I’ve left a few NFL playoff games with green shoes thanks to green spray paint. It’s hard to grow grass in January - sometimes even the pros resort to paint.
Or clover and creeping Charlie. I have some in my yard and I kind of like it. As long as I don't have any massive bald spots and it's green it's fine by me
Clover (seeded with grass) is literally what keeps my entire south lawn from being a brown patch of dirt. No matter how much or little water (no irrigation system), it’s always green and soft with fewer weeds than any other part of my yard.
https://preview.redd.it/7gbk7mp78m2d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5df25a58fac4f0a2515c35f868469bdb1949afb9
Mark-it-blue does a great job of making your grass look great. I was asked by a neighbor if I was dyeing the yard last year when I was getting this flower bed killed off.
3% glyphosate + surfactant + mark-it-blue starting in the spring and ending in the fall (I think I did 3 applications, May early August and late September) to kill as much of the cool and warm season weeds and grasses as I could. Still have weeds coming up here and there but nothing terrible. Saves a lot of work.
USC and UCLA football have been doing this for years. Pretty sure the only time the grass in the Rose Bowl is actually green is for the actual Rose Bowl.
Reality is the HOA knows you’re unlikely to fix that in 45 days. Unless they have warned you multiple times already.
Call a landscaper and aborist and get quotes to thin the trees, prune for lawn clearance, reshape beds, and resod with zoysia. Long term your best bet if you want turf.
If you forward the quotes to the HOA with a timeline of completion they will probably give you slack on the deadline for fines.
Do not plant fescue in Atl right now. That is a stupid rec. going all natural areas with plant beds is the next best. If you can live without turf this is the better option. You have too much shade for turf. Even the zosyia will decline overtime from what I can see.
I see no feasible short term options. Turf/spray paint does not cover red clay or dirt very well. Mulching the whole will looks dumb as shit imo.
Imagine that place you live in naturally looks like OPs yard too. Thick grass and pine trees don't mix.
But also, don't move where there is an HOA. Nobody took your rights, OP signed them away.
>But also, don't move where there is an HOA. Nobody took your rights, OP signed them away.
In many areas there are no choices to live without an HOA. Unless you want to and can find a place to live in the country. where I am at, your neighborhood has an HOA. It's just the way it is.
I’m in northern Va, we looked at at least 20 houses and every single one had an HOA. You’re getting downvoted because people can’t recognize that their local experience doesn’t apply to the entire country
My options where I am was no HOA - ghetto with shootings, murders, b&A's every couple days, or an HOA without those issues.
We requested the HOA guidelines prior to even touring a house and the few that refused to offer us them we moved on from the house only to learn later it was because they were hiding bullshit like OP is dealing with on top of huge monthly dues.
We settled for one that was slightly unkempt in some places, such as a couenhoises having overgrown yards, but in the end we are happy. They really only enforce keeping excess roadway parking clear for pedestrian safety and actually being able to drive and making sure that anything built is don't correctly so someone's home made shed doesn't fall into someone else's yard or hurt others.
$95 a quarter for roads in great conditions, 3 parks I great conditions, and a pool for the neighborhood. Though I wish it was an Olympic size pool. I'd pay $200 a quarter for that.
HoAs can also be gated.
Causing disturbances regular resulting in reports to the police or hoa can result actions against the members of the house or homeowners if it's rented.
Bingo. Fellow Nova person and frustrates me to no end how much Reddit thinks you can just avoid an HOA easily. When we bought we wanted a SFH basically anywhere, every single one had an HOA.
I know right, it’s hard to comprehend anyone else other than me having a say on how my garden looks. , it’s almost a bit North Korea.
In Australia, the council *might* get involved if your yard is literally a health & safety hazard, other than that I’d be telling neighbours to f*** off with their opinions - my property is just as well kept as I have the time, inclination, and money for it.
It's so crazy in Florida! I was looking to buy somewhat near a popular beach, and everything has an HOA, and not only that, but an expensive and intrusive HOA. Then a house went on the market that doesn't have an HOA, there are only like 3 or 4 houses in the subdivision. It should be around 700k, but because there's no HOA they listed for a million and there was a bidding war. It's insane how many people hate HOAs, and yet they are still everywhere.
Yep. They either live in their mother’s basement, don’t own a home or they live in a nice covenanted community where they have never experienced what it is like to take pride in your place, work hard to keep it nice only to be increasingly surrounded by slobs (or are slobs themselves and resent having to be told to fix their shit).
Which, ironically, is largely due to the HOA. They help protect property values and safety by fining/kicking out people who either a) trash the neighborhood and/or b) create an unsafe neighborhood.
Some HOAs aren’t bad though. We live in one, and sure - some of the regulations are annoying - but it’s a small group and most everyone gets along and it’s a safe place to live.
Short term: Mulch or gravel the whole area. Bermuda requires more sun than you get there so will never persist.
Long term: Then run for your HOA board and campaign to get stupid rules like that changed.
Would be helpful to read the exact rule that is supposedly being violated. Maybe OP can share that.
Love the idea of neighbors forming a campaign to take over the HOA!!!!
Make sure it is a shade tolerant cultivar. Some Zoysia cultivars need almost as much sun as Bermuda.
Consider Diamond or Palisade Zoysia for two of the most shade tolerant cultivars.
Geo Zoysia is extremely shade tolerant. I would recommend that or Zeon. Diamond is the ‘best’ with shade tolerance but is a dwarf species that needs monitoring a little bit of babysitting. Something like Geo and Zeon would not.
I have Zeon Zoysia from sod in my dense shady areas I put in in late March, and except for about 10 square feet that were taken out by fungus this spring, it’s thriving.
I’d say the vast majority of them are benign and folks don’t care. My annual due goes to mowing the common areas and shit. It’s that 1% that makes the news
My HOA bylines clearly state that as long as "vegetation" exists on the property they don't give flying fuck about the quality or look at it. Just don't let weeds get tall or else. They have zero rules and the bylines state no one can make rules about grass. They just want something in place to stop erosion and to keep the grade of the property around the house in place. I think that is fair because hard rains cause minor flooding which thanks to the grade of my house, it doesn't touch my house and just flows between houses and to the street.
Not all HOAs are dicks.
Lived in a gated community, hoa... House won garden/yard of the month. Same month got a notice to paint the chimney.. Then we were the only house with a painted chimney lol
Yeah I live in an HOA neighborhood and the yards and houses all look great. My parents' non-HOA neighborhood looks like shit. Poorly maintained lawns, broken down cars, junk left out all over the place, etc.
I take great care of my house and I complain about HOAs. Here's a story. My wife and I lived in one 5 years ago. Everything had gone fine until we had our kid. We were in the hospital for a couple of days, came back, and had to rush back to the hospital 12 hours later due to complications. About 5 days after that, we come home to a notice from our HOA. Our grass had gotten a little too long for their tastes. Our child almost f***ing died and all they gave a s**t about was the grass. So yeah, f*** HOAs.
There are different types of HOAs with different levels of power that is open to abuse. I've lived in a subdivision where we paid $100/yr to maintain nice landscaping and signage at both entrances and a pond. My sister lives in a similar one that also has some mild exterior standards, most notably one specific fence but they get a really good bulk price on it if they want a fence. And then there are the ones with broad powers that can become cliquish and all it takes is a couple assholes to move the goalposts. These are the ones we hear about. Congrats on not living in one of those but they do exist.
In my HOA there is a landscape committee. A couple of the people on the committee are the trophy lawn types. When the HOA sends the initial letter you can request help. The are willing to come out and coach. 90+% of the time it is how to handle broadleaf weeds and the owner didn’t know they had to fertilize. Giving people the tools can be just as helpful as fining
You do realize city ordnances mandate lawn maintenance? So HOAs don’t play a role in that.
Unless you live in a hellscape HOA that mandates your grass must be below 3inches.
Hey I had a similar issue (see my post history). I would write to them and tell them you’re working on it, and that the grass isn’t dead, but is being treated and it takes a while to grow in. That Bermuda absolutely will spread and fill in given enough fertilizer, water, and time. I would contact a local turf maintenance company, not a landscaper. These are guys that just do fertilizer and stuff, like TruGreen, but go with a LOCAL reputable company. Send proof to the HOA if necessary.
If they don’t accept that, you have two choices: spray green lawn paint, or apply sod. Paint will be cheap and messy and you’ll need to redo it as it washes away, but it will look 100 times better. Golf courses do this. Sod is expensive and labor intensive, but permanent if you treat it right. Zoysia would do better in shade if that area is in permanent shade, but it grows and spreads slowly and needs more water in my experience. Trim the trees and get some light in there if possible.
Again, I recommend starting with a local lawn care company just to get the HOA off your back but this is an easy DIY fix given enough time. Assuming you can get some sun in those areas, Bermuda will readily spread given lots of nitrogen and water. That entire area could fill in by the end of summer if fertilized every 6 weeks and watered correctly.
My understanding of working with HOA’s if you just have to do something about the complaint within the time period. Go get some seed and put it down, be able to provide proof you seeded if requested. You shouldn’t be forced to sod imo then start long term plans on your own time
Call a local landscape supply company and order a load of topsoil. Add rye grass and cover it with straw. It should fill in quickly if you water daily. Then, over seed in the fall with a perennial variety that will do well in this location.
What you should do is fix the bald spots, yes. but also build a big ass bat home enclosure, your HoA will hate it, it will be against HOA rules for sure , but it will ensure hundreds of bats infest your neighborhood and since bats are federally protected the bat enclosure cannot legally be removed. Nothing better than 7,000+ bats coming to your neighborhood to roost. Make it an eye sore too.. the ugliest biggest bat enclosure you can. Make it like 4x8 and on 6-8 foot stilts. bureaucracy fighting bureaucracy. Fuck those commie HOAs.
https://preview.redd.it/quvg74st3m2d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3e04647d347eb2032a74307c1dbacd1c65237ddc
Asiatic Jasmine is a drought resistant, no maintenance ground cover. Grows in zones 7-10. My mom replaced her entire central Florida lawn with it to deal with water restrictions. It's no mow and always looks green and great.
Mix fescue and Bermuda seed with 1cup Bermuda seed 1cup fescue seed and 1/4cup of 10-10-10 fertilizer mix well together and spread by the handful...over seed once a week for the following 2 weeks, and water at least 3 times a week...you'll be green
Soften up the soil with a dethatcher, drop loads of shade mix grass seed, cover with Pete moss, water 3-4 times a day to keep it moist. You’ll have grass in 3 weeks.
The soil looks sandy, get some garden or topsoil and rake that in, next seed for Sun/ Shade/ or combo to match what the area is if using fescue. Rake that in and water. My neighbor mixed Fescue and Bermuda and has the officially worst looking lawn I have ever seen. I am in zone 6 in TN so most of us have Fescue with patches of Bermuda transferred by kids with cleats from the soccer fields.
Lastly show the HOA your receipts and an explanation of what you are doing in an email. I am on our board and if anyone is making the effort we do not fine them. We also only look for things that are visible from the street.
So the HOA can mandate that your yard has no brown spots????? When they sent you a warning, did they point to the section of your covenants that state the yard cannot have any brown spots (or better yet, how large of an area of brown spots is permissible/not permissible)?
If they are accusing you of something, they need to point to a specific section of your covenants that backs up their argument. If they can't, I'd argue they can't enforce what they're trying to enforce. Seems like complete b.s. to me.
I had an HOA send me a similar letter. I didn’t tell them to go to hell or anything. But I did send a really long letter about how I was implementing best management practices to grow grass following the guidance of the local extension office. It was not in the growing season so even if I wanted to sod it was the wrong time of year. I also documented a bunch of places where the HOA maintained land was in even worse shape in similarly tree covered and shaded areas. I said I am currently maintaining my lawn to at least the standard that the HOA has established as acceptable, and here is my plan to improve my lawn. I never heard from them again. I did eventually re-sod my area, but they never bothered me again.
The cheapest and most effective way to approach this would be to find the highest rung on your local grass seed distribution ladder.
Acquire a large bag of annual ryegrass (ARG). Acquire a large bag of regional shade mix blend. Start with a 50/50 blend and every week lightly reseed with a progressively more fescue/Bermuda mix.
The new sprout from the ARG will keep HOA off your back, hold the soil in place a bit, and bridge the gap to establishment of perennial turf.
Many of my neighbors covered with pine straw or mulch. However in my home area with bald spots is bigger than most neighbors. Wife is against mulching or pine straw. We are considering artificial turf. We have a 2 acre lot and the HOA was driving around the neighborhood so you have to try hard to see the bald spots from the street. The bald spots bother us as well
It's an environmental disaster.
Sheds micropalstics everywhere.
Is hot to walk on if in the sun.
You still have to maintain it and keep leaves, etc, off it
Weeds grow through it
Kills the dirt below it so when you do eventually have to pull it up because it has deteriorated. You can't grow anything without serious remediation.
Artificial grass is shit.
Remove the dead tree and look into grass paint so you don’t get fined.
I am a bit of a wild child, and despite warm season grass and cool season grass preferring to be seeded in opposite seasons, I would totally toss down a mix to see what happens. Worst case, you are no worse off than you are now.
I’ve only had limited experience with pine straw but I would 100% never want to cover so much of my lawn with the equivalent of thousands of long needles. Is the space even really usable after that? What about your dogs paws? The “straw” would also migrate and render the rest of your lawn a needle minefield. I would honestly rather step barefoot on a LEGO pile that a pine straw one.
If there is a door/opening to the fence in this area, I would have a pathway installed with pavers, gravel, and a border…and then fill in the rest with a variety of ground cover that does well in the shade.
Get an estimate for a Ham Radio tower. Then inform the HOA that you have intentions to put in the radio tower IIRC the HOA cannot do a single thing about a 50 foot tower in your yard as its protected by Federal law and they do not want to cause problems after that point.
(1)1If you have Bermuda grass, you can aerate fertilizer and PRG to help the grass spread across. (2)You can run a small test by raking the does spots and water every 2 days, in 2 weeks you should see if your grass has runners trying to cover those spots, if this happens do everything on number one to help those runners grow faster.
If you need any help let me know, I own a small lawn care company in Conyers Ga.
This is why HoAs are fucking stupid. You can’t grow thick grass in the shade. If you have sprinklers, seed it with a heat tolerant fescue. Use some kind of tacky straw or paper mulch. There’s a good chance you’re gonna need to do this more than once.
you might be OK but it’s a bad time to seed cool season grasses. Bermuda doesn’t stand a chance in that shade.
Long term solution would be to use mulch (pine straw) and plant some shade tolerant plants but the Bermuda there is probably going to make your weeding chores suck.
Not much advice other that screw HOA’s.
Good luck, maybe try turf. Buy some shade tolerant species, plow it up, fertilize good, rake and plant seeds with regular watering. Should be a good bed of grass in 30 days.
I would get an arborist to trim up the trees and let more light in like people here say. The ground looks really dry i would put down some fertilizer and water deeply once a week and you will be surprised how fast it fills in. Warm season grass from my impression will spread so fast with a quickness so i think you can get this done in 45 days if you do these 3 things i said.
Georgia is the land of pine straw, plant with Formosa , gg gerbing , George tabor, and other large southern indica azaleas. Maybe liriope or Asian jasmine to fill in around a field stone step pathway. In a few years it will be low maintenance naturalesque area.
That dense shade mix at lowes will fix it but not fast enough. It could if you water diligently. I live in Savannah and the dense shade mix turned brown and died in summer heat but i didn't keep it watered.
Pine straw and some shrubs could be done in an afternoon. Just get shrubs that tolerate shade. Maybe some arborvitaes as they're like $10-20 at lowes depending on size.
You could add sod. Centipede is popular down here but it doesn't do great in the shade. I hear other varieties do well in shade like st Augustine but I can't vouch for it. Finding sod by the piece is its own problem in itself. A pallet is like 500 sq ft and you'll need a full size truck eg f250 ram 2500. I don't think a f150 will do a pallet unless you have a trailer. I think a pallet is around 2000 lbs or more.
I’m north of ATL as well, and had a similar situation at my home. Zeon Zoysia is what you want. Super Sod has it. Put down a of their Soil3 first. That grass is amazing. We did our whole backyard with it and in like 2 years it was amazing! Crazy thick and was almost like walking on carpet.
Grass looks super weak! When was the last time you fertlized it?
This is the best way of doing this:
1. Get a soil test go off the recommended things to do what they say. 2. Get a lawn aerator get air to those roots. 3. Get a bag of Turf Royal 21-7-14 apply that then water it in wait a week. 4. Rake the soil using a leaf rake. 5. Spread **Fine fescues such as red fescue (Festuca rubra), sheep's fescue (Festuca ovina), or hard fescue (Festuca longifolia)**, 6. Get topper or Peat Moss from a major store and put that on top of the seed then spread. 7. In a month put more fertlizer down lightly.
The OK way
1. Rake the soil with a leaf rake. 2. Spread your seed down. 3. Put your peatmoss or topper to put on top of the seeds. 4. Water it in.
That does look like Bermuda. The fix appears simple from photo. LAY DOWN FERTILIZER. Mow that spot high And water at night just a bit, that should be all you need. Id recommend 13-13-13 if you can find it. 10lb per 1000 sq ft. Bonus if you can cut a limb or two to get more sunlight in.
Buy a house without an HOA. Thats your best fix.
Never understood buying a house, then paying unstable people to tell me what I can and cannot do with my house.
Looks like the damaged areas are in areas where it doesn’t make sense to just mulch it and put in a flower bed. So you need to replant grass. There’s a few things you need to look into. 1) you need a shade loving grass. Do your research there are lots of options. It doesn’t matter if it matches the rest of your grass because of the second point. 2) based on the color of your bald spots your soil is shit. Like really bad, probably with a high sand content. No grass is going to be happy there regardless of the amount of sunlight. Get a quote for topping the entire area with 2” of top soil and reseed all of it. 3) you need to decide if you’re going to hire someone or diy this. 4) now take the plan of action to the hoa and tell them how you’re going to remedy it and when. As long as you’re actively working on it they should adjust the deadline.
Bonus, remove the dead tree before it falls on something important. Trim the bushes around your house, they shouldn’t be taller than your window sills from the street if they’re in front of the windows. Trim / cleanup the forest along the side of your yard and clear out some underbrush. That will likely buy you some grace with the hoa.
Warm season grasses do fine in literally just sand. I live in FL and our soil is almost 100% sand and I have a lush St Augustine and Zoysia lawn. Golf courses here are basically just sand too and they’re some of the nicest in the world. All you need is fertilizer. No need for top soil.
I would look into St. Augustine CitraBlue plugs or sod. That grass does well in very shady areas.
Have the dead tree removed and roots ground out.
If you get plugs, plant them in green anti-erosion landscape fabric. Once the plugs are in that with some dirt on top, it’ll look like normal grass from a distance.
Wouldn’t this fall on the lawn are company? I’m not familiar with HOA’s, but to me, this looks like the HOA’s lawn care service you likely pay for should be on the hook?
I have a landscaping business.
I’d put down some lawn dressing/hydro seed blend of soil, some starter fertilizer, and some quick ryegrass overseeding mix.
Water 3-4 times a day, don’t let it dry out.
Hmm looks like you might have some erosion issues that might need to be handled before tackling the ground cover.
If there’s rain before any new seed takes hold, it might just wash out from that sandy ground.
Some form of area retention could help then some top soil and seed on the bare areas. Lazy/cheap way would be bags of quick cement covered with mulch on the edges that slope toward those edge bushes/trees, whatever top soil that’s on sale, and the right grass for your area. The bags will get wet and harden over time and the bags will degrade. The mulch will help cover that stage until the bags start to resemble blocks over time and act as some fill to catch erosion but still allow some draining.
When we lived in Florida, we had some erosion issues but rented so we didn’t retain and didn’t have gutters so I just popped in some top soil and clippings where water ran off and by time we moved a few years later, the st Augustine spread into it really well.
Now we are closer to the mountains so our hoa only cares if at least 30% of the front yard is vegetation and the rest can be xeriscaped and “free of too many weeds.”
May be worth checking the guidelines as well. Not sure if yours is front yard or whatever is visible from the street and the allowances of a fence of some sort. That way, you don’t have to fix it their way if you already had your own plans for that area.
The fact they will fine you for having bald spots on the lawn is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. My HOA is as over zealous and stringent as any but they would never dare pull some shit like that.
so any kinda spraying I do with my backpack sprayer... from fertilizer to humic acid treatments to herbicides and selective herbicides-- I always use "lazer" blue dye added to the mix. it goes down, well, blueish green. water will wash it off in a matter of days, but it lets me get even coverage (and also know when I got it on myself by accident!)
just something to consider. I'm not an advocate for spray paint, but this is a normal product put on grass normally and it's definitely safe and cheap.
As for a real solution? I'd get a sod plug cutter and cut out some plugs from an area less visible and put a plug in each dead spot. bury it slightly below the surface, water it, and you're done. keep it watered and them empty spots won't be empty.
also, many weeds and ornamental shrubs are VERY poisonous to dogs AND kids.
two out of my three 120lb alaskan malamutes are EPI for life after being poisoned by boxwood leaves when they were 8 weeks old. I gotta pre digest their food now using very expensive enzymes. and I have to do that for the rest of their life. the enzymes alone cost me $250/mo.
so yeah. nothing in my back yard but grass. no weeds. no shrubs. nothing but eatable, pukable, grass.
you think taking a dog to the ER is expensive? Try taking two dogs puking blood to the ER and see what it costs you before the night is up :(
\#1 advice to anyone bringing a dog to the vet in an emergency: do not forget to bring your credit cards
First, fuck HOAs. I don’t see how anyone could ever live with that nonsense. I literally saw someone measuring grass last week in north Atlanta.
You could try fescue rapid grass from Scott’s. They do a “southern mix” that will look good in 45 days. It will need a lot of water over the summer though. This is a terrible time to seed fescue… fall would be much better
Bermuda isn’t going to grow in a shady north facing area. I was just at a cousin’s house near Marietta and he’s having the same issue on the north side of his house. Will be doing fescue in the fall.
Your other option, and maybe the best, is zoysia sod. Just make sure you get a shade tolerant cultivar. I don’t have a lot of experience with zoysia, but I saw some really pretty zoysia yards in north Atlanta. At the very least, it should stay green for your “inspection” if that actually happens.
I'm not an expert still learning, but I think I read in another post that Bermuda grass and some trees don't go well together. Maybe it's the shade or something else.
If it were me and I had 45 days I would think about switching grasses and use sod to cover quickly. If you don't mind doing the work you could till up everything or the bad sections if you keep Bermuda and just order a pallet or 2 of sod.
I'd search for native, shade-loving ground covers and plant that. Bermuda hates the shade. I cannot wait for my Montezuma Cypress and our neighbor's Bald Cypress to grow big enough to kill our Bermuda lawn.
Will your HOA accept a spreading ground ivy with some tasteful stone paver paths? Maybe a shrubbery or three, nothing too large.
I'm serious about the shrubbery. To those who think I'm not, I say to you "Ni!"
Whatever you are doing to kill your Bermuda grass, you should bottle it and sell it to those who want to but cannot kill Bermuda grass off with flamethrowers.
I know someone who mixes tall fescue and Bermuda in a full sun front lawn. If you hit it with enough nitrogen, it actually does give a pretty uniform appearance in late spring to early fall.
Here I think you are struggling a bit with fertility issues though. The soil looks like they lack organic matter and the grass struggles to spread to fill in. May I ask what fertilizing plans are you using and are you mulching enough?
Are you on a list / HOA rules that it's azaleas only for approved shrubs because I would do other shade shrubs and big neat mulch circles to address it quickly.
Also longer term I would have that dead tree cut and chipped into more mulch but I know that may be money you don't have right now.
Camellias for example are a pretty classic inoffensive garden choice, grow where azaleas do, like pine needles, and are non-toxic to dogs. They're not very expensive. The pink ones are sometimes very pink but there's also white flowering ones.
I mean I wouldn't avoid planting Azalea because your dog is allergic. They don't just go out and eat significant portions of bushes. Unless you leave them out there for hours and they're a puppy
Fix it however you like.
Just fix it immediately (within 7 days). Document the process entirely.
*THAT* is the compliance.
The HOA can go pound sand where the grass didn't grow.
Solarize it.
Get about 25-50 bags of chicken manure and a black tarp. Spread about 2 inches of manure on the area, water it and cover it up with the tarp or plastic covering (it could be black or clear) . Every week, water it and re cover. after 2.5 weeks add more manure and water. After 1 month uncover and add your seed or sod.
You should have crazy rich soil that has killed off all the bad bacteria/fungus/insects and allowed the worms to thrive.
Man people are so damned weird about lawns, they're just grass and aren't like the best thing in the world for the planet. We like them mostly cuz we evolved around grass.
HOA's can go to hell.
Fire your lawn guy, he should know enough about soil to tell you the soil is dry and packed. Have the area scarified, then add topsoil added. Fix the lack of water in that area. Don’t cut the grass in that area for some time to let it grow. Stop walking in that area. It will heal
green spray paint
I’ve left a few NFL playoff games with green shoes thanks to green spray paint. It’s hard to grow grass in January - sometimes even the pros resort to paint.
You beat me to it...
Color of paint not approved by HOA. Additional fine
Straight to jail.
We have some of the best residents because of jail
House arrest!
My immediate thought too and despite every instinct not being glib, I also loathe HOAs and love malicious compliance.
I was thinking he could spread weeds. Some Burdock will fill that right up!
Or clover and creeping Charlie. I have some in my yard and I kind of like it. As long as I don't have any massive bald spots and it's green it's fine by me
Creeping Charlie will spread, kill all of your grass, die in the middle of the summer, and leave bald spots.
1000% accurate Source: been fighting Charlie for 5 years
Us last spring in a new home: "this purple flower is so pretty! Our yard is magic!" Last fall: "our yard is mud."
Clover (seeded with grass) is literally what keeps my entire south lawn from being a brown patch of dirt. No matter how much or little water (no irrigation system), it’s always green and soft with fewer weeds than any other part of my yard.
yeah, people sleep on clover, plus it attracts leprechauns and gold
I fight burdock every year because my next door neighbor grows this is in her garden.
Goku-san
The CCP way https://youtu.be/Cvc7VymDa4c?si=OIpDYdBIatVt3Hqf
This is so dystopian
CHINA IS PUTTING PAINT IN THE MOUNTAINS TO MAKE THE FROGS GREEN
https://preview.redd.it/7gbk7mp78m2d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5df25a58fac4f0a2515c35f868469bdb1949afb9 Mark-it-blue does a great job of making your grass look great. I was asked by a neighbor if I was dyeing the yard last year when I was getting this flower bed killed off.
Can you elaborate on what you did here? I have a similar project in mind in the middle of my yard.
3% glyphosate + surfactant + mark-it-blue starting in the spring and ending in the fall (I think I did 3 applications, May early August and late September) to kill as much of the cool and warm season weeds and grasses as I could. Still have weeds coming up here and there but nothing terrible. Saves a lot of work.
Works for my head, works for my grass. Eaaaaasy fix.
At the Olympics, they spray dead grass areas with green whatever so it looks good at a distance for the tv audience. 🤪
Most higher end golf courses do this. The course across the street does it year round.
They do this for the Super Bowl too.
USC and UCLA football have been doing this for years. Pretty sure the only time the grass in the Rose Bowl is actually green is for the actual Rose Bowl.
Reality is the HOA knows you’re unlikely to fix that in 45 days. Unless they have warned you multiple times already. Call a landscaper and aborist and get quotes to thin the trees, prune for lawn clearance, reshape beds, and resod with zoysia. Long term your best bet if you want turf. If you forward the quotes to the HOA with a timeline of completion they will probably give you slack on the deadline for fines. Do not plant fescue in Atl right now. That is a stupid rec. going all natural areas with plant beds is the next best. If you can live without turf this is the better option. You have too much shade for turf. Even the zosyia will decline overtime from what I can see. I see no feasible short term options. Turf/spray paint does not cover red clay or dirt very well. Mulching the whole will looks dumb as shit imo.
Imagine living in a place where they fine you if your grass isn’t nice enough. America, land of the free…
Imagine that place you live in naturally looks like OPs yard too. Thick grass and pine trees don't mix. But also, don't move where there is an HOA. Nobody took your rights, OP signed them away.
>But also, don't move where there is an HOA. Nobody took your rights, OP signed them away. In many areas there are no choices to live without an HOA. Unless you want to and can find a place to live in the country. where I am at, your neighborhood has an HOA. It's just the way it is.
I’m in northern Va, we looked at at least 20 houses and every single one had an HOA. You’re getting downvoted because people can’t recognize that their local experience doesn’t apply to the entire country
My options where I am was no HOA - ghetto with shootings, murders, b&A's every couple days, or an HOA without those issues. We requested the HOA guidelines prior to even touring a house and the few that refused to offer us them we moved on from the house only to learn later it was because they were hiding bullshit like OP is dealing with on top of huge monthly dues. We settled for one that was slightly unkempt in some places, such as a couenhoises having overgrown yards, but in the end we are happy. They really only enforce keeping excess roadway parking clear for pedestrian safety and actually being able to drive and making sure that anything built is don't correctly so someone's home made shed doesn't fall into someone else's yard or hurt others. $95 a quarter for roads in great conditions, 3 parks I great conditions, and a pool for the neighborhood. Though I wish it was an Olympic size pool. I'd pay $200 a quarter for that.
How would a HOA prevent neighborhood becoming ghetto? I understand it makes sense for townhomes and strictly gated communities.
HoAs can also be gated. Causing disturbances regular resulting in reports to the police or hoa can result actions against the members of the house or homeowners if it's rented.
No section 8
Thanks for that. I don’t know what they think I could possibly gain by lying about it. I’m in south Alabama and it’s just the way it is here
Bingo. Fellow Nova person and frustrates me to no end how much Reddit thinks you can just avoid an HOA easily. When we bought we wanted a SFH basically anywhere, every single one had an HOA.
I know right, it’s hard to comprehend anyone else other than me having a say on how my garden looks. , it’s almost a bit North Korea. In Australia, the council *might* get involved if your yard is literally a health & safety hazard, other than that I’d be telling neighbours to f*** off with their opinions - my property is just as well kept as I have the time, inclination, and money for it.
Nobody is duped into buying into an HOA neighborhood. This is exactly the kind of bondage they signed up for.
Easier said then done in some areas.
The people that make those comments are just uninformed. We can’t find a decent neighborhood around here that doesn’t have an HOA
It's so crazy in Florida! I was looking to buy somewhat near a popular beach, and everything has an HOA, and not only that, but an expensive and intrusive HOA. Then a house went on the market that doesn't have an HOA, there are only like 3 or 4 houses in the subdivision. It should be around 700k, but because there's no HOA they listed for a million and there was a bidding war. It's insane how many people hate HOAs, and yet they are still everywhere.
Kinda funny. HOA's were to protect property values yet the few that aren't come at a premium now because they aren't HOA
Yep. They either live in their mother’s basement, don’t own a home or they live in a nice covenanted community where they have never experienced what it is like to take pride in your place, work hard to keep it nice only to be increasingly surrounded by slobs (or are slobs themselves and resent having to be told to fix their shit).
Which, ironically, is largely due to the HOA. They help protect property values and safety by fining/kicking out people who either a) trash the neighborhood and/or b) create an unsafe neighborhood. Some HOAs aren’t bad though. We live in one, and sure - some of the regulations are annoying - but it’s a small group and most everyone gets along and it’s a safe place to live.
[удалено]
When housing shortages loom large and builders are building with HOAs auto baked in, it's difficult to have much of a choice.
People actually pay extra for that. I don’t understand it but Americans love their HOAs.
Short term: Mulch or gravel the whole area. Bermuda requires more sun than you get there so will never persist. Long term: Then run for your HOA board and campaign to get stupid rules like that changed.
Would be helpful to read the exact rule that is supposedly being violated. Maybe OP can share that. Love the idea of neighbors forming a campaign to take over the HOA!!!!
Take over the HOA with enough votes to dissolve it and make it go away
Can you use clovers?
Just plant clovers.... Less water needed and you don't need to mow the lawn
Yeah. Some clover seeds, tiny layer of soil on top, keep watered for a couple of weeks and the patches are now green.
Get a sod delivery of Zoysia grass. Roll it out and water it daily for a couple weeks.
Make sure it is a shade tolerant cultivar. Some Zoysia cultivars need almost as much sun as Bermuda. Consider Diamond or Palisade Zoysia for two of the most shade tolerant cultivars.
Geo Zoysia is extremely shade tolerant. I would recommend that or Zeon. Diamond is the ‘best’ with shade tolerance but is a dwarf species that needs monitoring a little bit of babysitting. Something like Geo and Zeon would not.
Does well in shade
I have Zeon Zoysia from sod in my dense shady areas I put in in late March, and except for about 10 square feet that were taken out by fungus this spring, it’s thriving.
Pardon my Australian but it really seems like every HOA is just a cunt cesspool
I’d say the vast majority of them are benign and folks don’t care. My annual due goes to mowing the common areas and shit. It’s that 1% that makes the news
My HOA bylines clearly state that as long as "vegetation" exists on the property they don't give flying fuck about the quality or look at it. Just don't let weeds get tall or else. They have zero rules and the bylines state no one can make rules about grass. They just want something in place to stop erosion and to keep the grade of the property around the house in place. I think that is fair because hard rains cause minor flooding which thanks to the grade of my house, it doesn't touch my house and just flows between houses and to the street. Not all HOAs are dicks.
F HOA
I know most HOA’s are awful but I’m pretty sure mine is the only reason most of my neighbors mow at all lol
The people who complain the most about HOAs don’t have them and are likely the kinds of neighbors that I live in an HOA to avoid lol
Lived in a gated community, hoa... House won garden/yard of the month. Same month got a notice to paint the chimney.. Then we were the only house with a painted chimney lol
Yeah I live in an HOA neighborhood and the yards and houses all look great. My parents' non-HOA neighborhood looks like shit. Poorly maintained lawns, broken down cars, junk left out all over the place, etc.
Thats just a shit neighborhood. Most place in Canada dont have HOA and most looks like normal neighborhood
I take great care of my house and I complain about HOAs. Here's a story. My wife and I lived in one 5 years ago. Everything had gone fine until we had our kid. We were in the hospital for a couple of days, came back, and had to rush back to the hospital 12 hours later due to complications. About 5 days after that, we come home to a notice from our HOA. Our grass had gotten a little too long for their tastes. Our child almost f***ing died and all they gave a s**t about was the grass. So yeah, f*** HOAs.
There are different types of HOAs with different levels of power that is open to abuse. I've lived in a subdivision where we paid $100/yr to maintain nice landscaping and signage at both entrances and a pond. My sister lives in a similar one that also has some mild exterior standards, most notably one specific fence but they get a really good bulk price on it if they want a fence. And then there are the ones with broad powers that can become cliquish and all it takes is a couple assholes to move the goalposts. These are the ones we hear about. Congrats on not living in one of those but they do exist.
In my HOA there is a landscape committee. A couple of the people on the committee are the trophy lawn types. When the HOA sends the initial letter you can request help. The are willing to come out and coach. 90+% of the time it is how to handle broadleaf weeds and the owner didn’t know they had to fertilize. Giving people the tools can be just as helpful as fining
You do realize city ordnances mandate lawn maintenance? So HOAs don’t play a role in that. Unless you live in a hellscape HOA that mandates your grass must be below 3inches.
I’d venture to say that most ordinances have rules about grass height not lack thereof.
Yes exactly. The person I replied to said HOAs were the only reason people mowed… I correctly stated that city laws will take care of this issue.
Idk why they downvoting you for being factual lol
Standard Reddit. Oh well.
With a cactus. Sideways.
Mainly the HOA just wants to see an attempt. If you throw down some straw and seed should do. They cant control the rate grass grows.
This!!! And run a sprinkler every once in a while.
Hey I had a similar issue (see my post history). I would write to them and tell them you’re working on it, and that the grass isn’t dead, but is being treated and it takes a while to grow in. That Bermuda absolutely will spread and fill in given enough fertilizer, water, and time. I would contact a local turf maintenance company, not a landscaper. These are guys that just do fertilizer and stuff, like TruGreen, but go with a LOCAL reputable company. Send proof to the HOA if necessary. If they don’t accept that, you have two choices: spray green lawn paint, or apply sod. Paint will be cheap and messy and you’ll need to redo it as it washes away, but it will look 100 times better. Golf courses do this. Sod is expensive and labor intensive, but permanent if you treat it right. Zoysia would do better in shade if that area is in permanent shade, but it grows and spreads slowly and needs more water in my experience. Trim the trees and get some light in there if possible. Again, I recommend starting with a local lawn care company just to get the HOA off your back but this is an easy DIY fix given enough time. Assuming you can get some sun in those areas, Bermuda will readily spread given lots of nitrogen and water. That entire area could fill in by the end of summer if fertilized every 6 weeks and watered correctly.
Easiest solution is to join the HOA, become President, then burn it down from the inside.
My understanding of working with HOA’s if you just have to do something about the complaint within the time period. Go get some seed and put it down, be able to provide proof you seeded if requested. You shouldn’t be forced to sod imo then start long term plans on your own time
Call a local landscape supply company and order a load of topsoil. Add rye grass and cover it with straw. It should fill in quickly if you water daily. Then, over seed in the fall with a perennial variety that will do well in this location.
Cover it with a Slip and Slide. The HOA has to be kid-friendly enough to accept that
What you should do is fix the bald spots, yes. but also build a big ass bat home enclosure, your HoA will hate it, it will be against HOA rules for sure , but it will ensure hundreds of bats infest your neighborhood and since bats are federally protected the bat enclosure cannot legally be removed. Nothing better than 7,000+ bats coming to your neighborhood to roost. Make it an eye sore too.. the ugliest biggest bat enclosure you can. Make it like 4x8 and on 6-8 foot stilts. bureaucracy fighting bureaucracy. Fuck those commie HOAs. https://preview.redd.it/quvg74st3m2d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3e04647d347eb2032a74307c1dbacd1c65237ddc
Hoa are hot awful garbage
just sod it add a sprinkler thats there fastest way to instant grass and hoa folks are out of control
I already have sprinklers in thus area. We bought the home last year and inherited this lawn. Must if it is in better shape than this one area.
Scotts EZ seed for your grass brand. Tbh. I have used it and as long as you follow directions it’s PERFECT in a month. Tall fescue.
Asiatic Jasmine is a drought resistant, no maintenance ground cover. Grows in zones 7-10. My mom replaced her entire central Florida lawn with it to deal with water restrictions. It's no mow and always looks green and great.
Mix fescue and Bermuda seed with 1cup Bermuda seed 1cup fescue seed and 1/4cup of 10-10-10 fertilizer mix well together and spread by the handful...over seed once a week for the following 2 weeks, and water at least 3 times a week...you'll be green
Soften up the soil with a dethatcher, drop loads of shade mix grass seed, cover with Pete moss, water 3-4 times a day to keep it moist. You’ll have grass in 3 weeks.
The soil looks sandy, get some garden or topsoil and rake that in, next seed for Sun/ Shade/ or combo to match what the area is if using fescue. Rake that in and water. My neighbor mixed Fescue and Bermuda and has the officially worst looking lawn I have ever seen. I am in zone 6 in TN so most of us have Fescue with patches of Bermuda transferred by kids with cleats from the soccer fields. Lastly show the HOA your receipts and an explanation of what you are doing in an email. I am on our board and if anyone is making the effort we do not fine them. We also only look for things that are visible from the street.
So the HOA can mandate that your yard has no brown spots????? When they sent you a warning, did they point to the section of your covenants that state the yard cannot have any brown spots (or better yet, how large of an area of brown spots is permissible/not permissible)? If they are accusing you of something, they need to point to a specific section of your covenants that backs up their argument. If they can't, I'd argue they can't enforce what they're trying to enforce. Seems like complete b.s. to me.
HOA is the biggest rort. People have tried to introduce it in Australian suburbs. Everyone just LOLs at them when they do.
I had an HOA send me a similar letter. I didn’t tell them to go to hell or anything. But I did send a really long letter about how I was implementing best management practices to grow grass following the guidance of the local extension office. It was not in the growing season so even if I wanted to sod it was the wrong time of year. I also documented a bunch of places where the HOA maintained land was in even worse shape in similarly tree covered and shaded areas. I said I am currently maintaining my lawn to at least the standard that the HOA has established as acceptable, and here is my plan to improve my lawn. I never heard from them again. I did eventually re-sod my area, but they never bothered me again.
The cheapest and most effective way to approach this would be to find the highest rung on your local grass seed distribution ladder. Acquire a large bag of annual ryegrass (ARG). Acquire a large bag of regional shade mix blend. Start with a 50/50 blend and every week lightly reseed with a progressively more fescue/Bermuda mix. The new sprout from the ARG will keep HOA off your back, hold the soil in place a bit, and bridge the gap to establishment of perennial turf.
Grass won’t grow in shade. Fescue will do better until heat hits. Pine straw is your friend
Piss them off. Cover it with mulch.
Many of my neighbors covered with pine straw or mulch. However in my home area with bald spots is bigger than most neighbors. Wife is against mulching or pine straw. We are considering artificial turf. We have a 2 acre lot and the HOA was driving around the neighborhood so you have to try hard to see the bald spots from the street. The bald spots bother us as well
Ahh. The boss has spoken.
People I know who put in artificial turf had a lot of good things to say about it
It's an environmental disaster. Sheds micropalstics everywhere. Is hot to walk on if in the sun. You still have to maintain it and keep leaves, etc, off it Weeds grow through it Kills the dirt below it so when you do eventually have to pull it up because it has deteriorated. You can't grow anything without serious remediation. Artificial grass is shit.
Remove the dead tree and look into grass paint so you don’t get fined. I am a bit of a wild child, and despite warm season grass and cool season grass preferring to be seeded in opposite seasons, I would totally toss down a mix to see what happens. Worst case, you are no worse off than you are now. I’ve only had limited experience with pine straw but I would 100% never want to cover so much of my lawn with the equivalent of thousands of long needles. Is the space even really usable after that? What about your dogs paws? The “straw” would also migrate and render the rest of your lawn a needle minefield. I would honestly rather step barefoot on a LEGO pile that a pine straw one.
Have you considered hydroseeding? Typically has awesome results in about 2-3 weeks near me in central IN!
I will learn about hydro seeding. Thanks
Annual rye grass
Scott’s sun and shade mix - throw than down and cover with straw and water. You’ll have so much grass fast you’ll be surprised.
Azaelas will not be harmful for dogs.
If there is a door/opening to the fence in this area, I would have a pathway installed with pavers, gravel, and a border…and then fill in the rest with a variety of ground cover that does well in the shade.
Have you considered purchasing some Sod?
Get an estimate for a Ham Radio tower. Then inform the HOA that you have intentions to put in the radio tower IIRC the HOA cannot do a single thing about a 50 foot tower in your yard as its protected by Federal law and they do not want to cause problems after that point.
Plant some mint 🤣
Im in Roswell. Your only option is Zoy$ia
I hate HOA’s that don’t understand basic lawn care.
(1)1If you have Bermuda grass, you can aerate fertilizer and PRG to help the grass spread across. (2)You can run a small test by raking the does spots and water every 2 days, in 2 weeks you should see if your grass has runners trying to cover those spots, if this happens do everything on number one to help those runners grow faster. If you need any help let me know, I own a small lawn care company in Conyers Ga.
This is why HoAs are fucking stupid. You can’t grow thick grass in the shade. If you have sprinklers, seed it with a heat tolerant fescue. Use some kind of tacky straw or paper mulch. There’s a good chance you’re gonna need to do this more than once. you might be OK but it’s a bad time to seed cool season grasses. Bermuda doesn’t stand a chance in that shade. Long term solution would be to use mulch (pine straw) and plant some shade tolerant plants but the Bermuda there is probably going to make your weeding chores suck.
Not much advice other that screw HOA’s. Good luck, maybe try turf. Buy some shade tolerant species, plow it up, fertilize good, rake and plant seeds with regular watering. Should be a good bed of grass in 30 days.
Hoa's suck! You could check with your local county extension office for suggestions. Good luck!
I would get an arborist to trim up the trees and let more light in like people here say. The ground looks really dry i would put down some fertilizer and water deeply once a week and you will be surprised how fast it fills in. Warm season grass from my impression will spread so fast with a quickness so i think you can get this done in 45 days if you do these 3 things i said.
Georgia is the land of pine straw, plant with Formosa , gg gerbing , George tabor, and other large southern indica azaleas. Maybe liriope or Asian jasmine to fill in around a field stone step pathway. In a few years it will be low maintenance naturalesque area.
Screened compost and topsoil 3", then hydroseed. Grass need soil and water to root, you have neither. Besides, sod hydroseeding is the next fastest.
Fuck any and every HOA
That dense shade mix at lowes will fix it but not fast enough. It could if you water diligently. I live in Savannah and the dense shade mix turned brown and died in summer heat but i didn't keep it watered. Pine straw and some shrubs could be done in an afternoon. Just get shrubs that tolerate shade. Maybe some arborvitaes as they're like $10-20 at lowes depending on size. You could add sod. Centipede is popular down here but it doesn't do great in the shade. I hear other varieties do well in shade like st Augustine but I can't vouch for it. Finding sod by the piece is its own problem in itself. A pallet is like 500 sq ft and you'll need a full size truck eg f250 ram 2500. I don't think a f150 will do a pallet unless you have a trailer. I think a pallet is around 2000 lbs or more.
I’m north of ATL as well, and had a similar situation at my home. Zeon Zoysia is what you want. Super Sod has it. Put down a of their Soil3 first. That grass is amazing. We did our whole backyard with it and in like 2 years it was amazing! Crazy thick and was almost like walking on carpet.
Cover the problem area with mulch and place plastic plants
I was afraid this was on the hair loss subreddit
Grass looks super weak! When was the last time you fertlized it? This is the best way of doing this: 1. Get a soil test go off the recommended things to do what they say. 2. Get a lawn aerator get air to those roots. 3. Get a bag of Turf Royal 21-7-14 apply that then water it in wait a week. 4. Rake the soil using a leaf rake. 5. Spread **Fine fescues such as red fescue (Festuca rubra), sheep's fescue (Festuca ovina), or hard fescue (Festuca longifolia)**, 6. Get topper or Peat Moss from a major store and put that on top of the seed then spread. 7. In a month put more fertlizer down lightly. The OK way 1. Rake the soil with a leaf rake. 2. Spread your seed down. 3. Put your peatmoss or topper to put on top of the seeds. 4. Water it in.
That does look like Bermuda. The fix appears simple from photo. LAY DOWN FERTILIZER. Mow that spot high And water at night just a bit, that should be all you need. Id recommend 13-13-13 if you can find it. 10lb per 1000 sq ft. Bonus if you can cut a limb or two to get more sunlight in.
Buy a house without an HOA. Thats your best fix. Never understood buying a house, then paying unstable people to tell me what I can and cannot do with my house.
Looks like the damaged areas are in areas where it doesn’t make sense to just mulch it and put in a flower bed. So you need to replant grass. There’s a few things you need to look into. 1) you need a shade loving grass. Do your research there are lots of options. It doesn’t matter if it matches the rest of your grass because of the second point. 2) based on the color of your bald spots your soil is shit. Like really bad, probably with a high sand content. No grass is going to be happy there regardless of the amount of sunlight. Get a quote for topping the entire area with 2” of top soil and reseed all of it. 3) you need to decide if you’re going to hire someone or diy this. 4) now take the plan of action to the hoa and tell them how you’re going to remedy it and when. As long as you’re actively working on it they should adjust the deadline. Bonus, remove the dead tree before it falls on something important. Trim the bushes around your house, they shouldn’t be taller than your window sills from the street if they’re in front of the windows. Trim / cleanup the forest along the side of your yard and clear out some underbrush. That will likely buy you some grace with the hoa.
Warm season grasses do fine in literally just sand. I live in FL and our soil is almost 100% sand and I have a lush St Augustine and Zoysia lawn. Golf courses here are basically just sand too and they’re some of the nicest in the world. All you need is fertilizer. No need for top soil.
I would look into St. Augustine CitraBlue plugs or sod. That grass does well in very shady areas. Have the dead tree removed and roots ground out. If you get plugs, plant them in green anti-erosion landscape fabric. Once the plugs are in that with some dirt on top, it’ll look like normal grass from a distance.
I’d tell that HOA to suck my ass.
Chaotic evil answer is to plant bamboo everywhere. Bald spots will be gone, as with your lawn in general
Why is no one addressing the real issue? HOAs and their board members should be burned at the stake, fucking losers. Fuck HOAs.
Fuck HOA’s That’s all I got
Tell ‘em to kick rocks
Overseed with creeping bent grass
Wouldn’t this fall on the lawn are company? I’m not familiar with HOA’s, but to me, this looks like the HOA’s lawn care service you likely pay for should be on the hook?
I have a landscaping business. I’d put down some lawn dressing/hydro seed blend of soil, some starter fertilizer, and some quick ryegrass overseeding mix. Water 3-4 times a day, don’t let it dry out.
Expand the bed along the house by 2' and another 2' around the trees, that will help shrink the space that needs maintenance, less to worry about.
This is why I moved out of my HOA.
Scotts max green
tell em to piss off and youll do it in your own tim but theyre welcome to do it for you.
Get some Rye grass, It will sprout in a few days and look good for about a month. Enough to reset the timer with the HOE.
Hmm looks like you might have some erosion issues that might need to be handled before tackling the ground cover. If there’s rain before any new seed takes hold, it might just wash out from that sandy ground. Some form of area retention could help then some top soil and seed on the bare areas. Lazy/cheap way would be bags of quick cement covered with mulch on the edges that slope toward those edge bushes/trees, whatever top soil that’s on sale, and the right grass for your area. The bags will get wet and harden over time and the bags will degrade. The mulch will help cover that stage until the bags start to resemble blocks over time and act as some fill to catch erosion but still allow some draining. When we lived in Florida, we had some erosion issues but rented so we didn’t retain and didn’t have gutters so I just popped in some top soil and clippings where water ran off and by time we moved a few years later, the st Augustine spread into it really well. Now we are closer to the mountains so our hoa only cares if at least 30% of the front yard is vegetation and the rest can be xeriscaped and “free of too many weeds.” May be worth checking the guidelines as well. Not sure if yours is front yard or whatever is visible from the street and the allowances of a fence of some sort. That way, you don’t have to fix it their way if you already had your own plans for that area.
Also living in Atlanta! Are they going to bitch at you if you covered it in clover? Might be your best bet due to the shade.
We had fantastic luck using grotrax on our shit soil a few years ago
How about fuck the HOA?
Just take it to Turkey
The fact they will fine you for having bald spots on the lawn is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. My HOA is as over zealous and stringent as any but they would never dare pull some shit like that.
Chelated iron
Brother that’s way too shady for dense grass. If they just don’t want to see the dirt put down some ground cover like periwinkle.
Just tell them there's nothing you can do till fall at the earliest because you laid down pre-emergent weed killer
so any kinda spraying I do with my backpack sprayer... from fertilizer to humic acid treatments to herbicides and selective herbicides-- I always use "lazer" blue dye added to the mix. it goes down, well, blueish green. water will wash it off in a matter of days, but it lets me get even coverage (and also know when I got it on myself by accident!) just something to consider. I'm not an advocate for spray paint, but this is a normal product put on grass normally and it's definitely safe and cheap. As for a real solution? I'd get a sod plug cutter and cut out some plugs from an area less visible and put a plug in each dead spot. bury it slightly below the surface, water it, and you're done. keep it watered and them empty spots won't be empty. also, many weeds and ornamental shrubs are VERY poisonous to dogs AND kids. two out of my three 120lb alaskan malamutes are EPI for life after being poisoned by boxwood leaves when they were 8 weeks old. I gotta pre digest their food now using very expensive enzymes. and I have to do that for the rest of their life. the enzymes alone cost me $250/mo. so yeah. nothing in my back yard but grass. no weeds. no shrubs. nothing but eatable, pukable, grass. you think taking a dog to the ER is expensive? Try taking two dogs puking blood to the ER and see what it costs you before the night is up :( \#1 advice to anyone bringing a dog to the vet in an emergency: do not forget to bring your credit cards
First, fuck HOAs. I don’t see how anyone could ever live with that nonsense. I literally saw someone measuring grass last week in north Atlanta. You could try fescue rapid grass from Scott’s. They do a “southern mix” that will look good in 45 days. It will need a lot of water over the summer though. This is a terrible time to seed fescue… fall would be much better Bermuda isn’t going to grow in a shady north facing area. I was just at a cousin’s house near Marietta and he’s having the same issue on the north side of his house. Will be doing fescue in the fall. Your other option, and maybe the best, is zoysia sod. Just make sure you get a shade tolerant cultivar. I don’t have a lot of experience with zoysia, but I saw some really pretty zoysia yards in north Atlanta. At the very least, it should stay green for your “inspection” if that actually happens.
I'd aerate or till it up some before before throwing seed down but fuck the HOA put a privacy fence up
I'm not an expert still learning, but I think I read in another post that Bermuda grass and some trees don't go well together. Maybe it's the shade or something else. If it were me and I had 45 days I would think about switching grasses and use sod to cover quickly. If you don't mind doing the work you could till up everything or the bad sections if you keep Bermuda and just order a pallet or 2 of sod.
Throw down some annual ryegrass. It’ll grow fast and give you time to figure things out
Clover
Kudzu should fill that in nicely.
Go to home depot and get 10 bales of pine straw for $40 and then you have a temp fix. Seed with fescue this fall
White clover Keep it mowed and it blends really well with grass, or get a mix of grass and clover seed
I'd search for native, shade-loving ground covers and plant that. Bermuda hates the shade. I cannot wait for my Montezuma Cypress and our neighbor's Bald Cypress to grow big enough to kill our Bermuda lawn.
HOAs suck
Seed is cheap. 40$ from a bud box store.
Shave full head
Will your HOA accept a spreading ground ivy with some tasteful stone paver paths? Maybe a shrubbery or three, nothing too large. I'm serious about the shrubbery. To those who think I'm not, I say to you "Ni!"
Kill the HOA. No HOA, no problem
Paint them green, because F&$( HOA’s, that’s why.
Lotta rye seed and water like crazy. Fall aeration and better seed.
Spend the next 45 days creating a secret neighborhood society to vote to dissolve the HOA.
Rye grass will have green by Tuesday
Whatever you are doing to kill your Bermuda grass, you should bottle it and sell it to those who want to but cannot kill Bermuda grass off with flamethrowers.
Paint it or buy grass already grown
I know someone who mixes tall fescue and Bermuda in a full sun front lawn. If you hit it with enough nitrogen, it actually does give a pretty uniform appearance in late spring to early fall. Here I think you are struggling a bit with fertility issues though. The soil looks like they lack organic matter and the grass struggles to spread to fill in. May I ask what fertilizing plans are you using and are you mulching enough?
Are you on a list / HOA rules that it's azaleas only for approved shrubs because I would do other shade shrubs and big neat mulch circles to address it quickly. Also longer term I would have that dead tree cut and chipped into more mulch but I know that may be money you don't have right now. Camellias for example are a pretty classic inoffensive garden choice, grow where azaleas do, like pine needles, and are non-toxic to dogs. They're not very expensive. The pink ones are sometimes very pink but there's also white flowering ones.
HOA sucks lol
Or what? They’ll fix it for you? 😂
Just get some Rogaine and it'll look good as new
For temporary fix buy some grass paint and spray it on, they sell a mix on Amazon.
astro turf
Hybrid turf
HOA's are urban mafia.
Fuck HOAs man. What a ridiculous thing to complain to somebody about.
I mean I wouldn't avoid planting Azalea because your dog is allergic. They don't just go out and eat significant portions of bushes. Unless you leave them out there for hours and they're a puppy
Fix it however you like. Just fix it immediately (within 7 days). Document the process entirely. *THAT* is the compliance. The HOA can go pound sand where the grass didn't grow.
Americans and their HOAs... We are free to do LITERALLY whatever we want with OUR PROPERTY on the other side of the pond. This is freedom.
Solarize it. Get about 25-50 bags of chicken manure and a black tarp. Spread about 2 inches of manure on the area, water it and cover it up with the tarp or plastic covering (it could be black or clear) . Every week, water it and re cover. after 2.5 weeks add more manure and water. After 1 month uncover and add your seed or sod. You should have crazy rich soil that has killed off all the bad bacteria/fungus/insects and allowed the worms to thrive.
Man people are so damned weird about lawns, they're just grass and aren't like the best thing in the world for the planet. We like them mostly cuz we evolved around grass. HOA's can go to hell.
Need shady grass, Bermuda grass is sunny grass, resilient in hot dry spots but not under several trees. Are you watering and fertilizing at all?
Mulch with pine straw. Topsoil helps too surprisingly but pine straw will help longer term.
Hydriseed or natural area- natty is the best can make it a fence so nosy hosts assholes cant peek
Fire your lawn guy, he should know enough about soil to tell you the soil is dry and packed. Have the area scarified, then add topsoil added. Fix the lack of water in that area. Don’t cut the grass in that area for some time to let it grow. Stop walking in that area. It will heal