fluorescent would be a huge mistake. u can buy 600W reflectorized HPS lamps from HTG, and that would be my first choice, in terms of being economical. Or you can also use 575W pulse start metal halides from Venture - the ballast kit and lamp, goes for around 160$ and the Venture people are experts are building very high performance very high tech lamps quite reasonably priced. they make them mainly for industry, but i use those venture lamps in my indoor garden because they simply are phenomenal.

Thanks for the feedback.

I am very close to pulling the trigger on a purchasing (4) 400W system by iPower.

Overdrive: why would fluorescent be a mistake?

theficuswrangler: I know this all sounds a little silly. I actually did install brand new shade blend sod this summer (in addition to amending the existing soils prior). The sod company came highly recommended. The sod is rated for 4 hours sunlight minimum. In the summer, most of my yard gets this. But in the winter, none gets it. I just moved into this house and didn't realize it earlier. Given my dedication to having grass and the size of the lawn, do you have any recommendations or tips? What would be the cheapest way to install effective grow lights on my 25' x 35' lawn?

Darlin, fraid I can't help you. It never occurred to me to put grow lights on a lawn. Do people actually do this? This isn't a joke, is it? My approach to my lawn is to kind of chill out and see what the flow of nature is. Put things where they grow best, water with what falls from the sky, if one thing doesn't work, put in something else. I'm farther and farther from grass lawn every year.

But to address your situation from a horticultural standpoint, if you have 4 hrs of light (I'm assuming you mean full sunlight) under your tree in the summer, you still have light, meaning not dense shade, in the winter. There should be strains of grass that could grow there. I'm from Fla, so I'm not familiar with grass varieties in your neck of the woods. If you're not satisfied with performance of the sod you ordered, if they told you it would grow under the tree and it hasn't, you should be due a refund or new product. Have you consulted with not just one but several landscape specialists - try to find one that employs someone with an actual hort degree.

Then again, I'm sure you've seen many beautiful yards that have areas of groundcover or plantings where grass won't grow. I'm sure you could get wonderful plans from a garden designer or landscape architect, and have the plantings installed, and maintained, for mucho less dineros than what you're planning. And you'd probably end up happier. Cause trying to make grass grow where it's not natural for it is going to be one long headache, I expect. Besides light, there will be bugs, fungus, disease, other assorted weirdness.

I find it's more satisfying to flow with nature than to try and beat her into submission. But what do I know, maybe this grow-lighting of lawns is perfectly common where you live, in which case you should be able to find lots of good advice. I'm sorry, it just seems so strange to me.

Hey, what about AstroTurf? Or painted-on lawns? Last summer there were a couple of companies painting lawns. I kid you not. Anyway, good luck to you.

Have you figured out anything? I just had the same idea for it yard of shade. And no, no grass varieties like the lack of sun. I’m curious if red and blue LED strips attached to PVC Pipe and wheels might work for a unit that can move around the yard in the winter? I’m sure this sounds insanely silly to many of you, but when we’ve lived somewhere for 5 years and still have a dirt patch, you’d start getting crazy too. :)

This thread is 5 years old, and the original poster doesn't appear to have posted anything on this site in at least that long..

Yeah, hopefully Geoffre14 finally saw the futileness of his endeavor and just planted Buffalo grass! That $&#@ would grow on the moon! HeHeHe

I am going to attempt to revive this conversation, but with a little more info to explain an scenario where this may prove useful. I have corners of my yard that do not get much sunlight at all due to the fence blocking the light. And in these small areas, the yard is suspect to allowing moss to grow, or have very poor greening of the grass (centipede). And centipede is really not good at all in shaded areas. However, the areas with these issues are pretty small, so I want to put lights near these spots of the lawn to supplement sunlight so that the grass grows better. And I just seeded / overseeded, and the areas that don't get much light are already struggling to start growing, when the areas adjacent to them are starting to grow well. So the lamps would be out of sight from the street and may be worth it to get the lawn to green up in those spots. I've found some waterproof outdoor grow lights on Amazon, but just wondering has anyone else tried this on a poor area of grass in their yard. If not, maybe I'll be the first to share my story...

Hello HU,

The original poster was inspired by the greenskeepers at Lambeau field (recent news back then). Some of the current football stadiums have "in-door" grass playing surfaces that are pretty remarkable. I suspect they use special breeds of grass. Most likely not Centipede.

" So the lamps would be out of sight from the street and may be worth it to get the lawn to green up in those spots. "

That "Worth it" factor makes this project highly dependent on personal opinion. Some people are willing to pay a lot of money for a Baseball Trading card, but they are not "worth it" to me. I personally would not try to grow grass where it won't grow. But your place is for your enjoyment, and those Amazon waterproof outdoor grow lights sound interesting. I wonder if they will attract bugs and moths and such. Keep us posted.

ZM