[max-fischer]

I live in the suburbs of Chicago and my lawn is in need of renovation but I need help diagnosing the issue and next steps. The lawn gets a fair amount of shade (4-8 hours of sun, depending on part of lawn) due to house and mature trees. I did an at home pH and NPK soil test and results appeared to be in the normal range, although I take them with a grain of salt. I don't think it's a fundamental soil composition issue because my neighbor has a decent lawn (3rd pic down, left side is neighbor). I did an aerification and overseeding last fall, but nothing else. With consistent watering, some of the lawn grows and greens up (last couple pics, but most of lawn is generally thin with bare spots (first couple pics). Certain areas have really brown grass that pulls up easily and I assume is thatch. I put down crabgrass and broadleaf preemergent recently, so can't seed this spring.

Not sure whether I'm just destined to have a poor thin lawn due to strong shade, or whether I should dethatch, more aerating, slit seed in the fall, soil enrichment, or something else. I've hired a weed/fertilizer service in the past with not great results and I find all they want to do is just spray you lawn rather than really diagnose it. Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

 

[jessehurlburt]

Hey Max-Fischer-

If you've seeded areas after aerating and got the grass to come up well, but it still thinned out, you might be fighting a losing battle without somehow getting more sun on the yard. Are you sticking with fescues in the lower light areas? *** is probably not going to happen in the low light areas. Did you fertilize in the fall? If not, after a few cuts I'd feed the grass with a fert that make sense based on your test results. The last pic that shows the fence in between you and your neighbor is an area that's just not going to happen for grass, better off mulching or planting a different ground cover.

This is a great forum- welcome! I'm sure some of the more seasoned posters may have some better recommendations.

 

[probasestealer]

I think you can save your lawn in every area except the last picture.

I certainly can't tell for sure, but I do wonder about compaction. How far can you stick a screwdriver into the soil easily? I wonder if organics (cracked corn, alfalfa, etc) top dressing with compost and soil surfactants (BLSC or a commercial one) would be of benefit? Is that snow mold in the 2nd picture or a shadow?

I had a similar situation at my last house and had good success with the above.

As far as the shaded area, I would consider a walkway with moss, pachysandra or mulch. But you might try creeping red fescue if you really want to grow grass.

 

[Jconnelly6b]

Without knowing NPK levels, looks like you may benefit from warmer temps and some additional nitrogen. Soil does look malnourished - I agree with PBS - adding organics should help soften the soil and feed the grass.

Quick dirty solution is buy some milorganite, should be easy to find in your area. Get that down and let the soil start coming alive, and consequently feeding your grass. I think most all the spots will thicken up dramatically.

 

[chrisben]

I see your soil cracking already in the first photo. What kind of soil do you have?

 

[max-fischer]

Thanks very much for the replies - great info and great site - wish I would've found it sooner. Based on this, my quick fix plan is to lay miloranite, a surfactant, rake dethatch, aerate after some rain we're expecting next couple days, then top dress with compost, and repeat milogranite/surfactant/compost maybe two more times over the summer. Slit seed in early Sept.

To answer specific questions:
- Yes, overseeding came up, then much but not all of it thinned out/died out. Not sure if it was shade, dropped too close to weed control application, or just soil issues. Amply watered it.
- When I've overseeded, it's been a cool season pre-mix - rye, fescue and KBG. Didn't know that fescue is the heartiest in shade and will look into applying only that when seeding late summer.
- Compaction is definitely an issue and there are other areas with worse cracking than in the pics. I have 3 kids and a dog on a small lot so gets a lot of concentrated use. I don't know what my soil is - I will check into a professional test soon. I'm guessing modifying soil through more compost and organics applications will help over time.
- Yard by fence: When we bought the house 3 years ago, previous owners had layed down overseed and mesh near fence - should've guessed that they probably didn't have luck over there either. Thinking of softscape paver for the kids to run between front and back of house.

Thanks again.

 

[probasestealer]

@chrisben good eye.

@max-fischer I think your plan sounds good. I could take or leave aeration, it may stir up weed seeds. With that said I don't think it will hurt and will serve to get organics, such as compost, down further to start working.

How quickly does your soil absorb water? If you run the hose on it for say 45-60 seconds, does the water pool and then run in every which direction? Or is it absorbed?

Read this threat on soil surfactants. https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=208

You're going to struggle in the shade. Creeping red fescue will likely survive, but just doesn't tolerate a lot of traffic. Pavers and mondo grass might work or pavers and moss or just pavers.

Good luck!

 

[probasestealer]

@chrisben good eye.

@max-fischer I think your plan sounds good. I could take or leave aeration, it may stir up weed seeds. With that said I don't think it will hurt and will serve to get organics, such as compost, down further to start working. It looks like your yard is small enough to manage with compost, but you could also look into humic acid.

How quickly does your soil absorb water? If you run the hose on it for say 45-60 seconds, does the water pool and then run in every which direction? Or is it absorbed?

Read this threat on soil surfactants. https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=208

You're going to struggle in the shade. Creeping red fescue will likely survive, but just doesn't tolerate a lot of traffic. Pavers and mondo grass might work or pavers and moss or just pavers.

Good luck!