turf grass. Forget the extravagant claims you’ll see for zoysias and other grasses — if you can’t get St. Augustine to grow, you’re not going to get any of them to grow either. Four hours of direct sunlight is the absolute minimum for St. Augustine to hold its own, and you’ll need five or six hours if you expect it to grow and cover with any vigor. Not sure how many sunny hours your grass gets? It’s sufficient to say that if you’ve tried new St. Augustine sod and it has faded away a month or two after being planted, you don’t have enough sunlight. It’s not a shortage of any key nutrient, and it’s not that the trees are robbing the soil’s water from the grass. I’ve heard all of those, and they’re simply not the causes of your balding lawn. It’s a shortage of light, pure and simple, and it’s time for you to move to the next phase of landscaping. I’ve lived through this same challenge, and I speak from experience when I tell people that heavy shade isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you mix in creativity, planning and a bit of gardener’s patience, good things can come out of the darkness. Please let me explain. Ground covers If you want something with the texture and look of a lawn grass, mondo grass, also called monkey grass, is perhaps the best. The standard type that grows 7 or 8 inches in height covers most quickly, and it holds the soil firmly against erosion. It can be planted at any time. And once you have a bed established somewhere in your yard, you can use it as a source of more plants as your landscape develops more need for turf-grass replacements. Dwarf mondo grass works well for small spaces, but it’s too slow, too formal and too expensive for most of our budgets. The various types of liriope are excellent choices if you need something taller and of a coarse texture. Two of our best full-sun ground covers also do well in the shade. Purple wintercreeper euonymus and Asian jasmine are excellent choices. However, the thing that puts mondo grass ahead of them is the fact that you can easily blow leaves out of it. With wintercreeper and Asian jasmine, fallen leaves will get hung up in the vines’ runners. Shrubs Hollies are the benchmark. They do well in sun or shade. They’re evergreen, and most types sold locally are well suited to our soils. Best of the bunch, in order of increasing size: dwarf yaupon, Carissa, dwarf Chinese, dwarf Burford, Willowleaf (Needlepoint), Mary Nell, Oakland, Oak Leaf, Nellie R. Stevens, yaupon and Warren’s Red possumhaw. Oakleaf hydrangeas grow to 6 feet tall and 7 feet wide, and they cover themselves with huge, creamy white flower heads in late April and May. Viburnums do well in the shade, and leatherleaf mahonias are stunning. Fatsia and acubas are very good, and I’ve even been really pleased with nandinas. Annuals and perennials I tend to use texture more than color for landscaping accents in our shaded pecan forest. That’s where plants like elephant ears and wood ferns come in, but there are also some nice flowering perennials for shaded gardens. The list includes violets, oxalis, Texas Gold columbine, summer phlox and fall bulbs such as spider lilies, Lycoris squamigera, oxblood lilies and fall crocus. Get foliar color from annuals such as coleus and caladiums, and flower color from impatiens, begonias and flowering tobacco. Use tropical plants in containers for unusual color. The list includes crotons, sansevierias, variegated bougainvillea, peperomias, bromeliads and variegated peace lilies. Garden art Finally, add one more layer of interest to your shady areas with garden art. It takes the form of statues, birdhouses, fountains, sundials (even in shade — they’re not that accurate anyway), globes, gazing balls, antique chimney pots, street lamps, landscape boulders and decorative wrought iron. Choose a small number of items, and position them carefully. They’ll add wit and sparkle. Neil Sperry publishes Gardens magazine and hosts Texas Gardening 8-11 a.m. Sundays on WBAP AM/FM. Reach him during those hours at 800-288-9227 or 214-787-1820.Looking for comments?
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