Question
thanks alot! when should i put down the sugar and stuff and when should i put in the st aug. plugs
josh
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
I just bought a home in fort worth, texas.  The front yard has a very small amount of grass and the rest is dirt. the backyard was all dirt but i seeded it with winter rye and now it is lush with beautiful rye.  

the front yard gets way less sun than the back. what kind of grass should i grow in the front? should i seed it or sod it? and when should i do the work?

The backyard. will the rye just die? and same questions as the front. And do you have any pointers for keeping a healthy lawn in a shaded area?

thanks
josh
-----Answer-----
Hi Josh;
Hi neighbor. I live right down the highway from you, in Irving.
The rye will die out when the weather heats up.
Rye is a cool season grass.
If you put in St. Augustine plugs, tyhey will spread and cover by the time the rye dies out.
Burmuda goes in later in the spring.
I have not planted Burbuda grass in over 45 years, so I don't remember what the temp has to be.
There is a variety of burmuda that stands more shade, than even St. Augustine.
My daughter put it in her yard in Little Elm, several years ago, and the nursey where she got it just called it Golf Course Burmuda.
I have not been able to find out the name of the variety.
She bought it in sod, and it did really well in her back yard that had almost total shade.
In this area, we have a lot of clay soils, and you ned to determine if your soil has too much clay first.
Clay is too tight to let water soak through to the roots, and too tight for the roots to work their way through to grow.
Organics loosens it up and turns it into good topsoil, in a few years, but if it is really tight, there are some things you can do to speed up the loosening.
If you can prune out some tree limbs, if that is here the shade is coming from, to let more sun on the grass, maybe you can get enough sun to keep the grass healthy.
If you don't want that area for foot traffic, maybe a shade loving ground cover would suit you better.
I raised such an area in my front yard, about 1 ft. high, and planted Asian Jasmine in it.
I have a huge Fruitless Mulberry in that area. I sloped the soil down toward the tree trunk, so it would not smother out the tree. You can put a lot of soil on top of those feeder roots, just as long as you don't put the soil up higher on the tree trunk.
You could even put a well with stones etc around the tree, leaving enough room for the trunk to expand as it grows, and fill the area with soil.
OR,,,,, you could just put a perimeter wall around the area, and put the ground cover in the soil at the same level as the tree.
For the healthiese lawn possible, use an organic program.
Organics keep the soil enriched, and that takes care of the majority of problems.
A healthy lwan with no chemicals put on it, will attract lizards, toads and grass snakes to live in your yard.
They will cause you n problems, but they will eat all the harmful insects that attack your lawn. That eliminates the need to use pesticides.
Weeds will not thrive in rich soil, so make rich soil and weeds will eventually stop coming up in your yard.
I have been on an organic program for about 9 or 10 years, and I haven't seen weeds coming up in at least 7 to 8 years of that time.
My neighbors get weeds, except those that are also on a good organic program.
I have outlines organic programs in a lot of answers for people. Read my pst answers for some organic info.
If you can't access them ( I have a hard time finding things on this site), write me back and I will tell you all I have learned about organics.
The weather has me wanting to rush the season by planting now.
Ther are some things I would like to start, that are still a little early.
We CAN still get a hard freeze.
For a nursery source, I recommend Calloways.
They have better quality plants and shrubs, and twice the gaurantee that other nurseries have.
I don't buy roses and other shrubs from the large chain stores ( don't think I can name them here. LOL).
I have tied a fw, and my huisband WILL NOT listen to me, and he comes home with some occasionally.
I can grow roots on a wooden leg outside, but I can seldom even help those inferior plants he brings home.
Calloways also has degreed nursery men, one at each nursery, and you can get TRUE information from them.
If the ones at those other stores are degreed, they sure didn't graduate at the top of their class. LOL
Right now, if I were you, I would buy sugar ( plain old table sugar like you use in cooking) and broadcastt it all over the yard, at the rate of 4 to 5 pounds per 1000 sq.ft. and water it in well.
Put NO fertilizers ( unless it is an organic one . Calloways carry organic fertilizers too), weed killers or insecticides down.
Agricultural corn meal will prevent fungus.  You could put the Ag Corn meal down at the same time you put the sugar down, and water them in together.
Put about 10 to 15 pounds per 1000 sq.ft.
The sugar doesn't kill anything, or do anything else except nourish the beneficial micrebes, that will work round the clock enriching your soil.
Earthworms and other beneficial insects will be killed out by chemical fertilizers. You WANT them there, because they will keep your soil healthhy, and continue to enrich it.
Chemical fertilizers do NOT enrich the soil. They feed the vegetation growing there, including the weeds, then they wear out, and you have to reapply.
Chemical treatments on lawns create problems, they DON'T cure them.
Or ganics CURE the problems.
I never have to pull weeds, dethatch or any of the back breaking, knee ruining things I struggled with for over 40 yrears, before I got smart, and started using organics.
There used to not be so many organic products available, so you had to make your own, and not that much was known about organics.
We just couldn't get good information. Now, we have a wealth of it.
I am mor than happy to share all I have learned, and am learning about organics.
After you read some of my answers, if you still have questions, write me.
We will get you started on a gorgeous lawn that you can enjoy, instead of working yourself to death on it.
Write me right back, or anytime you feel I can be of help.
Charlotte


Answer
Hi Josh;
Go ahead and put the sugar down anytime, and water it in.Once when we were supposed to get rain, I ran out and put sugar down, and for once the weathermen were right, and we got rain.
I let that do my watering.LOL
Put down the St. Augustine plugs as soon as the nurseries have them in.
Charlotte