i need to buy some grass seed and i was wondering if the quality is OK at
HD, etc?
Are the packages dated?

thanks, bill

should be fine since they sell in BIG volume....

Buy the best you can afford. HD is fine for grass seed.
But beware (this is for ANY place) cheap seeds have
more weeds in them. They'll grow just as well as your
nice grass seed. Then you'll have to deal with weed and
feed to kill them. The better stuff minimalizes that problem.

Tom

wrote:
Buy the best you can afford. HD is fine for grass seed.
But beware (this is for ANY place) cheap seeds have
more weeds in them. They'll grow just as well as your
nice grass seed. Then you'll have to deal with weed and
feed to kill them. The better stuff minimalizes that problem.

Tom

It all depends what you are looking for. If you want average seed,
targeted at the mass market, what's available at HD, etc is OK. I
wouldn't worry about the age, they move stuff in volume, so it's
unlikely to be old seed.

On the other hand, if you want the best grass, you won't find it at HD.
There is a lot of info available online for evaluations over many
years and in different areas of the country, where various specific
varieties of grass have been tested and rated. The ratings are in
numerous categories, like summer color, fall color, drought tolerance,
disease tolerance, ect. You can then pick a specific seed and
generally find it online. Search for NTEP, which is the rating
program.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Buy the best you can afford. HD is fine for grass seed.
But beware (this is for ANY place) cheap seeds have
more weeds in them. They'll grow just as well as your
nice grass seed. Then you'll have to deal with weed and
feed to kill them. The better stuff minimalizes that problem.

It's all on the label. The label will show you the percentages of grass
seeds (by type) and weed seed. It should also have a date, or at least a
"packed for the 2006 growing season" on it.

Note that some of the cheaper mixes are 70-95% annual grass. This is fine
for filling in some patches very quickly, but it won't last more than the
season. I like to uses mixes that are closer to 50/50 annual/perennial.
The annual grasses give you quick cover, and protect the slower-growing
perennial grasses as they grow.

The above is true for upper midwestern climates -- YMMV.

-Tim

On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:51:20 GMT, "bill allemann"
wrote:

i need to buy some grass seed and i was wondering if the quality is OK at
HD, etc?
Are the packages dated?

thanks, bill


Sure. Grass seed quality varies greatly. Look for one with the
lowest percentage of weed seed in it. Seed packages are dated and I
would not buy seed dated more than 6 months ago.

"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:51:20 GMT, "bill allemann"
wrote:

i need to buy some grass seed and i was wondering if the quality is OK at
HD, etc?
Are the packages dated?

thanks, bill


Sure. Grass seed quality varies greatly. Look for one with the
lowest percentage of weed seed in it. Seed packages are dated and I
would not buy seed dated more than 6 months ago.

I would add that you should look for varieties of grass that will grow well
in your conditions. Particularly sunny or shady and high or low traffic. A
mixture of mostly dwarf rye and some bluegrass (up to 20%) works well in the
SF bay area.

Call the sod farms to see what they sell regionally and then look for a seed
mix with similar grasses.

bill allemann wrote:

i need to buy some grass seed and i was wondering if the quality is OK
at HD, etc?
Are the packages dated?

thanks, bill

If you are going to all of the trouble of seeding a new lawn, or
sizeable portion of one, it might pay to get a soil test beforehand.
County extension service probably will do one for reasonable cost, as
well as recommend a seed that is right for your area and conditions.

bill allemann wrote:
i need to buy some grass seed and i was wondering if the quality is OK at
HD, etc?
Are the packages dated?

thanks, bill

Yeah, everybody's right; don't just buy "grass seed", break it down to
what you need and then you can look at the package contents.

Here's a typical list of grass properties:
http://www.acehardware.com/sm-different-types-of-grass-seed--bg-1271349.html
seems to be slanted to cold climate grasses.

Your choices need to be:

1) hot climate or cold climate; biggest overall factor

Also, easy

2) annual or perennial?
This is pretty easy, generally: Ryegrass can be annual or perennial; as
you may suspect, you probably don't want annual unless you just need to
cover something for one summer, to prevent erosion. (I use annual
ryegrass as a winter cover for the vegetable garden and dig it in in
the spring). You will be amazed when you see how much annual ryegrass
is in some of the cheaper mixes. Pops up fast, makes your lawn look
great real quick, but next summer you're scratching your head trying to
figure out what you did wrong, and you never think that it was the
species in the bag.

After that, you need to decide the following, no single species of
grass covers them all:

3) sun or shade?
4) high traffic?

grasses that handle shade tend to not be very tolerant of being walked
on, and vice versa.

5) bunching or creeping?

Creeping grasses spread by rhizomes, underground runners. This is great
for filling in holes in the lawn; not so great when they are next to
your flower bed. Bunching grasses don't. The above site doesn't talk
about it much, this is a bit better:
http://spokane-county.wsu.edu/spokane/eastside/Fact%20Sheets/C054%20Grasses%20for%20the%20INW%2005.pdf

Next level of importance:
6) drought tolerant?
7) stays green in winter?
8) fertilizing needs?

if you still have any choices left, you can decide on things like
9) fine or coarse?
10) mowing needs

And, needless to say, the lower the weed seeds the better. Definitely!!

If you have a real isolated niche, like a shady spot under some trees
or a playground, you can go for a really limited mix that's really
slanted towards one type or another. If you're looking for an overal
mix for a lawn with a lot of conditions, then you've got to figure out
what kind of a balance you need and go for a mix that covers it. After
all that, when I've known what I needed and bought a mix that matched
my needs, I've not had problems with big box store grass seed that made
me go seek any better alternatives.