Bare Lawn

[jonhumphries]

I have a potential customer with a bare lawn. He has tried to grow virtually every variety of grass and has sodded the lawn twice with St. Augustine. He has a large Sweetgum tree with lots of roots and lots of shade. The ground has a thin layer of clover and dollar weed, but is primarily dirt and roots. I feel like we could get some business from him if I had a viable solution for him to grow some grass. He has an in-ground irrigation system, but watering doesn't seem to help. Any ideas?

[Mark Bogart]

Take a soil test.

[Atlantic Lawn]

Must be a lot of shade. Do a test on his water too while your at it. Are their rust stains ?

[lawnpro724]

Take a soil test. I'll bet the PH is lower than 6 and thats only part of the problem. Have him call a tree service to thin out his trees to let more light in. Keep in mind also that watering with city water should only be done during very dry times and not all the time unless its coming from a well or lake, pond or something other than city water. City water contains chlorine and other chemicals that over time can harm the lawn more than helping

[jonhumphries]

Not sure about the soil test, but I'll ask him. The tree is without a doubt part of the problem. In his own back yard he has no problem keeping turf. It's only in the front where the tree blocks 75% of the light. The only reason I am not inclined to tell him to make a choice between tree or lawn, is because several lawns in his area have the same problem. In some parts of the the yard, the grass is thick. In other parts...nothing. Seems to be some recurring soil issue in that neighborhood. I've just never seen anything like that between front and back yard.

[David C.]

Sweet Gum trees???

Gracious alive, no wonder the dude can't get no grass to grow

St. Aug won't grow under gums

Try planting a test area under the gums with Creeping Red Fescue---the grass blade will resemble Zoyza

But if it were me??? I wouldn't have Sweet Gum in my yard even if you held a Machine Gun on me and told me I had to have one!!!!!:usflag:

Sweet Gum is what they make Chain saws for!!!!