Smart Seed Sun and Shade Tall Fescue Grass Seed Mix for Southern Lawns 20 lb

I needed coverage in an area that gets about 3 hours of sun but not all of the area at the same time. East side of house between fence and house. Sodded with St. Augustin last year but construction traffic took a toll and TX summer I could not save it. I planted the seed a week ago exactly and I could see sprouts coming up a couple of days ago. Here are photos today 1 week after sowing seed. Area with longest amount of sun coming up nicely. Areas where less length of sun coming up but slower. Area with very little sun, I can barely see any coming up. I csn only water once a day due to work. We had nice amount of rain on 4th day after planting. I would and will buy again. Updated. More photos at 14 days and 21 days. I will be buying this again in the spring for the other side of the house. Updated July 30, 2023. Could not take the North Texas heat. I water every other day and in the evening when there is no sun shining on the grass. It could not hold up. Very disappointed, I spent a lot of time watering and nurturing this seed on the side of my house that gets sun from 11am to 4pm.

I have been seeding fescue For over 15 years, last year the price of fescue at my local store tripled and so I said what the heck I’ll just buy it off of Amazon. I am definitely buying it again this year. It survived the entire year, Just to bolster was already there. Never in my 15 years of planting fescue annually has the grass survived the entire year, there’s always major brown spots. Not with this product, the grass is full and thick from last years planting. This summer was the hottest summer we’ve had since I’ve been planting fescue and I cannot believe that it’s still alive. For those people that are planting it in the spring and expecting it to grow well, fescue does not grow well in the spring. You have to plan it in the fall and let it grow into the ground and then in the spring it will come strong.

This seed does the job. A bonus is that it yellows a bit during a drought but revives with rain. It does not have the deep green color but it is an OK medium shade of green. It is easy to apply. Of course if you rake it in and water it right away is will grow. However, it is resilient. Recently my gardener just threw it around bare patches and it rained within 24 hours and still sprouted even without raking.

I do not know anything about planting grass seed And have a black thumb, but this stuff was magical. Our house was elevated and so all of the grass was destroyed and sand was left in its place. I bought a bunch of different grass seed initially so I could see what if anything would grow. And this was the only one out of 5. I live in a very hot, sunny and humid place. A few times a week for about 3 weeks, I’d go throw some of this grass seed around the yard. I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect anything to grow, but my grass is back! Within a week I could see little sprouts of grass popping up everywhere. It’s on par with all of the other grass seed we priced but actually worked unlike the rest.

The grass never grew and company refused to honor warranty as shown on package

This seed has worked well for me. I have bought 3 bags so far to overseed the Bermuda grass and weeds that originally made up my front and back yard lawn areas. The seed germinates well and grows quickly in both sun and shade. The grass tolerated the southeast Oklahoma temps last summer and fall. The only watering it gets is rain. I put the last bag down in November and new grass has been growing since then. It has tolerated the recent cold weather and snow well, too. I will be putting another bag down soon to continue overseeding and building up the turf.

In years past this was great seed and I have been the envy of my cul de sac with my lush, green beautiful lawn. I don’t know what happened this year but no matter where I have purchased from, the seed does not germinate. Neighbors have expressed the same issues with this brand and type of seed. I was in Lowe’s and the couple behind me was buying 4 bags of a competitor in early October and I inquired about whether they’d tried Pennington Smart Seed Sun and shade and they said that was their brand until this year because 4 bags did not germinate. In NC you only have September to get the seed down and germinating before the leaves start falling so this year I will be lucky if I even get a lawn which anyone who lives on a slope knows is essential. Very disappointing, had this brand/type on subscribe and save and had to return 2 bags but I’m out of luck on the other 6 20 lb bags that I’d already purchased because Pennington won’t refund without a bag which of course I discarded. There should be a class action lawsuit for Pennington this year.