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What to do with lawn near house perimeter?

11K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  Deadlawn  
#1 ·
Hello,

The grass next to the house perimeter (facing south) keeps drying and dying. My guess is that the bricks are absorbing the moisture during hot days and killing the grass. Any ideas what to do in such areas?

Thanks

 
#2 ·
I would just turn that area into a planting bed as it would make caring for it a lot easier and give your house some curb appeal in the process. Especially with Cool Season grass, you will be fighting that issue for years to come as the sun just bakes the bricks.
 
#3 ·
Mightyquinn said:
I would just turn that area into a planting bed as it would make caring for it a lot easier and give your house some curb appeal in the process. Especially with Cool Season grass, you will be fighting that issue for years to come as the sun just bakes the bricks.
Thank you, any suggestions for plants/flowers that can withstand the heat the most?
 
#5 ·
I'd just use some sort or edging (stone/metal) and do a simple 3' bed along that side of the house with river rock or another decorative stone. If you want shrubs I'd go with simple box woods, but honestly I'd just go with some ornamental grasses like big blue stem or little blue stems and in front of the windows do something small like Corel bells for some color. All depends how much time you want to spend to care for them. I e pruning back letting them grow and dead head them. Grasses thrive in sun. I would not recommend bigger grasses such as maiden grasses, they will get big over time. Bigger than the 3 foot bed.
 
#6 ·
Urercody said:
Mightyquinn said:
I would just turn that area into a planting bed as it would make caring for it a lot easier and give your house some curb appeal in the process. Especially with Cool Season grass, you will be fighting that issue for years to come as the sun just bakes the bricks.
Thank you, any suggestions for plants/flowers that can withstand the heat the most?
There are some drought tolerant, heat tolerant native wildflowers and shrubs you can grow. Prairie Nursery is a good site to buy seedlings from and you can narrow the search by moisture and soil type. You can also buy 16 or 32 plant kits and mix and match types of plants:

https://www.prairienursery.com/plants-seeds/native-plants.html

https://www.prairienursery.com/custom-plant-kits/upick-custom-kits/32-plant-custom-kits.html
 
#8 ·
Coral bells will die there if it's getting baked - too much sun.

Around here, you can get a local landscape group to come out and give you ideas for around $75 or so.

Personally, I'd go with the big blue stem/dropseed if you're interested in low maintenance. Put down some preen so you don't get volunteers.