On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 16:46:22 GMT, Dawn wrote:
Can anyone recommend a "good" brand of grass seed or tell me how to
determine if a bag of seed is "good quality"? I ask because I've come to
the conclusion that I need to seed, fertilize and weed control the yard
better if we want grass, and I keep reading that I need "good" seed
that doesn't have weeds in it. How do you tell? (because they all claim
to be the best)

I'd start with a soil test, if at all possible. See:
http://www.cjnetworks.com/~sccdistrict/soilspub.htm

And on the subject of grass, how do you pick a variety that will do
well? I have such a mix of conditions, full sun, heavy shade, partial,
on poor soil with dry summers and winters (zone 5). The yard is bare in
spots and a foot deep in others. I'd really like something a little more
even.

Can you stand to wait till late summer/early fall to seed? You'll get much
better establishment then. In the meantime, you can figure out what you want,
do some liming and fertilization, and perhaps some spot tillage and then head
after the perennial weeds.

Here's pretty much how I'd do it:
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/sty/2001/wantgoodlawn.htm

There are a couple of possible gotchas he most lawn seed is sold in the
spring. Most lawn seed available in the fall has sat on some hot storeroom
shelf all summer long, and will not be as viable as it was when it was tested.
I'd buy now and store it in the basement over the summer, on a pallet, not
directly on the concrete floor.

What seed to buy? Brand name is usually immaterial. Buy the species you want
(in Kansas, usually Kentucky bluegrass for sunny areas, turf-type fescues
for shadier areas. If you've got distinct sun and shade areas, it makes more
sense to buy some bluegrass and some fescue separately, rather than a mix.)
I don't go for high maintenance lawns, so I prefer to see a variety of
cultivars (variety of one species) rather than a single cultivar. Or I'd
prefer to buy seed that has not been selected for uniformity. No point in
putting your eggs in one genetic basket, imho, unless you like being a lawn
slave.

How to buy: look on the label. You'll see several things on it:
-- species that you're buying
-- percentage germination
-- species you don't want (weed seeds)
-- amount of loose, inviable matter (usually bits of broken chaff) (inerts)

What I do:
1) reject seed lots that have weed species I don't want to deal with
(weeds in one part of the country may not be bad in another)

2) figure the actual cost of pure, live seed.
Take the percentage of the seed you want (let's say you're dealing
with 96% Kentucky bluegrass), and multiply by the germination rate
(let's say 85%), and divide by 100:
(96 Ky bluegrass * 85 germination)/100 = 76.5% PLS (pure, live seed)

What this means is that of every 100 seed bits you plant, you can expect
a maximum of 76.5 to come up and be what you want.

3) figure the cost per pound of PLS: in this case, let's say the price
per pound is $1, but really only 76.5% is seed that's going to grow.
So the real cost per pound is 1.00/0.765 or about $1.31/lb of pls
This turns out to be really useful in figuring out the better deals.

I'd also urge you to consider some of the new "high endophyte" turf grasses if
you live in suburbia and aren't likely to ever have grazing animals. They're
more resistant to pests and diseases. Or you might consider some of the
native grasses, perhaps buffalo grass, Buchloe dactyloides, for a very
drought tolerant lawn.

Kay Lancaster