The trend towards having smaller gardens surrounded by high walls means that lawns often have to grow in shadier conditions than they are adapted to. Commonly used grasses such as Kikuyu cannot tolerate low light intensities.

Shade-Over® is quick to establish from seed. Germination can be expected 7 to 10 days after sowing and reasonable coverage in 6 to 8 weeks. This lawn takes a few months to reach full maturity.

Alternatively, you could choose to use instant lawn.

Shade Over® is a bunch-type grass that thickens out by means of tillering and does not have any runners. The advantage of this growth habit is a non-invasive grass, requiring much less edge trimming. This also means adhering to the recommended sowing rate is essential for a dense lawn area.

Shade-Over® is designed to grow in full shade and semi-shade conditions. It is compatiblewith another Sakata Seed Southern Africa’s grass formulated for full shade and semi-shade known asAll Seasons Evergreen®. The combination of All Seasons Evergreen® and Shade Over®covers the complete spectrum from shade to full sun while maintaining a uniform appearance.

It is not necessary to install an irrigation system when you establish a Shade Over® lawn. It can simply be watered with an ordinary garden hose and sprinkler. However, it cannot survive long periods of drought. This is seldom a problem because transpiration rates are lower and the soil tends to dry out more slowly in the shade.

Shade-Over® is a permanent lawn that will usually only need interseeding if the grass is damaged by something like a dog digging a hole. It may thin out as a result of mowing too low a cutting height or if the light intensity is exceptionally low. Interseeding the lawn once a year or thinning out the tree canopy would be required.

Although Shade-Over® was developed to deal with shade problems it will happily grow in full sunlight during the winter months when deciduous trees loose their leaves. In fact, Shade-Over®will grow under any type of tree including Pine trees, where many people assume that the pH will be too low (too acidic).

Remember that shade is not only created by trees, but walls create a lot of shade too.

There is however a limit to the amount of traffic any lawn can tolerate. Pathways always develop where traffic is funneled through a confined space and the shortest route will carry the most traffic!

In certain circumstances, dog urine can cause patches in the grass, but these are easily dealt with.