Every week, I am asked about a dozen times what type of grass will grow in shade. This week's email and regular mail brought four more of these inquiries.

So, to all who ask or might ask it, you need to know that St. Augustine is Texas' most shade-tolerant turfgrass, but even it requires four to six hours of direct sunlight daily just to hold its own, six to eight if you want it to grow and cover.

Resodding the area is a waste of time and money if it doesn't receive adequate light. And you're really spinning your wheels if you try products that claim they can help you grow grass in heavy shade. It's not about nutrients, microbes or anything other than light.

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You need to switch to a shade-tolerant ground cover such as mondograss (monkeygrass), purple wintercreeper euonymus, Asian jasmine, liriope or English ivy. I've planted thousands of mondograss clumps beneath my trees. Its big advantage over the others is that it has no runners, so leaves are easy to blow out of it in fall. You can also dig and divide it to cut the costs of getting it started.

Q: I have a fruitless pear. This past summer, the leaves all dried up and fell off, then new leaves were produced. They have now fallen off. We have tried to water it, and we don't want to lose it. Any suggestions?

A: It sounds like drought damage. Cotton root rot does impact pears that are growing in alkaline soils, but typically, leaves of pears afflicted by it die in place and do not fall normally. While it's probably one of those two causes, it's hard to be sure without seeing the tree.

Q: Last year, I sent you a sample of a plant that came up volunteer. You said the sample was too dry, so I have enclosed a photo of the leaves and the flower. How should I care for it?

A: This is Fatsia japonica, usually called fatsia. The fact that it's blooming is uncommon but not unheard of. It needs ample and uniform moisture and shade from hot, afternoon sun. I don't know that I've ever seen a fatsia that has come up from seed as a volunteer in a landscape. That's cool.

Q: What is wrong with my red oak? The leaves enclosed show the problem I faced all season.

A: I can't tell if you picked these up off the ground or if you've had them a good while. They show evidence of a fungal leaf spot, but that would be of little concern. They're so dried, it's tough to see if there is marginal burn around the edges of the leaves. If so, this is probably caused by some type of trunk damage or drought. You'll have a much better idea as spring unfolds.


Mail questions to Neil Sperry, c/o Features, San Antonio Express-News, P.O. Box 2171, San Antonio, TX 78297-2171, or email him at SAENgarden QA@sperrygardens.com. For more of his advice, become a Neil Sperry fan on Facebook.