Beautiful lawn
By Stephanie SchupskaUniversity ofGeorgiaMost lawns still lay sleeping, waiting for the sporadic weatherto turn warm and stay there. But when those first few shoots pokeout of the ground, homeowners across Georgia will be hunting forthe easiest route to the perfect lawn.For research-based information, they can turn to University ofGeorgia turfgrass experts for solutions to their problems — fromthe best grass for a lawn makeover to ground cover under an oaktree. When a client called a UGA Cooperative Extension office recentlyabout problems with thinning grass in an increasingly shady lawn,state turfgrass specialist Clint Waltz had to think about hisanswer for a moment. Georgia covers three plant hardiness zones,making it impossible to pick one grass that would work for thewhole state.”The best grass for their lawn would depend on where they live inGeorgia,” he said. “If you live south of Macon, St.Augustinegrass would be the best. Our most shade tolerantwarm-season turfgrass is St. Augustinegrass. If you live nearAtlanta, tall fescue would be an option, and possibly St.Augustinegrass, depending on the cultivar.””Sometimes as landscapes grow up, you may want to think aboutremoving tree limbs to let sun in,” said Extension specialist TimMurphy.Before planting any new grass, though, the best starting pointwould be to submit a soil sample to a local Extension agent fortesting. This allows the homeowner to properly fertilize and limethe lawn, without the usual guesswork.”If your yard has bare spots because of nutrient imbalance orshade, you’re going to need to do something besides seed or addnew sod or grass plugs,” Waltz said. “If the problem is soilcompaction, you need to aerate the ground to make it conducivefor growth.”Before laying grass seed or sod, Murphy said to prepare the baresoil by lightly tilling it. Then prepare a smooth seed-bed andseed or sod it.Sometimes a homeowner may consider overseeding a sparse lawn.This tactic can be beneficial or harmful, depending on the typeof underlying grass.”If it’s a warm-season grass like centipedegrass, zoysiagrass orSt. Augustinegrass, or even bermudagrass, my suggestion would benot to overseed,” Waltz said. “If it is summer and tall fescue,which is a cool-season grass, that’s to be expected. If it’ssparse in spring and fall, then you can overseed.”The best time to seed and establish cool-season grasses like tallfescue is between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15. It can be established inthe spring, but summer’s heat can put extra stress on tallfescue, making it hard for the grass to survive.Survival will not happen, though, if the grass does not getenough light. “Not all situations are conducive for grass,” Waltz said. “Underan oak tree, for example, you may want to consider mulch oranother shade tolerant vegetative cover. Grass will not growunder an oak tree because of the low light environment. Thatwinds up being the prevailing reason. All grasses need some kindof light.”He suggests using a shade-tolerant ground cover instead of tryingto get grass to grow right up to the tree’s base.(Stephanie Schupska is a news editor with the University ofGeorgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)