# Grass won't grow by Maple tree



## PoleCat (Sep 2, 2009)

The area under the tree is shaded and dry from the tree itself. You need to seed the area in late fall so the winter weather can work it into the soil. Thinning out the branches of the tree will allow more light and rainfall. I don't recommend adding dirt because it can be lethal to an established tree to alter the grade inside the drip line.


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## jnstevens (Mar 31, 2014)

We have seeded in the Spring and Fall for several years and by the end of the Summer, all the grass just dies. It's very frustrating and quite unpleasant to look at.


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## PoleCat (Sep 2, 2009)

You will need to keep the area watered manually. Rainfall alone will not suffice.


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

You are wasting your time and money. There is no solution except cutting the tree down. The more you water the lusher the tree will be. The 10,000 hair roots will still pull all the water out of the soil and kill the grass.

Mulch or very hardy ground cover are about your only 2 choices if you want to keep the tree.


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## jnstevens (Mar 31, 2014)

Want to keep the tree, gives great shade but seems like every year we seed the area and it dies by the Fall. We've been in the home since '93 and it's gotten worse every year and not sure what to do. And if I get a bunch of sod it will just die as well. Very frustrating.


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

Done right large mulch areas look nice. Add a few clumps of Liriope (monkey grass), a few pretty boulders and maybe spot plant some clumps of crocus.


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

Just repeating, reinforcing, reiterating, or whatever you want to call it, what the others have said. Unfortunately, grass does not do well under mature maple trees. First off, the same shade that makes them nice to sit under on a hot day keeps the sun from reaching the ground. Secondly, look under the tree sometime when it's raining. The leaves gather most of the rain that falls on the tree. In fact, when they detect humidity changes, a lot of maple leaves will actually roll a bit to catch as much rain as possible. And what the leaves don't collect the roots do, leaving little for the grass. As mentioned, adding dirt is not really a good option, and while mulch might make the area more appealing, I would go easy on it, because it basically turns to dirt eventually. To one of Polecat's points, we thinned out a pair of Norway maples a few years ago, and they are on an otherwise open piece of property with a maybe 20 degree southward slope, so it improved the lawn significantly. I trimmed them late in the fall, as our local nursery guy suggested, and the trees are doing fine as well.


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## jnstevens (Mar 31, 2014)

I think trimming the trees is the way to go and maybe plant some more grass seed in early Spring. Is there a special way to trim a maple tree? I just wish I would have done the trimming in the Fall.


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## LeakyHawaiiRoof (Oct 21, 2014)

At first, I thought the non-grass growing area was small and my initial thoughts were to just make a nice mulch circle. Upon looking at the area carefully, it appears that the grass won't grow in a really big area and therefore, mulching that much of your yard would just look ugly. 

Options that I can think of are: (1) Trim some branches or some of those big trunks in the picture to give the new grass light and water; (2) Cut down the tree; or (3) Leave the tree alone and install fake grass around the tree. Some counties provide monetary incentives to install fake grass. It doesn't look like you live in one of those, but it can't hurt to look.


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## nanuk (Aug 14, 2011)

In addition to everything said, maples are mildly allelopathic, meaning they actively inhibit germination and growth within the drip line. Listen to the other users' advise. Even if you manage to make it work, it would be an unceasing struggle maintaining it.


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## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

Have you had the soil tested.?
How did you prepare the seeds.?

Where are you located.?


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## jimn (Nov 13, 2010)

Grass under a maple tree is almost if not impossible . A maple is a shallow rooted tree and takes most of the water from the lawn. Between the lack of water and the shade the lawn has no chance. I have the same issue. It's a fact of nature and I live with it.


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## cleveman (Dec 17, 2011)

If you pound a bunch of copper nails into that tree, the grass will grow.


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## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

Artificial turf has come a long way.
You could look at the various styles and pick one that matches your normal lawn. Use the artificial just under the tree, or you could do the whole yard in it.


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## mske390 (Feb 24, 2015)

I have same problem, tried seeding spring and fall nothing works. Tree roots and shade are culprits, I'm stubborn so have tried everything (tested soil, tried BS infomercial grasses guaranteed to grow, etc.). Doing what others suggested this spring mulch & hardy ground cover.


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## NorthernWinds (Mar 1, 2015)

New member here, just sharing some thoughts on this issue...

A lot of good points are made in the responses, including Nanuk's comment on maples' alleopathic qualities. Some other trees have this same quality, and regardless of how many times someone tries, those alleopathic factors will inhibit growth.

I think that's why repeated plantings haven't been effective. 

I saw this phenomenon at a house with a beautiful maple with dark burgundy leaves. The roots were at surface or above ground level. Nothing would grow in that area beneath the canopy close to the roots.

Even if something were planted and were miraculously to survive, that growth might interfere with your maple's moisture intake and affect that tree's long term survivability.

Perhaps the easiest and best way is to consider some other option for that area beneath the trees, in the recognition that it's probably unlikely anything would ever survive.


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## JD367 (Apr 6, 2015)

Maybe this link will help.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/landscaping/planting-under-trees/doc/8237pdf.pdf


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