What is the Best Grass Seed?

I think I have found the best grass seed as I have the perfect lush green eco friendly lawn, well at least in my mind I do. And perhaps thanks to Eco-Lawn from Wildflower Farms that lush green grass I envision will become a reality. Oh, did I forget to mention my perfect eco lawn needs no watering, fertilizer, bug killer and only needs mowing once a month at most?

Is Eco-Lawn Really the Best Grass Seed Ever?

A lush Eco-Lawn, alas not mine

As hard as it is to believe that is what Eco-Lawn™ grass seed claims - eco-lawn grass seed produces an extremely drought tolerant, low maintenance lawn. Since the roots of this fine fescue grass blend grow 9-14 inches deep it crowds out any weeds (it is also allelopathic which means the grass exudes a natural herbicide to prevent weeds), and grows deep enough that harmful chemical fertilizers are not needed, plus an Eco-Lawn is naturally resistant to bugs, grubs and insects! If that doesn't sound like the best grass seed ever I don't know what is.

Actually I had heard similar good things about Zoysia grass seed, but after looking into it further I found out that Zoysia grass doesn't grow well in cooler climates. Eco-Lawn™ is produced in Canada so as you can imagine if it grows that far north it will thrive in cooler climates. As far as growing in hot climates like Arizona - Wildflower Farms says it grows great, but you'll need to water it maybe once a week - much less than traditional grass seed.

Reading all the claims and testimonials got me quite excited to try this low maintenance eco-friendly grass seed for myself to find out of it really is the best grass seed for my lawn and thanks to the fine folks at Wildflower Farm I get the chance....

My Eco Lawn Grass Seed Experiment, and the Best Grass Seed Is...?

Before Eco-Lawn Seeding - What a Mess!

Since the front portion of our lawn was looking pretty burnt out I figured that would be a good place to start. The best time to plant grass seed is in the fall (for Northern climates), the second best time to plant grass seed is in the spring and like any kid with a new toy I couldn't wait to start so the spring it is.

The Wildflower Farms website has lots of information about the best times to plant grass seed, the best grass seed for overseeding and installation tips for planting Eco-Lawn™ grass seed in particular. If you over seed a lawn like I was planning it can take a few years to get a completely established eco lawn, but since the lawn was pretty burnt out already we'll see how it goes.

One tip for overseeding that I wish I had done was to de-thatch the lawn with a metal rake, but since it was spring they suggested not to do so because it stirs up the weed seeds. I found the weeds were plenty ready to pop up anyway so de-thatching the lawn seems like it would have helped the grass seed get established better as the areas where the thatch had been removed with a loose raking are coming up better. I may have to try another section of the lawn in the fall as a comparison.

Best grass seed for cooler climates: updates and overseeding tips

It has been a few weeks and some areas are coming up better than others, but so far things are looking good. I can tell though that with the overseeding method it will take lots of time and patience.

Stay tuned for my progress, I'll let you know how things go... and someday perhaps the eco-friendly lush green lawn I envision will be the one I see out the window.

Update: Fall 2010
It is now fall and time for seeding number two. I can tell already the over-seeding method is going to take plenty of patience. There was an area of the lawn that I had to re-bury the sprinkler system (long story - don't ask) and in that area I had covered it with compost. Over the summer the eco-lawn grass seed was coming up nice and thick in that area... problem was so was a mighty interesting collection of weeds. So here are a few observations and tips I would suggest.

Eco-Lawn Over Seeding Tips:
1. If you plan to over-seed make sure you have plenty of patience - it will take awhile.
2. For best results lay down a layer of compost and mix the seed into that - I strongly suggest you somehow pre-treat the compost for weeds. If anyone knows of a way to prevent weed growth in composted soil please comment below - we'd all like to know!
3. Even though Wildflower Farms recommends you do not de-thatch the lawn with a metal rake for spring seeding I think I would have had better results if I had. The main reason they do not recommend it is because it stirs up the weed seeds, but I found both the compost covered area and the non-composted area were full of weeds anyway. Based on the areas of eco-lawn seed that were growing the best it was in areas that had looser soil.

Update: Spring 2011
A new season of Eco-lawn overseeding begins! Well, I've had a bit of a set back... we had some not so pleasant visitors over the winter - Moles! or voles or shrews or whatever those tunnel digging pests are that invaded my fall seeding. So my struggling patch looked like an ant farm if it was laid out over the lawn - lots of tracks and tunnels.

I laid down another run of eco-lawn grass seed so we'll see how this next phase of the overseeding goes. I still hold firm on my advice to just bite the bullet and till your lawn before planting your eco-lawn grass seed - overseeding isn't for the impatient.

More updates coming this fall... stay tuned.

If you've tried converting your lawn to an eco lawn please comment below, I'd love to hear about your progress. And what is your opinion - is Eco-Lawn the best grass seed ever?