Are you looking to over seed or sow a new lawn from seed?
With so much choice available it can be difficult to find what the best grass seed type is for your lawn.
With millions of views running the UK’s #1 lawn care Youtube channel and day to day growing a grass seed business, I wanted to share with you my top tips to get the most from your lawn seed.
What is Grass Seed?
Grass or Lawn seed typically comes as mixture of different seed species that are combined together for their different growing characteristics.
With huge advancement in grass seed production this means home owners and agricultural users have a wide selection of mixes for pretty much any application
Allow me to explain…
What Types of Different Grass Seeds Are There?
Understanding the different species of grass seed is key to picking the best seed for your lawn
Not all grass seeds are suitable for use on domestic lawns, some varieties are used for grazing live stock, seed for agricultural use and other grass seeds used for general amenity, landscaping and finally our beloved domestic garden lawns.
Here are some of my favourite grass seed varieties used in lawns
- Dwarf Perennial Ryegrass
- Slender Creeping Red Fescue
- Creeping Red Fescue
- Smooth Stalk meadow grass
- Turf Type Tall Fescue
- Hard Fescue
- Bent Grass
The Best Perennial Dwarf Rye Grass Seed
10-20 years ago Rye Grass Seed had a bad reputation for being ugly, thick leaved and not associated with a traditional Brittish close mown lawn
In today’s world, Rye grass is very much in favour.
Rye lawn seed has seen huge advancements in terms of durability, fine leaved varieties and even creeping rye grass which offers a thick colourful sward with great stripes.
PRO’s and CON’s of Rye Grass
Advantages of rye grass seed
- Rye grass is very hard wearing
- Rye is super Quick to Germinate
- The Waxy leaves reflect light for great stripes
- Great Dark Green Colour
Disadvantages of Rye Grass Seed
- Grows quickly (may require more cuts)
- Hungry Grass (loves fertiliser!)
Use these mixes for year round colour and hard wearing nature
The Best Fescue Grass Seeds
This lawn seed is known for it’s habit to creep across the lawn to spread and create a thick mat of grass
This growth habit produces high shoot density and offers a velvet like texture to the lawn or landscape that its used in
They tend to be finer leaves than rye grasses and recover quickly from mowing
PRO’s and CONS of Fescue Grass
Advantages of fescue grass seed
- High Shoot Densitiy for thick sward
- Can tolerate close mowing
- Fine leaves
Disadvantages of Fescue grass seed
- Can Produce alot of thatch (needs scarification)
- Lose Colour first in the summer
- Prone to red thread disease
I find the UK climate is actually very suited to a blend of fescue and rye grass so get the best of both seed varieties
Use these mixes for reliable all round performers that have the best of both worlds
Specialist Grass Mixes for Shade & Clay Soil
There are also specialist lawn seed mixes that thrive in challenging conditions.
A lawn that has heavy shade from trees or buildings for example, would suit a mix with high slender creeping red fescue
On the other hand, on a clay based lawn tetraploid rye grass and turf type tall fescue can be king.
These grasses are able to set deep roots in the clay or drought prone soils to find moisture.
Lastly there are even grasses that will perform in low temperatures, typically grass seed is looking for 8-10+ centigrade to germinate.
Grass seed mixes like cold start winter active contains specialist rye grass that can germinate in very low soil temperatures, ideal for cold weather or early spring renovation work
- For areas with mostly shade or partial shade use this grass seed for shaded areas.
- For clay soils use the Clay King is an ideal grass seed for clay soils
- For late autumn or early spring lawn repair work can be done with cold start winter active
What is the Best Grass?
So overall it’s important to pick the best grass depending on your conditions.
Some grass seed thrive in shade and others are more suited for hard wearing family life.
Either way, choosing the right lawn seed for your garden is the first step in getting some great results
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