For years, my late husband and I stubbornly tried to grow grass in a spot that received shade for part of the day. Every March and October, we'd buy fescue seed and a bale of straw, scratch up the earth and start the sprinkler.

For a month or two, we'd have a promising green lawn, but by the next season, the bare spots would reappear. One year, I even strapped on "aeration sandals" I ordered from a catalog. After taking one step in the contraptions (with the aid of ski poles), I decided having a little grass wasn't worth breaking both my legs.

Martha Tate / Special (ENLARGE)

The path at Benjie Jones's house in Virginia Highlands.

Martha Tate / Special (ENLARGE)

Peggy Witt's mondo grass.

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It's a given that in some places, grass just won't grow. Following are some imaginative ways local homeowners have converted lawn areas into attractive landscape features:

After having his tiny front yard sodded for the second time, Atlanta interior designer Benjie Jones decided to create a walkway where the grass kept dying out.

"The zoysia I put in was supposed to be the best for the Atlanta area," says Jones, who lives in a 1920s cottage in Virginia-Highland's historic Atkins Park. "But the grass wouldn't grow. There was just too much shade."

Jones dug up a wide patch of sod with a hoe and hauled in bags of pea gravel for the surface of the path. He took liriope from various parts of his yard and planted the clumps along the edges.

"It was instant gratification," says Jones, "and I didn't have to use any concrete or mortar. It actually turned out to be decorative."

Meanwhile, real estate brokers Peggy and Kerry Witt tried over and over to grow grass in their shady yard in the Pine Hills neighborhood near Lenox Square.

"Our deck is cantilevered out beyond the posts, and the grass wouldn't grow under it," explains Peggy. "Kerry planted mondo in a sort of arc going up under the deck, and it looked great."

Twice, the Witts sprigged mondo in new areas and found it only takes a year or two to catch up to the original plantings.

"We've rescued mondo from places that were about to be bulldozed," says Peggy. "Kerry would divide the clumps and plant just a couple of blades about an inch and a half apart. After the second year, you couldn't tell the difference between the old and the new. It's just gorgeous."

Mary Wayne Dixon didn't have a problem with shade at her Buckhead home, but she did have a limited setup – a parking area on one side of the house with a single walkway leading to the front door.

"I wanted something French," says the longtime board member and supporter of the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

A wide swath of grass was removed from the sloping front yard and a retaining wall built to create a level courtyard entrance. Large flat paving stones were laid over pea gravel, and a charming portico was built over the front door.

"I love it," says Dixon. "We have a new iron arch, and I've made a knot garden. I can do so much more now than when I only had grass."

On a residential street off Buford Highway, James Cox has made a backyard oasis out of a former grass-challenged area.

"I like a tropical look, and I like everything to be neat," says Cox, a busy hairdresser.

When grass wouldn't grow on the uneven terrain, Cox brought in black lava rock as a ground cover. Concrete walkways connect the house with his salon and the pool; palm trees, agaves and yuccas finish the look.

"I still have shade in the front from a beech tree," says Cox. "Every fall, I plant winter rye under it, and it looks great. In the summer, the grass goes away, but I don't care — just as long as the back looks good."

MARTHA'S PICK

Peacock Moss

Botanical name: Selaginella uncinata

About the plant: This prehistoric fern relative has a low, spreading habit and mossy-looking green foliage that takes on a metallic, aquamarine hue with new growth in the spring. Semi-evergreen.

Use in the garden: Excellent as a ground cover for shady areas. Lovely in combination with ferns, hostas and hellebores.

Planting and care: Plant in partial or full shade in woodland type soil.

Source: Plant Delights Nursery Inc., 9241 Sauls Road, Raleigh NC 27603; 919-772-4794; www.plantdelights.com

Martha Tate is a writer who lives in Atlanta.