Jonathan Green(11960) Black Beauty Shady Nooks Grass Seed - Cool Season Lawn Seed (25 lb)

Well, we have no clue what we're doing. We moved from the city up to southern NH last year and managed to kill half our grass. After extensive googling, it was probably a combination of two things: (1) grubs, (2) mowing too short (it seemed like such a good idea to mow to the shortest setting then we wouldn't have to mow as often...).We started with a wooded lot, lots of neighbors with beautiful lawns in mid-May, tons of moss, dandelions, weeds, bare patches, and tufts of yellow-brown sad grass in some places. We bought this Shady Nooks based on reviews here. We had no idea how big our yard was, so got the 7-pound / 5,000 sqft bag; 5,000 sqft sounds huge! It was not enough, so we got a 25-lb bag of Black Beauty Ultra from a nearby garden store too (our yard seems to be between 10k-15k sqft). The places where we seeded Shady Nooks (better than Black Beauty Ultra) and watered are growing great, it's been 3 weeks.Since we don't know what we're doing and didn't have a huge budget for tools nor extensive attention span, here's what we did:1) Bought a Scott Snap Spreader and a bag of whatever was cheapest (insecticide I think), spread that then cut the bag open and refilled2) Spread Jonathan Green MagiCal lime to raise soil pH because we have many pines which lower soil pH and make it hard for grass to grow, but easy for grubs, weeds, and moss3) Spread starter fertilizer4) Spread Shady Nook's seed5) Set up a timer and oscillating sprinkler to water for 10 minutes morning & eveningNote: we did not de-thatch that seemed too complicated for us, we also did not aerate soil for the same reason; in few places we used a hoe to loosen moss (but not all moss areas)Results:1-2 days -- old grass seemed to get greener probably enjoying some fertilizer1 week -- some grass sprouting2 weeks -- stopped watering, much grass sprouting in shaded areas where we watered; grass grew both on bare soil, bare patches between old grass, and within moss!3 weeks -- grass is greater than 2" high in placesSummary:This Shady Nooks grass is great for a wooded lot & people who don't know what they're doing Shady Nooks seems to grow in sunnier areas (4-6hrs) also. Watering seems to be absolutely necessary, but grass was able to grow on top of moss! Possibly we could have seeded denser in bare areas because we don't have a lawn per se, but as I said we have no clue what we're doing. We're just incredibly happy that any grass grew!

As the first photo shows, I have a section of lawn that is heavily shaded by several mature trees. Always struggled with keeping grass in this area because once the trees reached peak foliage, the hours of daily shade caused the sun & shade mix I generally use to die off.I started over with fresh loam, starter fertilizer with crabgrass preventer and Jonathan Green shady nooks seed. The time between the first and second photo is 6 weeks.Couple of observations:I live in Massachusetts and undertook this in early May so temps are sometimes lower than optimal for germinating new seed. Even so, I kept the seed moist with daily watering when there was no rain.The claimed germination percentage for this seed is 90-92 percent. I don't have a scientific measure of what i got but my guess would be more like 75-80 percent. Because of that, I did an overseeding at week three to get the density of turf you see in the photos.I had my tree service trim back the overhang on several trees last fall so the shade canopy is not as heavy as in the past.Its now July and the grass is still green and healthy so I guess its on me to maintain it going forward. If it comes in looking this good next spring, it will be worth the effort. Until then, I will recommend it!

It is better than the cheaper leading brand product. Faster, denser and healthier grass came out.

Our backyard is almost completely covered with shade due to the old oaks surrounding our property. The before picture is from the spring, the after photo is after four weeks of consistently watering and adding compost. We have some grass finally! The blades are a beautiful green and will hopefully continue to grow well. 25 lb bag was enough to completely cover our yard and we will have plenty for over seeding.

It was slow to germinate but the conditions at the time i seeded didnt help. I am very happy with the results and it’s thriving under large oaks in a yard i was told by my neighbor that no one was ever able to grow grass in the 25 years hes lived there.

This seed grew faster and thicker than other brands.

I’ve been watering this seed for 16 days straight and the temps have been beautiful for grass growing, but nothing yet. I’ve used jonathan green seed many times in the past and had great results within a week. I’m really hoping in the next week I see SOMETHING! Yes I used plenty of green-up too. These guys make the best seed money can buy but thus is the first time I’ve ever used shady nook.. I’m still optimistic but disappointed it’s taking so long for any results.

Grows where no other grass will grow! In the area where this seed was planted, the ground was reseeded by various Scotts brand seeds as well as by TruGreen 7 times at multiple points in the season over a period of 4 years with no germination at all. The only time seed had germinated there before was with Scotts patchmaster, and the little that did germinate was extremely fragile and completely died after germination in about 2 weeks. This seed germinated in 2 days after planting in an alley between two multiple story buildings with no direct sunlight in clay soil! Incredible. After 7 days the grass is about about an inch high and filling in better every day. Makes growing grass exciting. I thought those two ideas previously to be pretty oxymoronic. I originally thought the grass coming up so fast and thick was some kind of joke...now the joke is on me I guess since I am going to have to break out the lawnmower in another week.