This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
would you ???
steve forbes
Posts: 4
I have a back garden which has several large oak trees in. It is always very mossy and every year the leaves fall and kill whats left of the grass. Every year I struggle with this and it stresses me out. Would you a- persevere with repairing the the lawn and trying to get the grass to grow or b- turn garden in flower beds or basically redesign the garden. If i go with the lawn what is the best way of getting the grass to grow in this situation
Cheers for any help.
0
Posts
Hi Steve
I would redesign the garden - go with what you've got - a woodland glade
There's no point in continually bashing your head against a brick wall unless you particularly enjoy it
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Grass likes sunlight. You have shade. Go with the flow and redesign. Loads of fabulous plants like shady woodland situations. The RHS Plant Selector lets you search for plants by aspect, available light, soil etc. I typed in perennials and partial shade and it returned 1358 plants - https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/Search-Results?form-mode=true&context=l%3Den%26q%3D%2523all%26sl%3DplantForm%26r%3Df%252Fplant_sunlight%252Fpartial%2Bshade%26r%3Df%252Fplant_plant_type%252Fherbaceous%2Bperennial
You could do the same search entering your soil type, drainage, more shade etc.
It may be worth looking at raising the canopy of your oaks to let in more light. This just means removing the lower branches to a a certain height without changing the shape or size or look of the rest of the tree. You can consult a tree surgeon if you like and they should chip any small offcuts and leave bigger ones so you can use them as mulch or woodpiles for habitat according to preference.
Have fun.
I agree with Dove.
My garden is the same Steve, it's all shade other than one sun bed I now have as the result of chopping the bay tree down. Grass has been a continual struggle and has to be resown every spring so this year we are expanding all the beds in the deep shade areas, getting rid of the grass there and having a combination of decking and ferns along with other deep shade tolerant plants.
I love my trees so we'll just work around them. There is nothing more wonderful thatn trees during areally hot summer, all that lovely shade. You could make a victorian fernery
As obelixx says too you can always prune a bit. We took all the lower branches off the big holly tree and the bed under there is doing much better.
Thank you for all your advice - I think you all are saying what im already thinking,
Ditch the grass (unless you want the fake stuff) it'll constantly struggle leaving you frustrated.
Like others have said a good tree surgeon would be a great start to see what light you can get for the garden. After that get on the internet and look for shade loving plants that suit your own style.