Trying to grow grass in a shady area? Here are some ideas (and alternatives)

Spring is just around the corner and many homeowners are thinking about their lawn.

Shade can make it tough to grow grass, and there's no easy answer to the problem.

Grass is a full-sun plant and when planted in shaded areas (receiving less than four to five hours of direct sunlight daily), it performs poorly. The filtering effect of trees significantly reduces the amount and quality of light grasses receive. This has an adverse effect on photosynthesis, the process that produces energy needed for the grasses to grow. What we see from this effect are grasses that are thin, weak and have a lower tolerance to disease, drought and foot-traffic stress.

Select shade-tolerant grasses when possible. Cool-season grasses like fine fescues (chewings, red, sheep, and hard fescues) have much better shade tolerance but are not tolerant of high temperatures. Traditional tall fescues can tolerate high temperatures but are less tolerant of shade. Warm-season grasses have even less to offer in shade tolerance. Bermudagrass does poorly while Zoysia cultivars can tolerate light shade but tend to die out in a few years.

Raise your mowing height. Turf growing in shade needs a large leaf surface to intercept as much light as possible. Raise your mower blade to three inches or higher. Also, mowing more frequently is beneficial since shaded grasses have a tendency to grow long and narrow. Cutting excessively long grass will affect root growth and thus nutrient and water absorption by the plants. Remove clippings to prevent further reduction of light to the turf.

Lawn grass in shade requires only half to two-thirds as much nitrogen as grasses in full sun. Over-fertilizing can increase disease incidence and deplete carbohydrates resulting in a thin turf. Maintain proper soil pH, potassium, and phosphorous levels by soil testing.

Grasses in shady areas require less water than grasses in full sun. If you water your lawn, skip watering shady areas as much as possible. Water on an "as-needed" basis (when leaves begin to roll up, when impressions from foot traffic remain on the grass). When you do water, avoid shallow watering, which encourages shallow roots.

Trees that have open canopies and deep roots are more conducive to turf than those with dense foliage and shallow roots. Some tree species that cause fewer problems are sycamores, oaks, and elms. Undesirable trees include willow, popular, and some maples. Selectively pruning branches, especially low branches, can aid in light penetration. Ideally, the lowest branches of trees should be 6 feet above the soil surface. Topping trees is not a recommend practice. If grass is a must, consider removing one or more trees that are contributing to the heaviest shade.

When establishing cool-season grasses in a shaded area, it is best to seed or sod early in the fall before tree leaves cover the ground. During the fall, continuously remove falling leaves to prevent smothering your new grass seedlings. With heavy shade, annual re-seeding could be necessary.

If you have tried all these practices and are still unsuccessful at growing grass in shade, consider other alternatives such as ornamentals, mulch, or ground covers. Pea gravel, pine needles, and hardwood mulch is attractive and is certainly a better option than dirt or mud. Consider shrubs such as azaleas, rhododendron, mountain laurel or Japanese Pieris. Hollies, boxwood, oakleaf hydrangea, skip and Otto Luyken laurel perform well in medium but not heavy shade.

Groundcovers are another alternative to turf and are readily available and easy to establish. The following is a list of groundcovers that do well in shade: Common Wintercreeper; Lenten Rose; Hosta; Creeping Lilyturf; Mondo Grass; Japanese Spurge; Common Periwinkle.

P. Andrew Rideout is the University of Kentucky's Extension Agent for Horticulture and can be reached at pandrewrideout@uky.edu .

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: How do I grow grass in a shady spot?