Question
QUESTION: I was wondering if you can possible recommend a quality grass for your neighbors to the north. We have been growing the same lawn for about 15 years and it is attractive with the exception of a shady side on the North wall.
ANSWER: The words "shady side on the North wall" are making me nervous -- Grass does not grow on the shady side of anything, and it does not grow on anywhere facing North.  That's more than 2 strikes -- closer to 2 home runs, with Grass on the losing team.

This, my friend, is why you have an "exception" in that area.

Time to bring in the Ground Cover Makeover Crew.  Seriously, is there any reason you NEED Grass there?  Because this is like trying to boil water without heat.  Like trying to run your car with an empty gas tank.  Some things are IMPOSSIBLE.  This is one of those things.

Maybe you just have not seen any Groundcovers you like.

There are so many, with such different qualities, that surely at least one would appeal to you.  Some even grow in dry shade.

Pull up the Bluestone Perennials website (www.bluestoneperennials.com/) just to use their "Advanced Search" feature.  Plug in your Zone and your Shade requirements.  Do not be optimistic about this Shade detail.  Shade is not Semi-Shade.  Err on the side of caution.  Shade is Shade.  Find something that needs NO SUN.

I am partial to fragrant Sweet Woodruff, which loves shade and does not mind dust-dry summer once established.

But you pick your own.  And tell me which one looks the best.  If you have trouble deciding, let me know the ones you are considering, and I'll try to steer you in the right directions.

Thanks for writing.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your advice, Long Island.  The grass we do have is not great. I have considered how much easier the sod would be than to tear out the previous grass (not to mention less expensive). It just looks old. I have not made up my mind about the ground cover. To "redo" the lawn that we are growing now where would we begin, the most efficient without being too expensive?

Answer
If you want to do the rest of the lawn as well, pick out a groundcover for the "shady" section -- I vote for Pachysandra and Hosta -- and get yourself some beautiful cool season Bluegrass.  There's a whole department of Bluegrass as Seedland.com (www.seedland.com).  You live in the ultimate Bluegrass climate.

You can also do Bluegrass sod, but try to find out what cultivars they will do and check to make sure they are state of the art.  This grass will be down a while.  You don't need to pay for out of fashion grass when you can have cutting edge.

Get a soil test.  No, GET A SOIL TEST!  It's critical and it will SAVE YOU MONEY!  You won't waste a dime on anything you don't need.  You would get a shopping list if you were baking cake, right?  You would check the refrigerator?  The cupboards?  A soil test will check those for you and tell you what you don't need.  End of story.

Let me know what you pick out and I'll guide you thru.  Thanks for writing.