GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Fescue in Mid-South GA?

12-06-2003, 02:08 PM

(Mike Lyle) wrote in message . com...
(brianb) wrote in message om...
[...]
I plan to kill the whole lawn (most of which is weeds), then roto-till
it under, mix in about 10 yards of topsoil, and some "loam" or
something, then rake it flat and plant seeds. I'll put down
fertilizer with a 1-1-1 ratio before hand.
[...]
Thanks for any advice whatsoever.

Hope you don't mind me butting in, new to the group and on the other
side of the Atlantic; but this fascinates me.

I like a gardening challenge up to a point, but I wonder if you
actually *need* a lawn in an area which doesn't seem to want to grow
one? If you don't need it for a play area or something like that, it
seems a bit like insisting on acid-loving plants in a limestone
garden. (I'm not being cheeky, just interested: your garden is your
garden, which is what it's all about.)

My only problem with grass is stopping it, as I live in Wales, with
about 30+ inches of rain reasonably spread through the year, and few
severe frosts. I've planted wild flowers plus a few naturalized
non-natives for variety on part of my biggest lawn (also about 2000 sq
ft), and the need for family games is the only thing stopping me
making the whole thing into a flower meadow. I bet half your weeds
would cost 3 pounds each or more at nurseries here, or have me green
with envy that I couldn't grow them!

The trick with the meadow approach is to make it look both natural and
as though you meant it to happen, not just neglected.

Ignoring things like paving and Zen-type pebbles, I could even
visualize lovely winding walks (OK, short walks, I know!) through
groups of some of your smaller beautiful American trees and shrubs
with local native grasses and flowers in between. The varying aspects
created could give homes to some beauties, and the birds would love
it. Perhaps you have a pond already.

But back to grass: I know zip about your conditions, but it sounds to
me as though the problem is moisture-retention in the soil as much as
lack of rainfall at key periods, so I'm with you about loam if it's
good and rich, not very sandy. I wonder if it's practicable to work in
a lot of absorbent peaty material? Or maybe your hot weather is *so*
hot that it wouldn't make any difference. In which case surely the
Highways Dept could tell you where they get their tough roadside
mixture?

Mike.

Well my biggest problem is probably shade. That and the fact that the
first grass planted on my yard was Bermuda, which is a good grower in
sun, but not in shade. I live back in the woods, so there's a lot of
shade. There are grasses (fescue for example) that like some
shade...but they're more cool weather than middle Georgia. That's the
problem.

The soil is clay. It is very non-porous. So if I mix something in,
it'll be manure and sand probably. What would I do with the clay that
the mixture displaces? hmmm...not sure. It's somewhat acidic too.

It's hard to sell a house when the yard looks like hell here. A nice
lawn makes the whole thing look neat and tidy and beautiful. A
haggard mess of a lawn is just depressing.

I'd be up for some ground cover that looked nice and prevented
erosion, but I have a hard time getting any landscaper to even call me
back.

I did have a bunch of mondo grass in front, but I ripped it out. That
would have been OK for the slope in front of my house.