Grass Lawns

• The most important aspect of keeping a health lawn in a shady areas is to use a type of grass which does not require much sunlight. If your lawn is already planted with a grass which cannot tolerate shade, you should consider reseeding, because no amount of care will make up for the insufficient sunlight. Fine fescues are the most commonly used shade-tolerant grasses. You can find seeds at gardening and home supply stores. Fine fescues are often mixed with other types of shade-resistant grasses.
  
  The best way to improve the health of a shaded lawn is to increase the sunlight. You can do this by pruning the trees which are blocking sunlight from hitting the lawn. Even small amounts of sunlight coming through branches can significantly increase your lawn's health.
  
  Shaded lawns not only grow more poorly than lawns in sunlight, but they are also less resilient. You must be careful not to damage the lawn or it can quickly die. Do not fertilize or water shaded areas of your lawn often. The nitrogen in fertilizer can kill shaded lawns when overused, and the lawns can also die from over-watering. Also avoid walking on shaded lawn when possible, and mowing the grass too short.
  
  Since lawns in the shade are less healthy than lawns in sunlight, they are more likely to have weeds and other invasive species grow in them. Many of these species thrive in shaded environments. These plants will further deteriorate your lawn's health, so they should be removed as soon as the are spotted.
  
  

Alternative Ground Covers

• Some areas may be too shaded to ever sufficiently grow grass. In these areas, instead of planting grass you can intentionally plant invasive ground covers which grow in the shade. Periwinkle and Lily-of-the-Valley are two popular options, and can look similar to a grass lawn. If you plant these species, you must be careful that they do not move out of the shaded area into other sections of your lawn. These plants spread quickly and can use up nutrients needed by other plants in your yard. Prune alternative ground covers regularly to avoid this.