QuestionI live in southwest New Mexico and have a rather large yard...The yard has several elm trees and a mulberry tree that provides quite a bit of shade though not full shade. I have found that in the last 4 years that I have lived there that I am losing more and more lawn area to weeds. I was wondering if it would better if some type of groundcover would work better instead of a lawn...if so I am looking for a type of groundvocer that I can keep and mow like a lawn is there such a thing?
Answer>>"... a bit of shade ...?"
With lots of shade,...you may want to consider alternative landscaping scenarios and shade-gardens. There are many hundreds of shade-loving plants, and most of the common ones can be found at your neighborhood garden center. There are also specialty shade-garden nurseries you can find on the web.
Shade and lawn often cannot go together, and you can, indeed, work to have something easier to maintain.
Given the basics of climate, grass-type, enough sun, good soil and water, all common turf grasses are easy to grow. Add some extra water and an occasional nitrate fertilizing event and some TLC and all common turf grasses are VERY EASY to grow. So, if you have been having long-term lawn appearance problems, then most likely you do not have the basics well established for an optimized greens-keeping future. There are more than twenty popular grass types and they do vary in the particular needs, but most are easy to grow with basics provided. All grasses like lots of sun-light and will need about 1-3 inches of water per week to do OK.
As for a 'mowable' ground-coverage for a shady area I cannot think of anything resembling lawn grasses very much. There are varieties of ground-hugging ever-greens ('Juniperus procumbens', e.g.) which you would not actually mow but could keep trimmed to a manicured condition by other means (including scissors for small areas). Some of the shade tolerant 'lily-turf' (Liriope) ground covers may be used to give a lawn-like coverage (especially 'dwarf' varieties and Ophiopogon). These are often mowed-over (except for Ophiopogon) in the fall so that fall leaf-drop is easier to manage. Web-search at GOOGLE.com with key-words 'Shade gardens' for mail-order sources of specialty plants, or visit some of the links via my lawn-science web-pages (Link below) for more good references.
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Only Use plants and grasses rated for your climate-zone.
HORT ZONES from ZIP CODES:
http://www.arborday.org/trees/whatzone.html
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Some recommended websites:
[01]
To help you decide what plants to use and where to place them check-out the "PLANT SELECTOR" applet:
http://www.growit.com/PlantInfo/
[02]
For Seasonal Lawn-care tips:
http://www.agry.purdue.edu/turf/tips/index.html
[03]
Shop for Lawn and Garden Items via the WEB:
A List of LAWN & GARDENING CATALOGUES:
http://www.qnet.com/~johnsonj/webonly.htm
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I Hope this has answered your question(s)!
Have a fantastic Summer!
Visit my Lawn & Gardens webpage for more Tips, Facts and Links:
http://hometown.aol.com/eilatlog/lawnol.html
Your Questions and Comments are welcome at ALLEXPERTS.com
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