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5 Best Grass Seeds for 2024 (Reviews & Buyers’ Guide)

Are you planning to grow grass from seeds? Did you know that a lot of people are choosing this option because it is one of the most affordable ones?

One of the best options that you can have is growing the grass for your lawn from seeds, especially if you have lawns that are smaller.

The success of having a green and beautiful lawn will all depend on the grass seed that you will have.

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Breeders of turf grass usually make certain advances every single year, which is why it is important to do a lot of research for you to know the options needed.

There are a lot of local vendors of grass seeds today, and they usually sell seed types that are sure and tried.

If you are looking for newer types of seeds, then you can check landscaping business or nursery businesses who specialized in installation of lawns.

Best Grass Seeds for 2024

Product


Our Rating

Price

1. Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed - Sun and Shade Mix

Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed Sun and Shade Mix, 3 lb. - Grows in Extreme Conditions Including Full Sun and Dense Shade
Best Grass Seed

2. Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade

Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade Grass Seed, 7 lb

3. Scotts Snap Pac Tall Fescue Grass Seed

Scotts Snap Pac Grass Seed Tall Fescue Mix - 7 lb., Thrives in Sun, Shade, and High Traffic Areas, Grass Seed with Superior Drought, Insect, and Disease Resistance

4. Scotts EZ Seed 17540 Sun Shade

Scotts EZ Seed Patch and Repair Sun and Shade, 10 lb. - Combination Mulch, Seed and Fertilizer, Tackifier Reduces Seed Wash-Away - Full Sun, Dense Shade, High Traffic Areas

5. Jonathan Green 10820 Fast Grow Grass Seed Mix

Jonathan Green 10820 Fast Grow Grass Seed Mix, 3 Pounds

Best Grass Seed - Sumo Gardener's 2024 Choice

Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed - Sun and Shade Mix

Best Grass Seed in 2020

via Amazon

How to Choose the Best Grass Seeds

Here are a few tips on how you can choose the best grass seed for your lawn.

Know Your Soil Through Soil Testing

The first thing that you need to do before purchasing any seeds is to make sure that you test the soil first. This will help you select the ideal seeds for your lawn since you will know your soil’s pH.

A turf grass can survive in a soil that is well aerated with an acidic pH level of 6 and 7.5. For you to be able to test your soil, you can purchase a test kit.

Once you have the kit, the next thing that you need to do is to gather a handful of soil and put it in the testing bag. The price per region will depend, but you should expect shed USD 15. You will have to wait for a couple of weeks before you get the results back.

Choosing Grass for Warm Season

Choosing Grass for Warm Season

If you are planning to plant during the warmer season of the year, then picking the seeds that are perfect for the season will do. Some of the seeds to choose from are the zoysia, centipede, Buffalo, Bermuda, and St. Augustine.

They will typically grow once the summer season starts hitting the stride. Of course, you need to make sure that they are exposed to sunlight since the always thrive for the sun, though St. Augustine can tolerate a bit of shade.

Choosing Grass for Cool Season

Choosing Grass for Cool Season

Now if it’s cool season already or you just live in the northern part of the country, then choosing seeds for the cooler season will do. Some of the seeds include Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, and red fescues.

Most of the grasses that are for the cooler season can tolerate shades so make sure that they at least have shades once you start planting them.

Know Your Irrigation System

pennington grass seed

Another thing that you need to do is to consider the irrigation system that you have. For people who are living in regions that have water restrictions and are prone to droughts, then selecting grasses like buffalo grass, zoysia, and fescue is essential since they are tolerant to droughts.

If you have no problems with irrigations and such, you can start planting Kentucky bluegrass since this type of grass seed needs to be regularly be watered to ensure that lawn’s health.

Shade Levels that Your Lawn Has

different types of seeds

Since there are a lot of grass seeds in the market today, some of them need to be under the shade. If you have trees on your lawn, then there wouldn’t be a problem.

When planting seeds that can tolerate the shade, you need to make sure to plant different types of seeds. The reason behind this is if in case one type of seed fails, there will still be other seeds that will start to grow.

Most of the seeds are craving for sunlight and need to have a minimum of sex full hours of sunlight for them to be able to live. So if you don’t have a shady spot in your lawn, then you can have different seed options.

Know When to Use the Lawn Mower

choosing the right lawn mower

The lawn mower is used to help maintain your gardens, but certain seeds don't need to be often moaned, including fescues. Kentucky bluegrass seeds, on the other hand, needs to be mowed regularly.

For warm season seeds, including Bermuda and centipede, you may need to mow them as often as you can for them to be well maintained.

Buffalo grass and other seeds that go dormant during the summer or winter season, you should know that they require little mowing at all.

Fertilizing Needs of Your Lawn

fertilizing your lawn

Of course, you need to make sure that you know the fertilizing requirements of the seeds that you are going to choose.

If you are a person who is into organic fertilizing, then you need to make sure that the grass seeds that you are going to choose can handle organize fertilizers.

Also, if you don’t have ample of time fertilizing your lawn, it would be best to pick grass seeds that are not high maintenance.


These are all the information that you need when it comes to choosing the best grass seed for your lawn. But remember that no matter what type of seed you purchase, you need to make sure that the weed content that it has is not more than 1%. 

Lastly, avoid buying grass seeds that have a 70% or less germination.


5 Best Grass Seed Reviews

1. Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed - Sun and Shade

Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed - Sun and Shade

via Amazon

Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed - Sun and Shade is back with the newest formula known as Revolutionary seeding mix. Scotts uses a perfect blend of Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass, and Creeping Fescue.

The exact breakdown of the seed is 1% shade-master 3 creeping red, 0.17 defender perennial ryegrass, 2% Wendy-Jean creeping red fescue, 0.5% Majesty 2 perennial ryegrass, 2% silver-dollar perennial ryegrass, 0.5% avalanche KBG, 1% green star Kentucky bluegrass, 4% poly-s, and 89% oasis mulch.

The Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed - Sun and Shade are perfectly mixed with a mulch that is known to be extremely compressed, which will help the water to be retained and will keep the area well moist.

The reason behind this is because the mixture can soak the water just like that of a sponge and will then expand to make a moist layer that is protective around the seeds.

Another good thing about this is they are infused with water and nourishment for the seeds to be able to have roots that are stronger.

Pros

  • Grass can still grow during major drought
  • Can cover the bare area of your lawn
  • Grass can blend perfectly with other existing grass
  • Great in absorbing water
  • Works well in bare spots

Cons

  • Grass can’t grow well in areas that are shaded
  • Product has a mixture of soil and seed

2. Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade Mix

Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade Mix

via Amazon

Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade Mix is perfectly formulated to perform other types of shade mixes. Pennington made sure to spend years and years in cultivating an advanced technology to create an environmentally conscious, drought resistant and purebred seeds.

The seeds will also help you in saving more water of up to 30%. Each bag of the Pennington Smart Seed has a Penkote technology, which will assist in improving the success of seedling to provide healthier plants and an enormous growth all year.

The Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade Mix produces a lawn that is fine bladed and is lower maintenance. It is also resistant to diseases, so you no longer have to worry about it anymore.

Another good thing about Pennington Smart Seed is that it has seed varieties that are improved, which will help them to be able to thrive in areas that are shaded.

The seed mixes are individually customized for each region in the country, so you will be assured that you are planting the right seed for your area.

Pros

  • It is inoculated with mycorrhizae
  • Improved varieties of seeds
  • Excellent results in germination

Cons

  • Expensive compared to others

3. Scotts Snap Pac Tall Fescue Grass Seed

Scotts Snap Pac Tall Fescue Grass Seed

via Amazon

Scotts Snap Pac Tall Fescue Grass Seed is the ultimate system spreader from Scotts. With Scotts, you no longer have to worry about heavy bags and pouring that can be messy. You no longer have to worry about settings that are complicated.

The Scotts Snap Pac also feature an EdgeGuard, which is designed to ensure that the seeds will only go to the area where you want it to be. 

Of course, once you are done you can easily fold it up and store it easily.

The Scotts Snap Pac Tall Fescue Grass Seed can connect to the snap spreader directly, which means that you no longer have to put too much effort when it comes to pouring and cutting.

All you need to do is flip the lock of the container, and it will start pouring the needed seed since it can set the proper rate of the application automatically.

Pros

  • Guarantees a quicker grow of greener grass and thicker ones
  • Absorbs twice more water
  • Easy way to seed
  • Resistant to disease, insects, drought, and heat

4. Scotts EZ Seed 17540 Sun Shade

Scotts EZ Seed 17540 Sun Shade 10 LB

via Amazon

Scotts EZ Seed 17540 Sun Shade is a seeding that is revolutionary which mixes well and will also guarantee you success in planting.

The grass will grow anywhere because of the combination of growing material that is super-absorbent, premium release that is continuous of lawn food, and a seed that is high in performance.

To ensure that the wash-away seeds are reduced, the Scotts EZ has a tackifier. The Scotts EZ Seed 17540 Sun Shade can hold mulch of up to 6 times of its weight in water. The seedlings are fed to ensure that their growth will be jump started almost immediately.

Another good thing about these seeds is that they are perfectly formulated to ensure that they are kept in place even if they are planted on hills.

Once you are done planting the seeds, you may need to water the lawn and make sure that the seeds are saturated completely. You can do the watering until the grass reaches the 2 inches in length.

Pros

  • Perfect for high traffic, densely shades, and sunny areas
  • Absorbs water completely
  • Can grow anywhere
  • Improved formula to lessen wash-away seeds

Cons

  • Can’t grow on a sandy top soil
  • Other seeds may not germinate

5. Jonathan Green 10820 Fast Grow Grass Seed Mix

Jonathan Green 10820 Fast Grow Grass Seed Mix

via Amazon

Jonathan Green 10820 Fast Grow Grass Seed Mix is perfect to thrive in locations with full sunlight. The seeds contain grass that is resistant to insect, so you don’t have to worry about bugs ruining down your grass.

They can withstand eight hours of full sun, so you don’t have to worry if you don’t have a shade for them.

The Jonathan Green 10820 Fast Grow Grass Seed Mix does not guarantee though that it can tolerate heat and drought conditions, which is why watering it often especially if it is too hot is essential.

Another good thing about this is that it can make the lawn grow a perfect green grass while rejuvenating the lawn which has invaded by the weeds.

Pros

  • Provides a longest lasting lawn
  • Can sprout in 7 to 10 days
  • Grass is insect resistant

Cons

  • Sprouts are wispy and thin
  • Overwatering might cause fungal infection
  • Can easily succumb to over fertilization

Product


Our Rating

Price

1. Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed - Sun and Shade Mix

Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed Sun and Shade Mix, 3 lb. - Grows in Extreme Conditions
Best Grass Seed

2. Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade

Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade Grass Seed

3. Scotts Snap Pac Tall Fescue Grass Seed

Scotts Snap Pac Grass Seed Tall Fescue Mix - 7 lb., Thrives in Sun, Shade, and High Traffic Areas, Grass Seed

4. Scotts EZ Seed 17540 Sun Shade

Scotts EZ Seed Patch and Repair Sun and Shade, 10 lb. - Combination Mulch, Seed and Fertilizer, Tackifier Reduces Seed Wash-Away

5. Jonathan Green 10820 Fast Grow Grass Seed Mix

Jonathan Green 10820 Fast Grow Grass Seed Mix,

Best Grass Seed - WINNER

Best Grass Seed in 2020

via Amazon

These are the best grass seeds review that will help you decide on which one to get. But of course, in any review, there will always be a winner.

For this review, it is the Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed - Sun and Shade.

The reason behind this is because of its ability to still survive during drought and its ability to cover spots that are already bare.

It is also water absorbent, so you don’t have to worry about soaking your entire lawn.


Above is all the information that you need for you to be able to start planting grass in your lawn. Choose among the best grass mentioned above for your lawn to be able to be rejuvenated again.

 

 

About the Author Ann Katelyn

I'm Ann Katelyn, Creator and Chief Author of Sumo Gardener. Since I was a child I've always been fascinated with plants and gardens, and as an adult this has developed into my most loved hobby. I have dedicated most of my life to gardening and started Sumo Gardener as a way to express my knowledge about gardening with the hope of helping other people's gardens thrive.

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