Advice on weird little lawn

Discuss how to and whether you should renovate your lawn
Post Reply
iljkaersuoasgr
Posts: 3
Joined: April 19th, 2020, 2:59 pm
Location: Seattle WA
Grass Type: Something Scraggly
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Advice on weird little lawn

Post by iljkaersuoasgr » April 19th, 2020, 3:49 pm

The apartment I rent has a gated yard attached containing the scraggliest lawn I have ever seen. It's only accessible to this apartment, and I was told by the property manager that it is "my" yard. As far as I can tell building maintenance is limited to coming through occasionally with leaf blower so I'm going to operate under the assumption that I can dig it out and replant if I want to. Normally I'm not a fan of putting money and work into a property that doesn't belong to me but with the ongoing stay at home order the value of having a pleasant space I can "get out to" has gone up significantly.

I took a time lapse with my phone to see how much sun the lawn gets. Here is the link to the video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/162QtUW ... jfARP/view

And here is my written assessment of the situation:

My apartment has a little lawn that is awful, I would like to renovate it so the yard is a nice place to be. The drainage is poor and the soil quality is unknown (probably not great), but I can't get a study done because soil labs are not essential businesses. I've read that fall is the time to do renovations but it's not fall and I would like to start now. The entire yard is maybe 200 square feet so there's a lot that could be done with hand tools, this would give me something to do during the quarantine.

My (very) initial plan:
  • Kill what's there by covering it up or using herbicide
  • Turn everything over, maybe throw down some compost first
  • Put down some grass seed, fertilizing according to instructions
My questions for the lawn gurus:
  • Is this a ridiculous idea?
  • What kind of grass should I use? The research I have done so far is telling me that "rough fescues" are what I want for wet shady areas
  • I'd like to remove some of the bark perimeter and have grass going up to the fence, is this a bad idea?
  • Any other advice you can share would be appreciated
If you made it this far, thank you and I appreciate your time.

User avatar
andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Advice on weird little lawn

Post by andy10917 » April 19th, 2020, 5:08 pm

Oh, what a cool little project!!!

Let me ask a few questions/comments that might rule-in or rule-out some options:

(1) Got a budget in mind that you'd be willing to spend on the project?
(2) It seems that your time-lapse is showing a tree that will block more sunlight when it is fully leaved-out. Is that true?
(3) Are you dead-set on the idea of a lawn in that spot, or do you just want something that is a pleasant "oasis" to look at when you're on the patio area to the left in the video?

iljkaersuoasgr
Posts: 3
Joined: April 19th, 2020, 2:59 pm
Location: Seattle WA
Grass Type: Something Scraggly
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Advice on weird little lawn

Post by iljkaersuoasgr » April 19th, 2020, 9:30 pm

Thank you Andy!

1.) I was hoping to keep it around 150 for consumables. I should be able to borrow most tools I need but I am assuming another 200ish for a hose and a reel mower. I'd say I would be happy at 300 dollars all in, content at 400 if it means getting things done right, but grumpier as I approach 500.

2.) There is a decent sized tree near the far right corner (from the perspective of the video) which will indeed become more sun-blocking as we get further into spring. This is my first year living here so I can't say how severe it will get but I'll put pictures of the tree and the leaves it has right now at the bottom of this post.

3.) I would say my top priority is something that is enjoyable to walk on in bare feet, that's hardy enough to put some lawn chairs on every once in a while. Long term it will probably become a dog restroom too, but no dogs currently live here.

Image
Image

User avatar
andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Advice on weird little lawn

Post by andy10917 » April 19th, 2020, 9:40 pm

Let's see what others say. I was thinking about a nice shade garden to look at from the patio. Maybe some river rock in the center. I'm not convinced that you'll be able to make a lawn with the amount of shade when the tree leafs-out.

iljkaersuoasgr
Posts: 3
Joined: April 19th, 2020, 2:59 pm
Location: Seattle WA
Grass Type: Something Scraggly
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Advice on weird little lawn

Post by iljkaersuoasgr » April 19th, 2020, 10:16 pm

I suspect you're right. If someone pops in with a miraculous grass species that will solve all my problems that would be great, but in the meantime it's probably better to rethink about my expectations. The shade gardens I am seeing on google images are lovely spaces, I'll spend some time thinking in that direction.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests