MN Shade Overseed

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bombri
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MN Shade Overseed

Post by bombri » April 28th, 2022, 8:16 am

Good morning, I have a friend who bought a new home and is looking to overseed this spring and potentially again in the fall if needed. I would almost never recommend anything but KBG myself but he literally has a home in a forest and it will likely be shade much of the day on most of his lawn. Also, the amount of time he's willing to spend taking care of the grass and waiting for things to germinate are not what mine would be, nor does he have a sprinkler system etc... I'm not certain that recommending KBG would be the right route for him. That said, I am not up to speed on the best recommendations for a northern heavy shade grass would be either.

Any recommendations for me that I could pass along to him?

Thanks in advance,
Brian

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MorpheusPA
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Re: MN Shade Overseed

Post by MorpheusPA » April 28th, 2022, 9:28 am

Look into red fescue (it's green, not red, but the seedheads are a very pretty burgundy-red). It's one of the most tolerant in shade, down to about 3 hours of sun a day although it'll do poorly at less than that. It does well in poor soils, and a wide range of settings.

Some of the bred trivialis (yes, they really do exist) will do well in the combination of shade and wet, if he has that. It's only a weed if you don't want it there... The color tends toward the chartreuse, which I find intolerable, but can be quite striking in a shady setting. I wouldn't put this in a dry environment, where it'll get patchy.

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bombri
Posts: 299
Joined: June 16th, 2009, 9:18 am
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Grass Type: Midnight II, Kingfisher, Bewitched
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: MN Shade Overseed

Post by bombri » April 28th, 2022, 1:26 pm

Thanks Morph, how about a blend like this (I got my Mazama from these guys last year). Or would you suggest something that's less of a blend?

https://www.cdford.com/lawn-and-garden- ... -shade-mix

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MorpheusPA
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Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
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Re: MN Shade Overseed

Post by MorpheusPA » April 28th, 2022, 3:58 pm

I think you're going to get about 50, 55 percent of that to take in the long run (in the short run, it'll look great, but you know how that goes). I'm also not in love with the crop and other seed, and absolutely hate the weed seed level in that.

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bombri
Posts: 299
Joined: June 16th, 2009, 9:18 am
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Grass Type: Midnight II, Kingfisher, Bewitched
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: MN Shade Overseed

Post by bombri » April 28th, 2022, 4:37 pm

Yep I see that as well. Anyplace else you'd recommend looking?


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MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: MN Shade Overseed

Post by MorpheusPA » April 28th, 2022, 6:08 pm

I'm sure somebody will be along to suggest; I haven't seed shopped in ages.

bpgreen
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Re: MN Shade Overseed

Post by bpgreen » April 28th, 2022, 11:28 pm

I've been buying most of my seed from specialty places the last few years (native grasses) so I can't help much with that.

But I looked at red fescue a long time ago and I learned that if you see boreal red fescue, it's not a named variety. It's basically wild red fescue.

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