I have a roughly 40ft. by 40 ft flat area below a new woodland garden that I have cleared of weeds and prickers and would like to plant grass and have a nice flat area for croquet and a nice green patch to set off the rocks and woodland plants in the area above. This spot gets about 50% sun mid-day, then most of it gets full sun again a bit later in the afternoon until sundown. The edges are a bit more shady.

My question is.... can I have sod laid down and then overseed with a more shade-tolerant seed like tall fescue or another shady turf grass? The sods that are available are all for full sun and I have dappled shade about half the day. I am not confident about the success of seeding such an area and would really love the payback of having the lawn in now with good soil underneath. We had such a deluge last week that all I can envision is all my work running down the lane into the street. I wouldn't mind the work of spreading a good compost/loam over the sod and overseeding if I had a sense that it would germinate and produce a more mixed turf. The prospect of laying down that much more topsoil thick enough to sprout seed is daunting to me.

Does anyone think that this will work to produce a lawn area that will do well in part shade?

Thanks!

Trish