What Grass Grows In Full Shade? | Growing A Full-Shade Lawn

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The two best grasses for full-shade lawns

Sir Walter DNA Certified Buffalo is our most shade-tolerant turf, needing only four hours of sunlight a day. TifTuf Bermuda needs 5-6 hours of sunlight a day.

Buy Genuine Sir Walter Buffalo Turf in Melbourne, ideal for Victorian Conditions

Drought Tolerance
Shade
Wear Tolerance
Maintenance

TifTuf Bermuda in Melbourne — TifTuf is resistant to high-traffic use, rapidly repairs itself and is easy to maintain year-round.

Drought Tolerance
Shade
Wear Tolerance
Maintenance

If this article’s about full-shade grasses, why did we recommend three grasses that need sunlight? Because there’s no such thing as genuinely full-shade grass. All grass types require at least a few hours of direct (or even dappled) sunlight to photosynthesise.

The Buffalo and Bermuda grasses we’ve recommended are extremely hardy and need significantly less sunlight per day than most other varieties. But they do need some. Still, they’re excellent choices if you want to grow a lawn in a sun-deprived area or if you’re worried about your lawns surviving under consistent cloud cover and in winter.

Growing grass in full-shade conditions isn’t easy — it’s impossible in most cases, since most grass cultivars need at least a few hours of direct sunlight per day. But impossible in most cases doesn’t mean its impossible in all. The first thing you need to do is determine whether the full-shade area you have in mind receives enough indirect sunlight to support flora. Consider the following points.

Is there any grass growing in the area currently? Even rough patches of it?
Do weeds grow in the area?
Is there moss growing in the area?

If there are signs of floral life, then it’s possible that the area gets enough sunlight to support grass. To give your grass the best chance at surviving, we strongly recommend you choose mature instant turf that already has a strong root system. Once installed, don’t overwater it (moisture won’t evaporate as fast in the shade) and only mow it every 4-6 weeks, and never cut more than a third of the blade length when you do. Longer leaves will let it photosynthesise as much sun as possible while it establishes.

Delivered anywhere

Our delivery team travels across Victoria. We’ll also bring a forklift to help prep your turf for installation.
Grown for Victoria

By growing our turf in Victoria, it acclimates to local conditions and becomes easier to care for.
Specialised harvesting techniques

We harvest our turf in thick slabs to keep their roots intact. That allows for extremely easy turf installation.
Complimentary starter kit

To make your grass even easier to install and maintain, we’ll send over a free order of premium lawn fertiliser.

Hear from our customers

Rob Eustace

Eustace Landscaping use Lilydale instant lawn they provide us with a great variety and quality lawn every time. Delivering to everywhere in Gippsland.
Phil Howell

Their turf looks great, service is top notch, you have a question they are happy to help. My Sir Walter is the best turf I have had, I recommended it to a few people
Tony Williams

Great customer service. Prompt delivery even in the pouring rain. Had to lay in awful conditions but it is coming up a treat and finishes my garden perfectly!
Marcus Kikidopoulos

Lilydale Instant Lawn is some of the best professional's to deal with, fast reliable and great people. Along with this some of the best product around!
Gabs New

Highly recommend this company. Fantastic product, the staff are helpful and knowledgeable about all things turf, happy to guide you through the process.
Adrian Marcy

Lovely turf and highly recommend. They have grouse product of grass, great public service with all the staff are respectful and nice - 10/10