If your yard doesn’t get much direct sunlight, you may want to consider a shade tolerant turf variety. Choosing grass that can withstand low light increases its chances of survival and keeps your mind at ease.
If you’re unsure whether you need a shade-tolerant grass, consider:
Once you’ve established whether or not your lawn might require a shade-tolerant grass, you can start thinking about which varieties would suit your home.
These varieties have many other benefits beyond being shade-tolerant, so don’t discount them even if your lawn gets plenty of sun!
All varieties of Buffalo Grass are incredibly shade-tolerant, but Palmetto is especially robust. Palmetto grass has a 70% shade tolerance. This means it can handle up to 70% shade per day and requires sun for at least 30% of the day. Palmetto grass works well in areas of dappled light or in a spot that gets around 2-4 hours of full sun per day.
Sapphire Buffalo Grass is another great shade tolerant turf option, needing only around 3 hours of sun per day to survive. Sapphire grass is both soft and sturdy and is a great choice for anyone with kids or pets who love playing on the lawn.
Nara Grass is an amazing variety of turf and is an Australian native. As it’s been bred on our home soil, it’s incredibly robust and can withstand many of Australia’s harsh natural elements.
Nara is 40-50% shade tolerant, so is suited to an area that gets full sun for about half the day. In addition to its shade tolerance, Nara grass also has excellent salt tolerance and is a great choice for coastal areas.
Ultimately, all turf needs at least some sun to survive. If your turf has been laid in a relatively shady area within its shade tolerance percentage, there are a few things you can do to help it out. These include:
If you need any advice on choosing the right shade tolerant turf variety for your yard, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team at Rivers Edge Turf. Give us a call on 02 4579 9009 and we’ll be happy to help!