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amijo_gw

Need help with front yard....

amijo
12 years ago

I hope a lot of people respond to this..I have run out of ideas.

We live in Phoenix near 31st Ave and Thunderbird Road, and have been in the same house since 1961. 12 years ago we planted two nicus trees in the front yard. They are now gorgeous trees and shade the front yard. I can't get St. Augustine grass to look healthy, tho it does grow in the shade. The grass does get some sun during the day. The ground is hard as a rock in spite of gypsum, mulch and lots of water. I love the trees, love the shade, but what can I do about the yard???????????????????

Thank you..

Comments (7)

  • ra
    12 years ago

    it's hard to grow grass near large trees to begin with. maybe you should amend the soil? add more organic material to it. I don't quite believe that gypsum alone can really affect our hard clay soils here. I heard people say it does help and also heard that it doesn't help.

    Before I planted my bermuda this past spring, I really worked the clay soil, by loosening it up and mixed in some manure to it and added 3-4 inch layer of the sod mix soil that I got from Pioneer Sand. it made the area absorb water easier.

  • plstqd
    12 years ago

    We also have two large ficus trees in our front yard, and we gave up on trying to grow grass. We planted wedelia trilobata in place of the grass, and couldn't be happier with it.

  • ra
    12 years ago

    good idea! it probably takes less water to maintain too

  • plstqd
    12 years ago

    Yep, it does. We water the wedelia on the same schedule as the trees, and it does fine, although we had the trees heavily pruned this summer, and the wedelia on the west end of the yard was much more exposed to the late day sun, and suffered quite a bit of leaf loss. It looks a little crappy at the moment, but there's lots of new little green leaves peeping up from the undergrowth, and it will be in fine form again in a month or so.

    And best of all...you don't have to mow it :)

  • amijo
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    hello, amijo here..
    thanks to everyone for their posts.. The wedilia in the yard is a great idea and Ive already transplanted some. I would like to ask who you had to trim your ficus trees, were you satisfied with the job and may I ask how expensive it was? I'd like to get ours trimmed.. they are so dense that a windstorm could do a lot of damage to them.
    Tried to e/mail you.. never saw an e/mail address like that one!

  • grant_in_arizona
    12 years ago

    I'm a huge fan of plstqd's Wedeila suggestion, and I'd do the same if I had that much shade, LOL. Great plants for sure. Good luck and keep us posted!

    Take care,
    Grant

  • plstqd
    12 years ago

    We used Allpro Tree Service, 480-354-5802. Probably weren't the cheapest (I'd rather not post the cost; your trees may be larger or smaller than ours, or need more work, so the quote could be higher or lower, and a direct comparison probably isn't fair), but they did a great job, and the fellow was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and took his work very seriously. We'd definitely use them again.

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