So I have Bermuda in my whole yard, but I have a few spots where the shade is heavy and it just won't grow.

I'm leaning more towards Zoysia because I've seen St Augustine take over a yard, and I don't want that. What do yall think? Do you have experience with Zoysia? Will it take over my Bermuda? Any other ideas?

My experience is that St. Augustine does not do well in shade. Half of my front yard is shaded all day and the St. Augustine is very thin and patchy. The shade is mostly due to branches from our neighbors gigantic oak tree (think Century Tree big) intermingling with the my live oak on that side of the yard and creating a continuous canopy. My grass is really healthy on the rest of the lot.

We had St. Augustine that was pretty thin due to shade. Filled in the gaps with Amerishade St. Augustine. Within a few years it has taken over the yard and closed the gaps.

Neil Sperrys rule:
Bermuda at least 8hrs to thrive
Zoysia at least 6hrs
St Augustine at least 4hrs.

Many of our customers are in neighborhoods built around 1920s with very large trees. If you landscape doesn't get at least 4 hrs of sun then you need to start considering groundcover and extending beds. Everyone wants a putting green while having 70+yr old trees. As I tell my customers, your trees are more valuable to your property than turfgrass that cost $3-4 per yd

St. Augustine is for sure the best turf for shade. In fact some Landscape Architects will specify St. Augustine under the canopy of trees and Bermuda outside.

Consider rocks and shade plants

Grass needs sun. Sorry

St. Augustine growing under trees established itself when the trees were smaller and the ground received more sunlight. Once established, the St Augustine can then tolerate/survive lower light conditions as the trees grow larger, but once the turf thins out and eventually dies, you are better off going with a groundcover like mondograss.

I have St. Augustine and a lot of shade. Not a good combo.

We had Palmetto St. Augustine sod installed in our backyard during the first week of March and it's doing great. I got palmetto mainly because per the info below it can get by on 3-4 hours of direct sun a day. We do have two oaks in our backyard that have been trimmed about three times over the years,. We are the original owners and will have been here twenty-two years in October. We are in the northwest part of town.

https://houstonturfgrass.com/choose-palmetto-st-augustine-grass-sod/

turfman80 said:

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St. Augustine growing under trees established itself when the trees were smaller and the ground received more sunlight. Once established, the St Augustine can then tolerate/survive lower light conditions as the trees grow larger, but once the turf thins out and eventually dies, you are better off going with a groundcover like mondograss.

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Or trim the trees up enough to allow enough sun light for St. Augustine to survive as it can get too much shade and dies as you spell out.

We have an unshaded backyard and zoysia is taking over the Bermuda.