Best Grass Seeds – Reviews & Buyer’s Guide

Are you trying to get the best grass seed for growing your lawn? Then you have just come to the right place. Finding the correct type of grass seed is crucial, especially if you are looking to extend your lawn greens’ longevity. Be a lazy gardener with an awesome lawn!

But with the many varieties in the market to choose from, picking the best lawn grass seed can be daunting. You can also have issues matching your lawn grass seed to your region’s climate and growing conditions.

Fortunately, we have reviewed the top 5 best lawn grass seeds that you can consider planting on your lawn. Besides, we also have a cultivating guide to help you get all the answers for most of your questions regarding lawn grass seeds; for instance, what is the best grass seed for your lawn?

You will also be able to understand the crucial considerations in buying lawn grass seeds.

Which Grass Seed Is Best For My Lawn? Comparison Table

1. Scotts Turf Builder – Bermudagrass – Best Grass Seed For A New Lawn

This Scotts Turf Builder – Bermudagrass is everything you need to turn your weak, thin grass into a thicker and greener lawn. Well, if subjected to proper care. Nonetheless, the results may differ based on the present condition of your lawn.

One thing about Bermudagrass grass seed is that it grows and spreads aggressively to cover the open gaps in your lawn. It also crowds out to weed any weeds therein. It is designed to grow in full sun, thus can withstand the scorching sun with its fine blade texture.

These lawn grass seeds are designed for use in lawns that have full exposure to the sun. Because of its drought resistance, they can put up with long periods of drought. The seeds come in exclusive 4 in 1 WaterSmart PLUS Coating that absorbs two times more water than uncoated seeds.

2. Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade – Best Grass Seed For Lawn Repair

The Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade is a premium lawn grass seed of varieties of grasses designed for superior shade tolerance. If your lawn is receiving little hours of daily sun, you can still transform the thin, struggling grass to a lush green lawn with Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade.

When grown and well-taken care of, this grass seed produces a fine-textured and rich-green lawn. The grass has a good drought-resistance and heat disease rating. Once it establishes, the Pennington Smart Seed grasses will require 30% less water than the ordinary grasses. It can stay green for up to three weeks without water.

These seeds are a product of Penkoted seed technology, which protects them from various fungal diseases. As such, you will get a quick establishment of healthier, better grass growth, even in your dense shade.

3. Jacklin Seed – Biltmore Blue Blend – 100% Kentucky Bluegrass – Great for Cool-season Climates

The Jacklin lawn grass seed is a premium mix of four different Kentucky Bluegrasses. Since this is elite lawn grass, it is an ideal pick for cool-season climates, especially when summers are warm and colder.

The four different Kentucky Bluegrasses are responsible for providing turf density, shade and are heat tolerant. They are also disease-resistance making it a premium blend for an excellent-looking lawn.

The grass blend contains 25% Everest Kentucky Bluegrass, 25% Jackpot Kentucky Bluegrass, 25% Nuglade Kentucky Bluegrass, and 25% Impact Kentucky Bluegrass. All these kinds of Kentucky bluegrass mix to create drought tolerance, winter, and frost hardiness.

These lawn grass seeds are products of Jacklin Seed, leading breeding and production of turfgrass research. Therefore, they produce expert and innovative grass seeds for the golf course and those that the sod farm’s value.

4. Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed Zoysia Grass Seed and Mulch – Best Grass Seed For Full Sun Lawn

The Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed Zoysia Grass Seed and Mulch is a medium-bladed texture grass medium to high drought-resistance. These lawn grass seeds take about two to three weeks to sprout.

These seeds combine with mulch, making them grow into a tight, long-lasting, and low-maintenance lawn. These grass seeds thrive in heat, drought, and partial shade. It can also do well in cold temperatures.

Since this is a versatile grass seed mix, it has 99.99% free of weeds. Before and after applying the seeds, add a thin layer of Scotts Turf Builder LawnSoil. It requires watering at least twice daily for at least three weeks for the best results.

To get the best results from these seeds, make sure you apply Scotts Turf Builder Starter Food for new grass after seeding. This will make the grass grow thicker and quicker. Moreover, keep the soil surface moist until the seedlings reach the height of 2-inches tall.

5. Scotts Turf Builder Clover Lawn – Best Grass Seed For Organic Lawn

Do you plan to make your lawn greener and with less maintenance? Adding clover to your lawn is one way to achieve low maintenance while you green up your grass without requiring more water.

The Scotts Turf Builder Clover is deep-rooted hence will reach down to the deep soil to stay green all year round. This way, it will help your lawn stay greener and for longer, especially during short-term drought conditions.

When you blend clover into existing lawn grass, you get a uniform appearance. Clovers act as natural fertilizers to your lawn grass, especially when you mow.

Bear in mind that clover and nitrogen-fixing bacteria work together in converting nitrogen from the air into usable nitrogen fertilizer. So, once you cut them, they naturally clip in to feed your lawn.

Grass Seeds – Buyer’s Guide

A green and plush lawn does more than beautify your backyard. With the right lawn grass, you can reduce soil erosion around your home compound.

It can also help filter groundwater, purify the air around your homestead, and absorb excess rainfall. Better yet, it can absorb all the dust and other particulate matter, which is great for leading a healthy life.

It doesn’t matter whether you want to enhance your current lawn appearance status or want a beautiful lawn around your home. Selecting the best lawn grass seed is crucial for the success of your project.

There are different kinds of seeds that can work great with your lawn. Some will be great when planted from scratch; others will be good at filling the empty gaps, while others will work depending on the climatic conditions and need.

Selecting the best lawn grass seed variety for your needs can be challenging. For this reason, we have this buyer’s guide to lead you throughout the process of picking the right lawn grass seed for your lawn.

Things to Consider when Choosing the Best Lawn Grass Seed

Before you go to the market in search of the best lawn grass seed for your lawn, there are things you have to bear in mind. These things are the ones that will guide you to the right grass seeds that will suit your needs. Let’s check them out!

Ask Yourself Questions

Before anything else, ask yourself the following essential questions:

• Are you planting a new lawn or reseeding the existing one on empty or bare spots?
• What is the level of traffic your lawn is subjected to? Is it low, medium, or high traffic?
• What is your lawn care budget?
• How much time can you dedicate to caring for and maintaining your lawn?
• What level of the sun does your lawn receive?
• Would you prefer straight grass seed types or a blend of different varieties?

Why Do People Have So Many Problems With Grass Lawns?

I think it comes down to two main reasons. One is they may not be growing the right grass for their particular area, and the other is maintenance.

When we think about what grass should be grown in one area, let’s think about the whole country.

1. Along the top tier of the country is our Northern, or cool season, area. So, from New England all the way out to Washington and Oregon.
2. Down along the Southern part of the country, we grow heat-loving grasses, the warm season grasses, from Florida all the way to California.
3. There’s this little area between the transition area, Maryland, Southern Ohio, Missouri, and out to the west coast, where both warm and cool-season kinds of grass do okay.

Narrow your Lawn Seeds choices

There are several types of lawn grass seeds flooded in the market. Narrowing down your choices is the only way you can get closer to finding the best ones that suit your lawn. Your geographical location is an essential factor that will affect how your lawn grass will grow. And this is what you will mainly use to narrow down your choices.

• Northern Zone

The northern regions of the US and Canada experience moderate summer and extreme winters. Grasses like Tall Fescue, Kentucky Bluegrass, and Ryegrass thrive in these areas. Therefore, this should be your primary choice.

• Southern Zone

The southern zone experiences moderate winters and sweltering summers. As such, grasses that thrive in the warm season should be your primary choice. These may include Zoysia grass, Bermuda grass, Centipede grass, and St. Augustinegrass, among others.

• Transition Zone

Transition zones are regions that experience hot summers and cold winters. For this reason, it isn’t easy to get lawn grass that thrives in these regions. Those grasses that thrive in cold winter seasons will have it difficult during the summer season. The warm-season type will remain brownish for half of the year. Regardless, you won’t lack choices.

Consider Your Site

Think of the condition in which your lawn is currently. If your grass lawn has no challenges, any primary lawn grass will thrive. However, picking grasses that withstand deeper shade, less water, and salty soils is ideal for challenging sites. Check out the region your lawn might be in:

• Shaded Sites

These are sites that have shades from tall canopy trees. Such sites accommodate lawn grasses like fine-leaf fescues. For the southern region, St. Augustine and its varieties – except for Floratam, is shade tolerant.

• Low-Input Sites

These are areas that have little or no access to a good water supply or fertilizer. In such regions, Buffalo grass has proven resilience. Other variants include Centipede grass and fine-leaf Fescues. They all require low maintenance.

• High Traffic Sites

Lawn grasses like Ryegrass or Kentucky are the best-known grass seed for new lawns in the northern zone with regular foot traffic. In the south, Bermuda grass is most preferred for its faster recovery rate. Some companies pack mixes a selected variety of lawn grass seeds to work for specific sites. Research is conducted to get the correct mixing ratio.

• Salty Suites

Grasses such as Seashore Paspalum are great lawn grass seeds for sites with high salt levels. These grasses are suited for coastal and sandy sites mostly by high salt levels or regular salt sprays.

How To Choose Grass Seed and Don’t Fail

The variety of lawn grass matters a lot. Different types have different colors, textures, and growth rates. However, some differences may not be seen by naked eyes. For example, some species are cheaper, require low maintenance, and are drought resistant, while others are disease tolerant.

Peter Smith Lawn Enthusiast

Pro Tip: If you want the best performance from various species, it is advisable to get a mix of their varieties. Let's check out some species and varieties that you can consider choosing for your lawn.

The Cool-Season Grasses

The cool-season grasses are adapted to the northern climates. They also thrive during the fall and spring. They are often greener during winter when the temperatures are moderate. However, during the summer seasons, they turn brown if not regularly watered.

You should mix grasses for the cold type of area! Also, I recommend reading the article about the lazy lawn.

There are two types of grasses that you should really avoid.

Creeping Bentgrass – NO

The first one is the creeping bentgrass. Now, if you play golf or tennis, you’re probably playing on this grass, at a very, very low mowing height. This grass needs to be mowed every day, and it needs a lot of intensive care, so it’s not good grass for a lawn.

Annual Ryegrass – NO (and a little bit “yes”)

The other one is annual ryegrass, and annual should say to you right away it only lasts for one year. It grows very quickly and vigorously and competes with the good grasses.

You can use it where you need instant grass for erosion control. I consider it a waste of time and energy because you have to go back the next year and reseed all over again when you use it.

Right. So, specialty applications for annual ryegrass, but not on a regular home lawn.

Kentucky Bluegrass – YES

The Kentucky Bluegrass species are also adapted to the north climatic conditions. It is the best lawn grass you can find in lawns in the northern areas, especially along the West Coast and transition zones. This type of grass is dark-colored with a medium texture.

We have some excellent grasses for the cool season home lawns, Kentucky bluegrass, the premier lawn grass we think about when we think about a very high-profile lawn, sun-loving, excellent grower.

Doyle Mathews Lawn Expert

Pro Tip: Use it in the mix with other grasses - approximately 20% (Kentucky):80% (other grasses). It grows slowly underground, strengthens its roots, and can help avoid weeds.

Perennial Ryegrass For Kids – YES

Perennial ryegrass mixes very well with Kentucky bluegrass. It’s a little bit tougher than Kentucky bluegrass, so in a lawn where there might be a lot of kids playing, you’d want to see some perennial ryegrass on that lawn. Up to 40% in the mix.

Tall Fescue & Creeping Red Fescue Grass – YES

The fine-leaf Fescue category has several species that are identified by their delicate appearance and thin-blade. It can be blended with other grass species that expose lawns to shade and drought susceptibility. Grasses of these species require low maintenance.

This variety does well in heat and drought areas. You can find them in the transition zones of the south. However, they have course texture thus less attractive. Nonetheless, its newer variants are beautiful.

Peter Smith Lawn Enthusiast

Pro Tip: By the same token tall fescue, again, a tough grass that will take some traffic, and tall fescue also does well in that transition area in the southern part of the cool season area where it tends to get a little bit hot.

Finally, the fine fescues, which as a group are lower maintenance than the other grasses that I’ve talked about in the cool season area, and creeping red fescue is a grass that you want to make sure you have a lot of if you’ve got some shady areas.

The Warm Season Grasses

In the southern zone, we grow grasses, not in a mix but really just by themselves. You would have the lawn with one kind of grass.

These are grasses that are heat-loving and thrive in the southern and southwest areas. These grasses often become dormant during summer, even without being watered. Seeds of these types are not readily available. Therefore, they require planting as either sprig or sod.

St. Augustine Grass

The St. Augustine grass forms a thick, plush lawn with coarse texture. It thrives in hotter regions, even without much water, and it is tolerant to cold.

St. Augustine grass, which you would grow in an area where it might be hot and humid. So, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, very, very vigorous grass. This is a stolon that runs across the top of the ground and roots down into the lawn at every one of those spaces.

Not only will it spread across the lawn, but the stolon will also get into the plant beds and become a maintenance headache. You need to edge this grass quite vigorously.

Bermudagrass

Here’s Bermudagrass, which you’ll find from Florida all the way over to California as a lawn grass. It tends to have a finer texture, narrower blades. It doesn’t do well in the shade at all. For shade, you’d choose another grass other than Bermudagrass.

The standard Bermuda species feature a very coarse texture. The hybrid types have a more delicate surface, which makes lawns attractive. Bermuda is grown in the southern and western regions and can be over-seeded with ryegrass during fall. This way, Bermudagrass will maintain its winter color.

Zoysia Grass

Zoysia prefers full sun, but it tolerates light shade. Why do I love this grass? Of course, for the color. That is the color some would call it an emerald green; I would call it a deep inner old green, but it responds really well to fertilizer, especially if you bomb it hard with nitrogen. I even applied one and a half pounds per thousand on a nap in the very late spring and got excellent results and beautiful color.

Buffalograss

Warm-seasoned grass thus thrives in the southern regions. Species is the best if you want a low-maintenance lawn. It has a greyish tint that combines with the green color. It has a delicate texture.

Centipedegrass

This grass type is adapted to the south-eastern areas and requires low- maintenance. But, it is sold without any varieties included in the packages. They don’t have any real dormant state.

Best Time To Water Grass Seeds

Let’s talk about the watering because I think in all the maintenance people do, that’s probably where they make the biggest mistakes. The main thing you want to think about in watering a lawn is recharging the root zone and getting the root zone moist with every watering. So, you water deeply and infrequently. You want to water so that you’re getting the water down.

If you’re only watering, so the water gets that deep, your roots are only going to be there, and your turf is not going to be very vigorous, and it will dry out. If the water’s going way down here, that’s a terrible waste of water. So people need to know where their root zone is and if the water’s getting down there.

You can use a spade to dig down in the soil to find that level, but I like to use a soil sampler and very simply stick it into the ground and take out this core and look at it, and I’ll see how deep the moisture is going. As a general rule, I tell people their lawn needs one inch of water a week.

Now you have them use a rain gauge so they can really see that they’re getting that one inch of water.

They need to translate that into water into what’s happening in their own soil. So, if they run their irrigation system through a cycle or do one irrigation and then go out and look at how deep that water has gotten, they can get an idea of what they need to water their particular lawn.

Final Words

Make sure you select the grass type that suits the climate of your region. Weather conditions play a significant role in helping you narrow down to the grass type that is perfect for your lawn.

For instance, some grass options reviewed above thrive in heat conditions, while others do well under the shade. Some of these are factors that you need to keep at the back of your mind when searching for your best lawn grass seed. Also, factor in the pros and cons we mentioned in our top 5 best picks before making the final decision on the type of grass seed for your lawn.