There are many different turf-grasses, but some are more suited for deep shade than others. This article provides advice on choosing the best shade seed mix for your particular grass growing conditions.
If you’re looking for a grass seed suitable for a cooler or northern climate then you’ll want to look at the fescue variety of seed. If you’re in a warmer climate and looking for a good shade seed then something along the lines of the St. Augustine grass is a better choice for you.
Experts recommend that you choose a shade seed that has a mix of seeds in it; look for a seed mix that has some combination of the following seeds:
Kentucky Bluegrass
Perennial Ryegrass
Creeping Red Fescue
Chewings Fescue
Two good shade seed mixes for heavy shade
Before choosing the best grass seed for your conditions, you need to assess your level of shade. Are you dealing with partial shade (four to six hours of sunlight a day) or heavy shade (fewer than four hours of sunlight a day)?
If your lawn is in partial shade, you obviously have more choice in grass seed. However, there are some companies that make grass seed designed to germinate and grow in heavy shade.
Scotts Turf Builder De
nse Shade Grass Seed is one such grass seed specially designed for deep shade. Made up of a variety of fescues, this seed is an excellent shade seed mix for those really challenging deep shade conditions such as on the north side of a building or under a heavy tree canopy.
Another good brand of grass seed for heavy shade is Jonathan Green 10602 Dense Shade Grass Seed Mix
Scotts and Jonathan Green brands cost about the same – an average of $5.00 a pound if you buy on Amazon with free delivery.
How to maintain your shade lawn
At first growing grass in heavy shade can seem like a daunting proposition. However, by taking the adequate steps even in heavy shade grass can be quite successful. If you put in the effort, and use the appropriate shade seed for your location, you will be rewarded with a luxurious shady lawn!
Once you’ve decided which kind of grass best suits your needs, you need to seed early in the fall so that your turf-grass can mature. And then after you’ve seeded, you need to make sure that you are maintaining your new lawn properly.
During the fall, when your grass is growing, you need to make sure that you keep your yard free of fallen leaves so that the grass gets enough oxygen to grow. You’re going to want to keep your mowing height at least one-half an inch higher than normal.
Fertilizer is still important in heavily shaded areas where you’re growing grass. This will help your grass develop a high tolerance to possible diseases and environmental stresses.
For grass in highly shaded areas, you do not need to water it as frequently as grass in highly sunny areas, but you must allow the grass to be watered more deeply to facilitate proper development.
Use a good seed mixture labeled for dense shade. Seed it in the Spring, when there will be no leaves so it can get established. Mow it high. Keep leaves off it in the Fall by removing them frequently. But, even doing all that, if it’s in an area like the north side of a house with trees, it may be impossible to maintain a decent lawn. For those locations, a shade type ground cover or similar may be the best solution.
As a final note, I would add that the fescues are the most shade tolerant cool season shade seed for growing turfgrass. If that doesn’t grow for you then it’s time to look at ground covers.
Shade Seed: Why I Choose Eco-Lawn
I have difficult growing conditions on my property. Not only is my lawn shaded by mature cedar trees, but the thirsty roots of these giants rob the lawn of water and nutrients.
I did quite a bit of research before choosing Eco-Lawn as my shade seed. Though not specifically advertised as a shade seed, in my experience Eco-Lawn works just fine for shady conditions.
In addition, it is an environmentally responsible grass seed. This is because Eco-lawn is:
- extremely drought tolerant
- disease and pest resistant
- very slow growing
The last point is important because slow growing means you mow it less frequently. And less frequent mowing means less carbon emissions from your lawn mower.
What convinced me
What sold me on Eco-Lawn is that it could handle my difficult growing conditions, and even better – it hardly requires mowing! My husband loved that part 
Why does Eco-Lawn grow so slowly? I’m not exactly sure, but I suppose it is the nature of the fine fescue seeds that make up the mix.
All I know is that it grows extremely slowly, so that it only requires mowing about once a month (compared to once a week during growing season for traditional lawns). Eco-Lawn will typically only grow 9 inches a year.
The downside to this is a minor one: Eco-Lawn is slower to establish than faster growing lawns. Whereas normally a lawn will germinate and be a couple of inches tall within a month, I found that Eco-Lawn took about twice that length of time.
What’s in Eco-Lawn?
Eco-Lawn is a blend of seven fine fescues that produces a healthy thick green lawn with minimal care requirements. Here are the specific fine fescue grasses that comprise Eco-Lawn: Sheep Fescue Lifine Slender Fescue Longfellow II Chewings Fescue Navigator Creeping Red Fescue Jasper II Creeping Red Fescue Heron Hard Fescue Chariot Hard Fescue
Why is Eco-Lawn drought tolerant?
Eco-Lawn is drought tolerant for two reasons. First, it produces grass blades that are extremely thin. Typical lawn grass varieties have thick, succulent blades that require a great deal of water to maintain turf structure and health.The thin blades of Eco-Lawn’s fescues are less susceptible to desiccation.
Eco-Lawn also has an exceptionally deep root system. Most lawns support roots a few inches in length, necessitating frequent watering. An established Eco-Lawn’s roots penetrate up to nine inches in hard pan clay and 14 inches in sandy soils, siphoning up residual subterranean moisture throughout the growing season.
Why doesn’t Eco-Lawn need fertilizing?
Eco-Lawn, unlike traditional turf grasses, creates a deep root system. It will make roots up to 9 inches deep in hard-pan clay soils and up to 14 inches deep in sandy soils. These deep root systems enable Eco-Lawn to naturally source the nutrients it requires from the soil so you don’t need to add chemical fertilizers.
Why doesn’t Eco-Lawn need pesticides?
Apparently Eco-Lawn is less vulnerable to many insects that love to destroy shallow rooted sod lawns. Its deep and dense root system makes an inhospitable environment for many insects that like to live just below the surface of a shallow rooted sod lawn.
Many insect pests like to eat the exotic grasses such as Bermuda and Kentucky Blue but are not attracted to the Eco-Lawn fine fescue grasses. Pesticides are therefore not required for Eco-Lawn care – an incalculable value to any family with children and pets
Is Eco-Lawn genetically modified (GMO)?
No, none of the species in Eco-Lawn are genetically modified. Four of the fescues in Eco-Lawn are native species and three are hybridized species.
How much does Eco-Lawn seed cost?
I did some comparison shopping and found that Eco-lawn was priced quite competively with other lawn seed. It works out to about $6 a pound.
How hardy is Eco-Lawn?
Eco-Lawn is guaranteed hardy to growing zone 3. The bottom line is that Eco-Lawn is a low maintenance, drought tolerant turf grass that in cool or moderately warm climates requires no watering, no fertilizing and very little mowing. However, if you live in a hot southern climate, you will need to water it once or twice a week depending on the weather.
This article explains what is meant by “full sun”, “part shade” and “full shade” and recommends the best shade seed for lawns in each light condition.
It can be confusing to determine what is “sunny” vs. “shady”. After all, most yards have a combination of sun and shade throughout the day.
Evaluating your available light
Full Sun – A site that receives lots of sun–direct sun at least 6 hours a day or dappled sun (as through a high tree leaf canopy) almost all day–is called a SUNNY site. This is a great place to grow grass and most lawn grasses thrive in these sites.
Part Shade – A site that receives a mix of sun and shade –at least 4 but fewer than 6 hours of sun over the entire day–is in PARTIAL SHADE. Some spots may not receive sun, but may enjoy bright indirect light a good bit of the time. In these areas it is advisable to plant grass seed labeled for shade.
Full Shade – A landscape that gets very little sun–fewer than four hours a day, or low light (under thick tree canopies)–is in DEEP SHADE. It’s going to be difficult to grow turfgrass on these sites. As an alternative, you can plant sturdy, evergreen groundcovers such as pachysandra or ivy. These plants are green, very low maintenance and promote tree health. While it can be done, growing turf grass in deep shade is extremely labor-intensive and is an ongoing challenge.