Florida's Most Shade Tolerant Grass

All plants, including grass, require sunlight to grow. However, just because you have or want a shaded lawn does not preclude the use of grass in Florida. In fact, nearly all yards have some amount of shade. The presence of shade will limit your grass choices and it will present an increased degree of gardening challenges. Shaded grass is more suseptible to disease and pests. It is also more likely to show signs of stress from wear, drought, and extreme temperature fluctuations.  That being said, you can at least minimize the degree of gardening difficulty by selecting a shade tolerant type of grass. The most shade tolerant type of grass in Florida is St. Augustine grass. There is a reason this type of grass is so prevalent state-wide. This dark green type of grass performs well in Florida’s hot and humid climate. Pay attention to the variety of St. Augustine grass. The most readily-available form is Floritam, which is an excellent variety that offers valuable chinch bug reisistance, but it is not very well suited for shade. Bitterblue, Jade and Delmar are the top varieties of St. Augustine shade grass.

Sunlight Requirements - Most grass requires, at a minimum, 4 to 5 hours of sun daily. Even shade tolerant St. Augustine grass should receive 3 hours of full sun.
Other Recommendations -

• Consider alternative groundcover vegetation in extremely shady areas of your lawn.  Lilyturf and mondo grass are shade loving, low-growing plants with a grass like features. 
• Allow your shaded grass to grow a little higher. More surface area equals increased light processing abillity.
• Selectively prune tree branches in lawns where tree canopy restricts too much sunlight.
• Limit traffic by using pavers and walkways. Shaded lawns are more easily damaged by wear, providing delineated walk zones can help restrict traffic.

References:
Florida Shade Grass
Soil Nutrient Analysis Laboratory
Landscape Plants for Subtropical Climates;" Bijan Dehgan; 1998.