Lawn Maintenance Practices for Shade

David M. Kopec, Extension Turfgrass Specialist

Last month's newsletter talked about why shade is stressful to turfgrass, and shade tolenarnce recommendations for grass varieties.

This article deals with the proper management of shaded lawns which are using shade tolerant grasses.

For the long term maintenance of a shade tolerant lawn, you should assist the turfgrass in its natural adjustments it makes by growing in shade.

In general, these adjustments include longer, narrower leaves, leaf attachments which occur farther apart on the stem, and fewer shoots per square inch of lawn.

Given these physiological and growth plant responses to shade, follow these general guidelines:

I. RAISE THE MOWING HEIGHT.

This is necessary to accommodate the changes in leaf growth, and internode lengths of the stem. By raising the mowing height, you are increasing the leaf area available to catch the available light, and avoiding scalping the grass. Grasses tend to scalp in the shade because of the leaf and stem changes mentioned above. The higher mowing height will increase food storage under shade stress.

* Grass you are stuck with.

II. FERTILITY

Cut back your fertilizer amounts by 40% - 50%, depending on the growth and cover of the grass.

III. IRRIGATION

Remember that tree roots are competing with the lawn for irrigation water. Even though the shaded grass does not use as much water for cooling itself (compared to full sun conditions) tree and shrub roots may increase irrigation demands on the lawn itself. Watch this carefully.

Avoid over irrigating the shaded lawn. Too much water will make the water content of the grass even greater. This decreases stress tolerance from traffic, cold and heat.

It' s best to fix the sprinkler system so that you are not over watering the whole lawn to account for the driest spot.