It is hard to grow a dense stand of grass in the shade. You may have to settle for just a green covering of grass, even if it is a little thinner. The following suggestions may increase your success rate for growing grass in the shade:

• Purchase a shady lawn mixture of grass seed. This type of mixture will have a high percentage of fine-leafed fescue; i.e. red, chewings or hard fescue, perhaps 60 to 70 percent. The fine-leafed fescues are much more tolerant of shade than bluegrass. Some bluegrasses are more shade-tolerant than others.
• Prune large trees to let in more sunlight, consulting a certified arborist if necessary.
• Raise the lawn mower height to three or four inches, so you don't cut the grass too short.
• Seed shady areas, rather than sod. Most sod is sun-loving bluegrass, and doesn't adapt well to the shade.

In heavy shade, you may find that even the shady lawn mixture doesn't do too well. If so, you may want to plant a different type of ground cover that does well in shady areas. For instance, hosta are shade-tolerant perennials that can be used as ground covers.

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