Re: St Augustine and Shade

Why did the original sod expire?  Did it get regular water?  I don't think 
that even in complete shade that it would all die.  Was the sod rolled
after 
it was put down?  You might want to see if you can find out why it was 
necessary to put sod down when you moved in.  What happened to the
original 
grass?

If you don't want to leave with a dead yard then over seeding with rye is 
not the answer as that will die as soon as it gets a bit warm.  To answer 
your other question, it is never to late to put down sod.  It may not
green 
up during the cool weather but if it is properly installed and not allowed

to dry out it should establish a good root system during the winter and be

ready for a burst of growth in the spring.  Good Luck.

Cliff


"Joe Doe" <None@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:None-8A46A6.11540014112007@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> In article <omp_omelet-A49B00.20491513112007@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> Omelet <omp_omelet@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>> In article <MPG.21a41d1884f2cff19896f0@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
>>  MrClean <mrclean@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>
>> > We leased a house and before we moved in, the landlord resodded the
>> > entire back yard with St. Augustine.
>> >
>> > There are lots of trees and it is a 2-story house so it does not get
>> > much sun at all. Most of the yard died and I don't know what to do.
>> > I don't want to leave him with a dead yard. I trimmed back a bunch of
>> > the hackberries and it gets more sun but is this too late to re-sod?
>> >
>> > What can I do before next spring, when my lease is up, in order to
have
>> > a good lawn when we move?
>>
>> Winter rye...
>>
>> if you leave before the heat hits. ;-)
>
>
> I second that rye will look really good.  The downside is you will
> probably have to mow all winter.
>
> I like adding winter rye from the point of view of letting the clippings
> improve the soil.  Skip Richter (county extension agent and guru on KLRU
> gardening show) recommends against winter rye - he claims that the rye
> and normal grass are in competition during spring when the native grass
> is just emerging and so weakens the lawn.  If the native grass is dead
> this is a moot point.
>
> Wait for sometime when they predict a week of reasonable rain and then
> overseed.  If it rains like crazy however it might wash away the seed.
> If you choose to overseed when there is no natural precipitation you
> will have to keep the germinating grass moist (light watering 4-5 times
> a day).
>
> Roland