Selecting the Right Grass Seed

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Selecting the Right Grass Seed

Most grass seed are packaged as blends. Over the long term blends produce a more durable lawn. When conditions are detrimental to a particular species of grass other species step up to help keep your lawn thick and green.

Common blends include:

All Purpose: Best choice when one blend is to be used in both sun and shade.
Sun: Best choice in areas that receive direct sun exposure for most of the day.
Shade: Best choice in areas that are shaded for most of the day.
Fast: Ideal for fast germination to repair bare spots and restore damaged turf.

There are numerous species of grasses, each with their own unique properties. Most often, grass seed is a mixture of 3-4 species blended to give you an array of desirable qualities.

Here are the most commonly used species:

Kentucky Bluegrass

Its name comes from its deep blue-green colour. Kentucky Bluegrass is fine textured grass used in home lawns, sports fields and golf courses.

Pros:

Deep rich colour.
Spreading root system repairs damaged turf.
Very winter hardy.
Good disease resistance.
Many varieties available.

Cons:

Slow to germinate (21-30 days).
Poor shade tolerance.
Requires regular watering and fertilizer.

Fine Fescues

A very fine-textured family of grasses, which include Chewing Fescue, Creeping Red Fescue, Hard Fescue and Sheep's Fescue.

Pros:

Shade tolerant (up to 65% shade).
Low maintenance (require little watering or fertilizer).
Very winter hardy.
Blends well with bluegrass in mixes.

Cons:

Slower to germinate (14-21 days).
Not durable to heavy traffic.

Perennial Ryegrass

Very popular, this grass shows up in golf courses, sports fields and home lawns all over the world.

Pros:

Very fast germination (7 days).
Good disease resistance.
Dark green colour, fine leaf texture.
Blends well with bluegrasses and fine fescues.

Cons:

Does not spread – a bunch grass.
Not very winter hardy.
Not shade tolerant.
Requires regular watering and fertilizer.

Annual Ryegrass

A coarser grass used mainly as a "nurse grass" for other species or as a low cost ground cover. Annual Ryegrass jumps up quickly and holds the weeds back while the rest of the grasses establish. It is not very suitable for a fine lawn.

Pros:

Fast germination (5-7 days).

Cons:

Light green colour.
Very coarse blade – unattractive.
Annual – only lasts one year.
Not shade tolerant.
Grows faster than other species so is usually longer than other grasses in a stand.

Turf Type Tall Fescue

This specie is renowned for it's drought tolerance (its roots reach 3-6 ft to reach moisture) and is widely adaptable across the transition zone and parts of the Northern US.

Creeping Bentgrass

This variety is famous for its use on golf course putting greens. Creeping Bentgrass's extreme density is what produces its signature "billiard table" surface when cut short.

Creeping Bentgrass has its pros and cons like the other grasses, but most importantly, it is not really suited to residential use. Many people would love to have a putting green in their back yard but the reality is that Bentgrass requires tremendous maintenance to produce the results we are used to seeing at the golf course. It's proper cutting height (1/4 to 3/8 of an inch) cannot be achieved with a regular lawn mower. Stands should be cut every second to third day and watered and fertilized heavily. If you are truly interested in undertaking all of this, please contact a local greens superintendent and he or she can provide you with more detail about putting green maintenance.

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