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Avatar for phkc070408
Mar 13, 2021 1:01 PM CST
Thread OP
Wilmington, DE
Hi Experts:

I live in Delaware. My lawn is mostly shade due to the house and three large trees. I'm having problems getting grass to grow or even maintain, especially in the full shaded areas.

1. I'm starting to get moss
2. I bought a soil test kit. My results are as follows:
pH 6.0 - 6.5, N0, P1, K1-K2

I bought a few things at Home depot.

Virgo Weed N Feed Hose Spray bottle NPK 20-0-0 Home Depot Item 013013525118
Scotts Starter Turf Builder Spray Bottle NPK 7-12-15 Home Depot Item 032247231008
and
Moss Out for Lawns Hose Spray Bottle Home Depot Item 070624615249
(Sorry, I'm too new to this forum to post links)

My questions are:

Are these products the right things to use?
Which order should I apply them?
How long should I wait between applying one before doing the next?

After I figure this out, we'll move onto the proper grass seed.
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Mar 13, 2021 1:10 PM CST
Name: Rj
Just S of the twin cities of M (Zone 4b)
Forum moderator Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 1
Welcome to the site!

You need at least 6-8 hours of full sun to be successful with grass, the fertilizer will not help long term if the light conditions are not conducive to growing, would not worry about the moss unless its on a hard surface walking area.

Go Bluehens!!

https://www.udel.edu/academics...

https://www.udel.edu/academics...

https://www.udel.edu/academics...
As Yogi Berra said, “It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”
Avatar for phkc070408
Mar 13, 2021 10:04 PM CST
Thread OP
Wilmington, DE
Even "Mostly Shade" grass won't survive? It was there when we moved in 10 years ago but it slowly thinned. I wonder how whoever planted it got it to grow? The house was built in the 1930s and I'm sure the structure was complete before they seeded the yard.
Image
Mar 17, 2021 12:14 PM CST
Name: Rj
Just S of the twin cities of M (Zone 4b)
Forum moderator Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 1
Even the shade tolerant grass needs at least 3-4 hours of sun to survive, maybe you can prune some of the trees to open up the canopy and allow more sun in.
As Yogi Berra said, “It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”
Avatar for Dirtmechanic
Apr 1, 2021 8:44 PM CST
canada 4b (Zone 8a)
This is true about trees growing leading to more shade and less grass over years. Study a little Bonsai to get a quick primer video on plant shape and carry the idea to those trees. Study the sun angles to see which tree is impacting what shaded area at which time of day. They can fool you.

edit: reading this I failed to mention carbon. The NPK routine is familiar, but not COH. Folks know Oxygen and Hydrogen are important, they are certainly in water and aeration is a common thing, but Carbon can really help hold oxygen, water and other nutrients and chelate toxins. Thats why humates are so often used on grass. Feeding more to a plant that is slowing due to shade is a bit wasteful. Helping its respiration and uptake, like with magnesium sulphate or humic and fulvic acids may be more to the point.
Last edited by Dirtmechanic Jul 10, 2021 12:56 AM Icon for preview
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