Lawns Under Pine Trees
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The easy answer is, try not to grow a lawn there. But if you really want to, it is possible. The lawn to the left was sown at the beginning of March and pictured again in the middle of April. It is now ready for over seeding the thin areas and planting the warm season grass plugs for a green lawn all the way through the summer. |
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Grass doesn't like to grow under pine trees. The soil is acidic, it can be messy, there is little sunlight and competition for water is intense. Create a bed of mulch or pine straw preferably to the drip line of the tree. It looks good and saves the battle of trying to grow grass where nature insists otherwise.
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So last year I decided to test the theory. I chose an area where there was almost nothing except pine needles and a few weeds. The pine needles were to a depth of 1" (i.e. several years worth), and was definately under the canopy of the pine trees so very little rainwater got to the lawn. I planted plugs of our Med Lush, and watered them to get them established. During the winter this area got very little attention, but in April, I started watering this area every day. I now have some serious growth and if I continue to give this area a little more water than the rest of the lawn, then it shows signs of being a proper lawn this year. I intend to apply some pH minus correction, to help things along, but my conclusion is that water is the biggest problem. |
But if you really want to, here is a list of things you can do to achieve success...
2) Clean the area of needles and debris. Pine needles fall ALL THE TIME. So rake them up and you will have grass. Don't rake them up and you will need chemicals.
3) Apply our "Under Tree Topdress" to decrease the acidity of the soil. You may need to do this once a year or so.
4) We have a selection of shade tolerant grasses (especially Med Lush) that will give you a lovely green lawn.
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(We now have wonderful grasses that will grow in the shade and under
pine trees. see our: "Wintergreen Type FS" or "Med
Lush".)
Growing grass under pine trees is no easy task and will require constant attention. Needles will continuously need to be cleaned
up otherwise they will kill the grass.
Even a heavy downfall will still leave the ground under trees
relatively dry, so additional watering and feeding will be needed due to competition from the
(pine) tree roots and the needles soaking up the water.
In the case of pine trees, subsequent applications of corrective
chemicals will be needed to be put down to counteract any acid
build up.
We stock these compounds - please inquire
