Shady Lawn Seed - Any Recommendations?

Hi,

Can anyone please recommend a good quality lawn seed suitable for shaded areas? I have an area of lawn that does not get much sun and is prone to growing moss.

I applied a feed/weed/moss killer two weeks ago and have raked out the dead moss and I now need to reseed the area with a seed suitable for a shaded area. Can anyone please recommend a good quality lawn seed for shade?

 

Hello and welcome.

I can't recommend a lawn seed. The one I used (in a similar setting to what you describe) has done well, but the grass is a bit coarse for my liking. It was just the second cheapest one from Wilkinsons.

I think its more important to tackle the moss problem though. Moss killer won't do it. Sure it will kill the moss that's there but it wont sort the underlying problem so moss will just keep coming back in no time at all.

Moss like moist shade. There's probably nothing you can do about the shade, but you can tackle the 'moist' part. Have a read about aerating the lawn (basically, stick the fork in at intervals, but there's a bit more to it than that). And then top dress with sharp sand. Grass doesn't care one bit about the sand, in fact it likes it. Moss on the other hand hates it. Moss is extremely shallow rooted, and sand is very free draining, so if there is a layer of sand between the soil and the moss, the moss will struggle to get enough moisture so it wont thrive.

 

Thanks for the advice about the sharp sand. The area is damp and shady as it is close to a fence that obscures the sun and also in the shade of some fir trees when the sun moves round. I will get some sand to go with some lawn seed.

 

from what I have heard, this blend from BSH is supposed to be very good, and is used in countries such as Switzerland

http://www.bshamenity.com/product-detail.php?product=a6_(supra_shade)

it contains a seed called Supranova Poa Supina

a 20kg bag costs £146 pounds though .... if you need less, they may be able to help
(there is a calculator on the link that works out how much you need)

herewith a link explaining a bit about the Supranova Poa Supina

http://www.outsidepride.com/seed/grass-seed/bluegrass-seed/supranova-poa-supina-shade-grass.html

snip:
Supranova Poa Supina is the elite shade grass for dense shade in cool season areas. This is the best primo shade lawn grass on market today. It is specially designed for deep shade and little water although it has been used for golf courses, lawns, and athletic field turf for over twenty years. Supranova Poa Supina shade grass has been developed over the last 20 years and the breeding keeps improving.

No other species outperforms this variety in the shade. It grows where no grass has grown before. It’s wear tolerance and aggressive growth make it ideal high maintenance and high wear areas. Today supranova shade grass is the most shade tolerant, wear resistant, cool season grass on the market today.

Poa Supina is well adapted to cold temperatures and is found commonly in the sub-alpine regions of the German and Austrian Alps. In Germany, the common name is Lägerrispe, which means, "where the cows lay". The name is a reflection of the ability of Poa Supina to persist and even thrive on cattle trails, even in shaded woodland areas. Another attractive asset is the apparent resistance of Poa Supina to many diseases which results in fewer fungicide applications. Unfortunately, the cost of Poa Supina seed is quite high; therefore, the practicality of seeding monostands of the grass is often economically unfeasible. Evidence from Germany suggests relatively low rates (e.g., less than 10%) of Poa Supina seed can be mixed with other cool season grasses and after several years of heavy traffic the stand will be predominantly Poa Supina, providing superior cover compared to stands without Poa Supina