[Yaboylaroy]

So I moved into a house two years ago(Prairieville, La) and the lawn was not in very good shape. I really didn't care at the time because I have to do so much work to the house itself. After the first year, I guess early 2017 I started taking an interest in my lawn. Sprayed with atrazine, started cutting higher (around 3-4 inches), and put down milorganite. My front yard looked really good, except for under my tree. The yard used to be scalped according to my neighbor. I put down some centipede seed in the spots under the tree, but now I'm seeing centipede doesn't grow well or at all in shade. What should I put down here? Sod with St. Aug maybe? Is there any seed I can throw down that will grow in mostly shade?

I want to do a complete renovation on my back yard (low spots that hold water, torpedo grass, etc) but that will have to be for another post.



Pic of front yard/tree last summer. It's hard to see but up close it has bare spots. Should I just give it another spring/summer of cutting higher/milorganite?

 

[Ware]

Welcome to TLF!

 

[Yaboylaroy]

Thanks, user on reddit lawncare recommended. I saw how active it was and joined.

 

[Rackhouse Mayor]

Welcome to TLF! Although the neighbor may think it's scalped you need to be mowing that centipede lower (1.5-2.5"). Maybe it looks scalped because the yard needs to be leveled and the rotary mower was hammering the earth. You can't tell from the photos. Either way, I wouldn't sod it with St. Aug. That stuff will eventually take over and those two don't blend well. I've lived it. Maybe give it another year or two with advice from this board or create a mulch/flower bed under it.

I also have centipede and follow this calendar (here).

 

[Guest]

Welcome!
That centipede looks good. I would almost try thinning the tree out a bit instead of re doing it all.
You could also maybe make a bit of a flower bed/ mulched area that's larger under the tree.

 

[Greendoc]

Centipede usually handles light shade. I would see about trimming that tree so sun passes through the branches. If that is not doable, the area of shade loving foliage plants needs to expand. Centipede can also handle a surprisingly low height of cut. I have maintained it as low as 5/8" with a reel mower. No scalping or injury even on bumpy ground. Rotary mower cause more damage if they are made to mow on uneven ground.

 

[Yaboylaroy]

Yea I'm definitely planning on trimming that tree along with one in my back yard. I used to cut my centipede pretty low but honestly I find it looks best at the 3-4 inch cut. Way more green than my neighbors who cut it at 2 inches. I also used milorganite so that may be where the different in green comes from. I think I'll trim the tree, cut the current height and maybe overseed early spring? Give it another warm season to fill in before I take any other measurses.

Another thing to note is I have no irrigation system in place. We stay pretty wet here in South Louisiana but go stretches without good water. I bought a nelson rain train and it should be delivered tomorrow. This spot under the tree probably suffers from lack of water.



Another pic from last summer (ignore the fan) where you can tell it slopes off a bit.

 

[Greendoc]

If you are using a rotary mower, 2" is kind of short and it wlll tend to shred and scalp rather than mow. If you want to mow it low, that is for a reel mower to do. Then you can mow at an inch or less without making the grass look bad. That is nice Centipede.