Black Beauty® Dense Shade Grass Seed

I use it in an area that never gets sun from April to September. Grass is small and grows slowly, but it is nice and green. Excellent customer service, very knowledgeable and gives great advice. Survives with little water.

Field conditions: Seeded: June 1, 2020 Geo Location: South Nassau, L.I. NY Install location: Deep shade, 1/4″ high-quality topsoil on top of BACKFILL. Area 3.5′ x 35′. Fertilizer added. Weather: 55 – 75 some clouds, some rain. Seeded DENSE SHADE per directions on 1/4″ of high quality top soil. added fast start pellets. Kept moist daily. Sprouted on 6th day following steady, gentle rains and warm weather. SO far So good! 

I purchased Dense Shade for large patches in two very shady areas (I\’d estimate 70-80% shade) of the lawn, in addition to the Ultra sun and shade for over-seeding in the entire yard (total 11,000sf). I only got very sparse germination in the two shady areas I was most concerned about (have photos I could send). I followed all preparation instructions: aerated, limed soil to bring pH between 6-7, applied Jonathan Green\’s starter fertilizer after the seed and raked it all in gently, made sure seed was well and evenly distributed; then watered about 2x day to keep moist (sometimes 3x if needed). We had cooler-than normal temps the first two weeks of May — high 50s/low 60s, but steadily in the high 60s-low 80s in the last two weeks. Now, most of the yard is lush, thick green, but just over 4 weeks after planting, the shady areas are still mostly bare. Not sure what else I could have done? Frankly, I\’m surprised by all the 5-star ratings here!

JG: Photos requested by email. 

Spent a lot of time and energy preparing the ground as instructed. Watered as directed…no growth at all. Waste of time and money.

Jonathan Green response: We are having an unseasonably cold spring. Until your soil temperature is 55° consistently, grass will not grow. Right now in NJ, it is only 45°. Please email us for further assistance. 

I live in the back of a large apt. complex, the area behind my apt. is very shady, the landscapers ignore it because management doesn’t come back there very often. It’s been many years since sine there has been any grass because it’s so shady. I just threw the seed out , no prep work, used a gallon jug to spread it the best I could. It started growing in about 9 or 10 days, I have green grass behind my apartment for the time in many years, The landscapers can’t ignore it anymore , now they have to mow it.

Grass is growing like a champ!!! There has been no grass in this area for about 5 years. I highly recommend this grass for shaded and not so shaded areas!!!

As I put the seed down mid October due to such hot weather in September followed by a vacation it is difficult to determine at this point how the seed will do. There is some seed that has come up but we are have temperatures below 60 degrees at night – not the ideal conditions to have planted seed. I will keep you posted in the spring. I may over seed in the early spring which of course is less than ideal. With all of that said I really did not give this seed a fair shot so it is difficult for me to give a fair review.

Planted the grass seed in an area of my yard where no grass had grown for several years because of the trees, but this is working.

Put down early October in Cincinnati, Oh. Kept it watered, came up well. So far, so good!

I’ve used this for a few years every fall in dense shade areas and it works very well and I overseed to thicken up existing shaded grass

fAST GROWTH

The seed germinates very quickly and does a great job covering the area seeded. One word of caution. If this grass gets even any indirect sun in the northeast Texas climate, the grass finally dies. It must be in total shade ALL the time to do well in Texas. I am hoping the grass that is in total shade stays healthy. I know it says DENSE SHADE grass and that is why I am giving it a five since it does what they say but again I am not too sure it can take the Texas heat even if it is in total shade.

I bought this locally and just ordered more on Amazon. It was planted last week and is growing quite well in the Chicago area. I’m using it to overseed and repair a lot of empty spots under a big river birch tree.
One tip: don’t waste time making the lawn perfect for grass seed. I mowed to a shorter than normal level, I leave the grass clippings (all year), and I throw the grass seed by spreader and water lightly for a few days, more if it is dry. My lawn in back will never be great because of dogs, but at least it won’t be a mud pit.
My front lawn is beautiful under a maple tree. Leave your grass clippings— best thing you can do for your lawn.

Really works to grow beautiful grass in Densely Shaded Areas! I highly recommend this product as it really has given me very nice grass, relatively quickly on my very very shaded property.

Got this for a dense shaded area within a week the grass is coming in nicely. Will order more for sun/shade for the rest of my lawn. I tried another well known brand and had not one seed sprouted. Hopefully black beauty will be just as successful with the sun/shade mix as I was with the dense shade mix. A little on the higher price but if it works than its’ worth it to me, instead of wasting money on seed that doesn’t ever sprout. I would give it 5 stars but I don’t know yet how it will continue to grow and hold up yet.

Picture was taken exactly 1 week after planting seed. Looks to be coming along quite nicely. Just be sure to water at least once per day, twice for good measure.
Will update after 2 weeks.
2nd pic is after 3 weeks since planting. Appears to be thriving, planted some more just beneath original area. A+

This seed germinated quickly with twice-daily watering. Visible grass blades in about 7 days. Application was for new grass area. Approx 1in of new topsoil. Applied lime, new seed fertilizer, dense shade seed, and covered with straw. I believe my rotary spread application was not even and I would recommend perpendicular passes with the spreader for more even distribution.

Thing to know. Use a lot of seeds. After seeding once and experimenting, I found best results where I seeded pretty thickly. I raked then then threw seeds out and then watered about 5-10 min a day depending on heat/weather. Bag says 2-3 weeks to sprout but I saw green in about a week. Super green when it’s sprouting. We’ll see how it does long term, but I’m pleased with the start. I bought a second round to fill in my lack of spread consistency in my first try. I was trying to seed a pretty big area. My yard is super shaded and completely treed and this grass is still growing. I’m about 3 weeks into the process and I’d say my shoots are about an inch and a half maybe 2 inches. I just threw out the second batch of seed so we’ll see how that does. Will update this review as I see how it does. I gave presentation 4 stars because I want to see how it does longer term and whether it holds at the first mowing, etc.

The grass was planted in May (not ideal) under an oak tree. Most of it survived Oklahoma’s brutal summer with minimal watering once established.

I had grass shoots within 6 days in a heavily shaded area. Outperformed Scott’s Sun & Shade! Grass is now 4 in high in 8 days!

This seed is amazing!! I replaced the gravel inside the retaining wall with this seed. The entire area is all rocky clay so I was sceptical that I could get anything to grow without a ton of work. However, I did nothing else other than spread the seed and cover it with a thin layer of leftover potting soil to keep the birds from eating it. Picture #1 is day 3 and picture #2 is day 8. The entire area gets no sun at all. Thank you Jonathan Green!! Highly recommended.

Nice

Grew fast in dense shade and has held up to georgia heat and drought

No sign of grass please refund my money!

After just a couple days I can see the seeds forming into grass!!! Very shaded area under big trees that unfortunately haven’t let my grass grow till now!

Grows under a dense 20′ red jap maple. Basically was pure dirt/mud.. area was heavily tread. Did the trick. Used peat moss and lightly incorporated water gel crystals. Never even watered it w/ 2019 rain in CNY.

It’s August and the grass in the shade looks great

it never came up

Never used grass seed before and cannot believe it grew so fast and grew so well. Amazing. Planted it around base of my big fir tree where is in total shade and also other areas with the leftover seed. Grew everywhere.

Expensive but it grows where others didn’t.

I have an area in the back of my house that literally gets no sun at all, I moved in two years ago and nothing has grown there… not even weeds.
I tried this on a whim because it was a fair price and the reviews were pretty good. I am not disappointed in any way. This product Surprised the crap out of me! The photo attached is about a week and a half or so.
I ordered another bag.

I did blend this product with another brand, so I can’t say – with certainty – that these seeds germinated. But the lawn under a huge shade tree came up nicely – so I’ll have to say, overall, it was a success. The seed did take almost 2 weeks to start to germinate — I thought it should have came up quicker considering the ideal weather conditions and that I sowed the seeds before the shade tree leafed out to give them optimum sun – along with watering daily. They came up quite thin and sparse at first — I’d say it took a good month before it could be safely mowed without damaging the baby shoots. Even now (early summer) I’d have to say the lawn did not come up as thick as I had hoped for — but I’m ok with the result, considering I could never get a blade of grass to grow in the bare spots for almost 10 years. So this year I turned over the soil with a tiller early in the year, added peat moss and other nutrients and started from scratch with a new lawn — definitely the best lawn I’ve had in 10 years.

Once again, Jonathan Green has scored a great product. The seed germinated and started growing within two to three weeks. I have a partially shaded area to contend with that does not hold up well during heavy rainfalls. In spite of the wetness, the new seed grew very well and my bare areas are now covered. I did over seed – and it worked!

Phenomenal product!

Grass is lush and green under the giant oak and maple trees now. Looks beautiful

I live in the Dallas area, hope it survives the summer. Time will tell

I have three big trees in my yard and it is hard to grow grass in the shade. I used Johnathan Green Deep Shade seed and grass started growing right away. Time will tell if it continues to grow and will stay strong all summer. I am pleased how quickly it started growing.

Used to seed very shady area. Germination happened quickly and easily

It’s a liiiiitle pricey, but it makes for beautiful lawns. It took me some work to get it going, but once it took it changed my lawn. I love you Mr Green.

Outstanding performance. Product delivers stated outcomes.

the grass is growing well and I will buy again if needed

easy grow, best grass seed ever

I have tried for more than a few years with “Big Box Store” shady-area seed and no grass would grow in my Northern Virginia yard. I planted Jonathan Green Dense Shade Grass this last fall (Nov) and the few areas that didn’t fill in by spring I replanted. You see in the pics that it is now about 6″ high (May) with no bare spots. This is in a VERY shady area under a large tree. I even planted some extra seed in a sunny spot and it also grew quite nicely. Could not be happier and cannot recommend this seed highly enough!

Thanx

It works good

Grass is growing so far so good.

Sprouted in about 12 days last Fall. Nice dense fine blades. Local stores all run out of dense shade seed every Fall.

Very pleasantly surprised how easy it was to grow beautiful green carpet of grass in such a shady area that was always a hopeless patch of seemingly lifeless dirt.

This product actually works! I has 1/2 of full of Bermuda grass but other half was completely emtpy because of the shade. This product fixed it!

Has definitely helped in our shaded area.

Product works great in shady areas. Just make sure to water every day for a good week or two depending upon temps in your area.

The area where I planted these seeds the sun is blocked by hedges. I’ve tried other seeds and they just don’t work. I planted the seeds 10 days ago and it’s going like crazy. These seeds are the best I am very satisfied with this purchase.

After 4 weeks the grass has come up very well even in very shady areas. The real test will be how it looks in 9 months

Great product. I use it everyday

Hey, I have grass under my oak tree! Sadly it rained right after planted so I just bought some more.

Worked great. Wish I had taken pictures.

The picture I have attached was a piece of dirt on Labor Day weekend CT. So, needless to say, the grass seed has done a great job until this point. There is no direct sunlight in this area (but not exactly triple canopy jungle), and I simply fertilized and laid the seed per instructions. I have been watering religiously, and accepting the water of Ma Nature here in New England. The picture you see is after I mowed today….that’s right, 3 weeks and it needed mowing. The extreme back of the photo (which you really can’t see) has no light exposure – grass is growing but not that thick. No grass will grow without light, so we’ll see what happens.

We recently laid 2 pallets of palmetto St Aug sod. As luck would have it we got rain this summer of biblical proportion. This is not good for sod so I began seeding the dead areas with this product, some areas are partial sun others shaded. The soil under the sod is newly trucked in top soil and these seeds are doing very well. I would say 75% seeded and are growing nicely. I have 3 more pallets of sod to lay (waiting for the monsoon to end) and I intend to seed at the same time. I have no idea how this will handle the cooler weather but so far we are happy with it.

Worked as expected in a very shaded area.

Works great! Haven’t had grass under my oaks trees for the last ten years and in a week it has come up with green grass in 100 degree heat!

Tested a patch on my new home and it grew. Area has many trees and shaded. Grass grew in within a few days. Two weeks later and there are still seeds that are sprouting. South Florida weather. Requires watering daily but what grass doesn’t? Worth the money and I will be purchasing more once we fill the soil and clean it up. Will post before and after.

I have a Bradford Pear (old tree). I never could get grass to even start under it. I planted this “Black Beauty” on Sunday Aug 11, 2018 and had grass up the next Sunday! I first used a plugger to loosen up the soil then spread the seed as evenly as possible under the tree and out as far as I could with the 25lb bag of seed. Then I spread one 20lb bag of Scotts (new seed) starter fertilizer. I had three bags of garden soil 20lb bags taking up space in my basement so I sprinkled it around on top. Lightly rake over to sink the seed a little since this is on a downward slope. Light covered with one bale of straw and watered with a lawn sprinkler. I am amazed that this grass come up since I have never had any to show any promise before under this tree. I will come back with an update as time goes by. We will see if it continues to impress me! Foothills of North Carolina.

This grass grew, and I watched it grow. Then I painted something and watched it dry. I’m currently watching a pot of water NOT boil. I’ve een here for DAYS.
I lead an exciting life.

Works. Enough said. Have reordered more.

If I ever get Jonathan Green’s digits, I’ll ask him to marry me. Their seeds never disappoint, and after years and years of failing Scott’s products, these seeds keep my shaded areas full of beautiful grass. Don’t waste your money on the competitors. Grab this seed and watch grass grow!

I tried this under some live oak trees. After 3 months the grass is still growing. The leaves and shade from a live oak usually kill grass.

Wow! We had grass growing in a matter of days. Hubby mowed about 3weeks after planting! Our yard has dense shade, and I highly recommend Black Beauty.

This grew in a very heavily shaded area where no other grass seed could. The only disappointment is that it doesn’t tolerate foot traffic very well. We isolated the seeded area for 8 weeks to allow the grass to set roots and the grass came in thick and is a very pretty emerald green. But, shortly after we started to allow moderate foot traffic the grass began to die. It’s a very fine blade grass and seems very fragile.

Grew very well in a dense shaded area. I’ll wait to see how it looks in the fall before giving it 5 stars

There is a corner of my yard that receives no direct sunlight. The soil is super compacted/clay. I weeded it and raked an inch or two of compost over it, threw seeds down by hand, kept seedlings moist and had thick new growth in about 10 days. I loved it so much I ordered more to seed over the rest of my lawn. It’s growing well even in sunnier areas.

Have a section of grass that had been struggling since sod off my patio was put down 2 years ago. After North Idaho spring thaw in March I was pretty sure new sod would be needed. Tried this seed as a fill-in for bare spots and grass never looked so lush. Just ordered another bag.

This is the BEST SHADE GRASS I have found! Living in a very shaded area grass has been a challenge. Had my yard aerated & fertilized last august, seeded a week later & reseeded in oct. fertilized again in april & seeded again & a light over seeding again in may. My grass looks awesome!!!

Now have grass growing in our front yard. We have full shade from oak trees and before this seed all we had was dirt and weeds.

I was very skeptical as I’ve literally tried everything on the shaded parts of my lawn. I bought a small amount to test it out. After two weeks, I now see little strong blades of grass growing! I’m buying more to fill in the rest of the holes!

I have an area under a tree that where grass doesn’t easily grow due to the amount of shade. This product sprouted up quickly and looks quite good. I guess the one issue that could be had is that it might not match the look and color of other grass in your yard, but its better to have grass than dirt as I see it.

my yard’s never looked better. I mix it with clover seed – lush green lawn in the shade. Hoping it will look good all summer

Great stuff, we have a deep shade lawn and everything has been coming in nicely.

Good stuff! Planted my shady areas as directed and in 3 weeks saw my lawn starting to form. In a month and a half; I was mowing it. Some areas needed a 2nd application but that was ok by me. I’m very pleased.

Seeds sprouted in quite shady area. I hope they eventually fill iin the bald spots, and also hope the grass survives for some years.

Planted in a yard dominated by a big Pin Oak. Tilled up the soil, scattered seed and fertilizer than covered with 1/2″ top soil and kept well watered. 12 days later, I have grass! Serious grass! You can spend more but you won’t get more…but this!

EASY & Grass growing in UNDER 14 days!!!
So easy to use and even though I forgot to water it a few times, it is still an inch tall in less than 14 days! Get this!!

This is truly amazing. Grows where we have never been successful growing grass in our yard!
We raked the soil to loosen it, then spread a mixture of half top soil and half seed, watered thoroughly with light spray and in less than two weeks saw the tiny blades appear.

growing up fine in my heavily shaded yard!

Good quality seed at a reasonable price.

Worked great. Grass now grows thick where it has never grown before.

OMG! The grass seeds are growing!!! We couldn’t get anything to work before under our Magnolia tree!! We even tried sod but it wouldn’t take. 1/2 of our yard is HEAVY SHADE! Lay down the seeds the day before it rains! They WILL grow!!!

I struggled with a shady area for around 4 years and tried all the big box options. I finally tried this stuff at the recommendation of a landscaper who we used for other work. It came in very nicely in the spring and survived the full shade the trees brought in the summer. Almost one year later, it looks to be intact and I am very pleased.

Got here really quick. Jonathan Green is the BEST grass seed around. THE BEST.
Germinates fast.

Have used this in three places now. Germinates well and grows well in the shade.

Great stuff, grew faster than expected, but conditions were ideal

Grass started sprouting up in a week. Looks great!

Germination after 8 days. Looking forward to more progress!

As labeled, the grass is intended for shade, and grows nicely in heavy shade. It doesn’t do nearly as well when they trim the trees and it gets full sun all day…

Have a large lot with many trees and no sun. The ground was mostly dirt and rocks. This grows really well. Already bought some more.

Grows great in sun and shade

Awesome! Growing were we have never been able to grow grass before!

Have a section of yard that is heavily trees, and shaded by my house. I had left it “natural”for years, basically to lazy to rake it up. I stripped it down to dirt, scratched the surfaces with a garden rake, hand spread the seeds, and a week later grass. Simple and green, you need to water it, I used a mister spray for the first week so the seeds stayed put. I tried several other brands over the years this one means it on dense shade .

Tried this seed in dense shade and it starting coming up really quickly–within a week! Watered it every day. The grass blades are very thin, but are growing quickly. Grew in full sun, as well, but didn’t seem to like that as much. Needed two bags–all grass seed bags seem to underestimate coverage by 1/2 of what you really need. Highly recommend it!

Hillside was extensively prepared last summer and the seed was planted in 2016. This is what it looks like just one year later. Remarkable.

The seeds I planted is growing just fine under a large tree that has grown so big that all the grass I did have has died. I mixed top soil and potting soil together with the seeds. I an have just ordered two more bags.
update seeds grew but grass died 3 week later. No more grass. I would not recommend !!!!!!

Best dense shade seed I have ever had. My yard has never looked so good until I used this.

I have an apple tree that blocks out a good 1/4 of the back lawn, while it is wonderful shade in the summer it killed off all the grass, only dandelions will grow, somewhat. I live in N. California where we have also experienced a sever drought the past few years. So when the rains finally came back this year , I bought some of this seed to try. I prepared a small piece to test, Then It was raining and I just spread the rest of the bag willy nilly, no prep at all.At first I was checking it regular to see if it was sprouting, nothing I could see. I thought, oh, it’s not working , not even the patch I had prepared. I forgot about it it, every weekend it seemed to rain, finally a sunny Saturday came and mowed. To my delightful surprise I came across my little test patch, that was a thriving green carpet, and as I began to look closer, everywhere I had just tossed the seed, I had grass growing !!
And some of the places were hard packed dirt, dried to almost brick like from the drought!!
Needless to say , I am now preparing the rest of the area more carefully for a major planting, I still have one bag , and going to purchase more.
Very happy with the results.

This grass is growing in an area where there had been no grass in forever. We are very pleased with the results.

Great and greens up very quickly

Love this product. I went from having no grass under my front yard tree to have a very nice Jardin in less than a month.

Best shade grass i ever planted. It is fine so doeant take heavuy foot traffic which in my case is dogs. I have it in 100% shade. Bought more.

Good product, good price, good delivery

good

We had professional landscapers come in and tell us that we would never have grass in our backyard. We have large oak trees and previous owners had blanketed the yard in pine straw. This past September, my husband and I removed all of the pine straw, tilled the soil, laid some lime and seed starter fertilizer and this grass seed. So far we are very happy with the results.

simple and works

Grows even in NW Metro ATL

Excellent product that I’ve purchased on 2 occasions….if instructions are followed grass will sprout quickly. I had blades emerging within 5 days.

yep works well

I had pretty good luck with this seed. There was a high germination rate and the seed does do well in the shade. I used this last year and compared to a similar product that I tried this year, I had much better germination rate and coverage. I live in Southern California.

Grew quickly and thickly in a very shady area.

It is everything that was advertised

This grass seed has always performed well. Although I have a landscaper and he does a good job, when this seed begins to germinate, its dark green color puts his to shame.

Grows better than any seed I have tried. I live on a slight hill in Charlotte, with a good amount of hard clay in the back yard with THICK trees and DENSE SHADE. This is the best seed I have tried of several. I’ve bought several bags, and will keep buying more. Better bang for your buck if you get the 3 pound bag. I started with a 1 pound bag to test out, and ended up buying a 3 pound bag to cover the whole back yard.

Worked like a charm for my porch side grass which receives ZERO sunlight.

Quality product. Grass is growing after only a week.

Where I planted the grass (under a large oak tree) the grass sprouted within a week and looks great. I am very pleased.

I used this seed on a part of my lawn that is shaded by large trees. That was about three weeks ago and so far, so good. A lot of sprouts are coming up, and they are growing growing fast with regular watering.

Grass germinated and grew in a few days in dense shade. I planted the seeds in dense shade behind a shed in an area also underneath a giant, dense overhead vine, ad the seeds germinated in a few days and grew. I used regular soil and used regular grass clippings when I planted them. The dense shade grass leaves are thin, but make a plush carpet.

Grass came up in a week but I watered it twice a day, unfortunately it died about as quick but we had 18 100 degree days in July. Good grass but its not made for the climate in South Carolina.

Very good product and worked really well. Grew grass in the back yard where I had difficulty before in shady areas.

Very nice growth with minimal effort! I scattered these seeds in my front yard where there’s shade from a neighbor’s large pine tree. Gave it a good watering, then went away on vacation for 2 weeks. I don’t know if it rained that much while we were away, but I came back to a fully grass covered front yard! The area had just sparse grass growth despite previous efforts to seed. These worked the first time. Great seeds!

This is still a work in progress, but initial results are very good. The grass sprouted within a week and it looks like a good majority of the seeds actually germinated. The shade where the seeds were planted is very dense, but that didn’t seem to affect anything. I will update this to a five star if they all take hold. Seeds are on week four now and still look strong.

Some parts of my backyard are in nearly perpetual shade from trees, and as a result quite barren of grass. I was skeptical about purchasing this seed, but it does actually work. It’s not a thick growth of grass in my shady patch, but there is some grass there now, where there was none before. I’m confident that if I keep watering it, it will fill in eventually. It doesn’t seem to mind the shade at all.

Good product, good price, good delivery

I saw little sprouts in 2 weeks and thicker, longer sprouts on the 3rd and 4th week. This is not for a hot or dry environment. We had dogs trampling all over the seeds daily and it still grew.

I’ve tried NUMEROUS brands of grass seed, and this is the only one that reliably grew. I have an odd mix of full shade, partial shade and full sun, so finding a seed that would do it all is great, especially since my sprinkler zones are difficult to accommodate for the difference in sun exposure. I’m in Boise, Idaho and will be purchasing more.

The product worked very well. My lawn looks so much better!

Great

Growing in the hot summer!

One week! There was zero grass before, very pleased

Actually grew grass

FANTASTIC GRASS SEED. I WISH YOU COULD SEE IT…HOW FAST IT SHOT UP OVERNIGHT…..

Had grass within 2 weeks in shaded back yard. Great product

I was surprised at how much coverage I got with this little one pound bag. I live in a mobile home community and was able to cover all of my bare spots (which were many). No noticeable growth yet as it hasn’t even been a week, but I’m hopeful!

I have tried various products over the years for shade. This product is great. I have grass growing and it has stayed growing!

Well it’s the end of June and I edged a garden and wanted a nice grass edge for about 4 ft out and 30 ft long.We put it down and THREE days later there’s a lovely cover of grass.Best I’ve ever used.Im usually crawling on the ground after a week looking for some sign of grass!

AMAZING!!! I’ve tried a lot of shade grass seeds and none have provided thick grass. But FINALLY Jonathan Green’s Dense Shade Seed DOES!! I cannot rave enough. The grass are fine blades, a beautiful shade of green, germinate really well and provide thick grass even in the shady parts of my lawn, thickness I never thought I’d see in the shady parts of my lawn. I planted it about 2 months ago, started germinating after about 2 weeks. I’m in Seattle/Tacoma WA. I used Scotts seed starter fertilizer with it.

Mixed this with Scott’s turf builder and the results were excellent. In my case I was seeding a new lawn. I prepared the soil by rototilling the dirt first and then spread the seed via a spreader then followed by the seed. After that I spread some straw to ensure that the birds didn’t destroy my efforts.
I watered the area twice a day and within 5-7 days grass was growing. Although the grass was very thin. I ended up purchasing more bags of seed to thicken the grass up. In total I ended up using approximately 20 bags for 5,000 sq feet. For a mixed shaded/sunny yard.

still in the process of growing under an old maple. looks good so far.

Grew great in an area that was usually unable to grow grass.

awesome

Only thing I did was through these seeds down onto shady, hard rocky soil, in the spring. I never watered it, I only fertilized it along with the whole yard. I never even scratched ground. I expected it to not grow, but figured I’ll just throw seed down anyway. It grew in fast and is some of the best grass in my backyard, it’s thick and healthy, and I am still doing nothing to keep it that way. I just can’t believe it, best grass I’ve seen, grows anywhere you can’t or would not expect grass to grow. I am still scratching my head in dis-belief!!

Grass is growing great

This grass seed is amazing. It does grow in shade. I highly recommend it.

The seed will grow! It’s only been 3 weeks though and I’m waiting to see if the blades with get thicker. So far just stringy. But it filled in nicely.

It works. I have a heavily wooded back yard that recieves little sunlight. One 20×20 section of the yard is all dirt & has not had grass grow there in years. I have tried Scotts, Pennington, you name it, & have not been able to get anything to grow. I planted this seed in the middle of April & had grass growing within 2 weeks. Yes it is thin in areas & yes some weeds have sprouted up as well, but i will take some weeds mixed in with grass over just dirt any day of the week. I would definitely reccommend this product & plan on using it in spots this Fall.

After several years of trying to grow grass in my very shady front yard I tried this Brand. Fantastic results! I highly recommend

**my photos reflect 1 and then 2 week progress of grass growth**
Man, this stuff is quite spendy! I was a little hesitant about spending $12 on a single one pound bag of grass seed. However, so far I have been thoroughly impressed. This stuff says dense shade and it means dense shade! I put these seed in a small corner of my yard, an area that receives no direct sunlight all day, except for a small portion of the area. Within two weeks I had quite a bit of grass popping up. What impressed me the most about it is the fact that in the area in which I planted it, part of it receives sun and part of it doesn’t. Usually the part that receives sun would have more grass growing taller than the area that receives no sun. However, the grass grew completely even across both the sun an no sun areas.
The grass is coming in pretty nicely too, not too thin. I will definitely be re seeding but for now I am very happy with the amount of grass coming up. I live in the pacific northwest by the way. Also, the way we planted it was by tilling the soil, spreading the seeds along with a small amount of fertilizer, and then covering the seeds with a light layer of potting soil. I would highly recommend this method, as these seeds really seem to appreciate having a layer of soil over them to grow up into.
One note the seems obvious but may not be to some: do not walk on this while it’s seeding and sprouting at all. There are small areas in my patch that I had no choice but to walk on at some points and in those spots the grass is really struggling.
TLDR; This stuff grows very well in full shade if you plant it correctly and water it often.

Doing exactly what is promised. We have total shade.

Good seed. Waiting for it to show its sprouts.

Product as advertised, worked well!

Great seed. Seems to me to be good awaiting a return from soil. Price point was great and other reviews tell all. It’s for shade and shade I got. Lol. Will update if needed.

We live in the high desert and have heavy shade trees in the yard. We’ve tried several brands of “deep shade” grass with little success. Overseeded with this last fall and felt a little disappointing during the spring as it didn’t look like it was going to solve our bare spots…but..it’s just a little later than the Bluegrass in the yard and today it looks beautiful lush and green. Will report back when the desert heat takes hold and let you know how it survives.

I was surprised how well the area greened up.

Good for under tree locations.

This product not only met my expectations but surpassed them. I scattered the seeds, wet them down, kept them damp for 3, 4 days. In a little over 2 weeks after that I hade to mow it!!! I was schocked those little seeds grew so fast.
Follow their instruction though and you will grow grass.

Grass did come up in 2 weeks as expected.

It’s has come up. Will try in another bare spot. I would purchase again.

This is great grass seed. I have used it before and always have wonderful results.

I live in Oak Tree City which means grass does not have a chance. I have a dog and do not like mud so grass is essential if I want to avoid ticks, fleas and all the other dirt loving things.
SW FLORIDA DECEMBER and MARCH I DID aerate the lawn, with shoes that have deep cleets and I did add Scotts Turf Builder a few rains first. I did use a bag of this and made SURE I watered a LOT LOT LOT. So I waited for four days straight of rain which we did get.
Because once the oaks grow full again I doubt any seed will have much a chance. The grass is BEAUTIFUL although not bright green i prefer. Far better than dirt though – is DURABLE seems to grow at a slow rate which is great for not having to mow much compared to other lawns I have had and i see no better brand.
Water is really important – and maybe aerate with cleets for those few that do not seem to have much luck. I used 1/2 25 pound bag up front and 1/2 in the back. 1/4 acre max size up front and 1/4 acre in back. This stuff is so expensive I did do quarter bag first whirl on both and a month later did the rest of the bag a month later. I will KEEP over seeding the lawn so that I have a lawn to even worry about.

Hi, my garden is so difficult regarding how to choose the appropriate grass type for it. The orientation of our house towards the north where the sun doesn’t reach our garden sufficiently. Although I used several ways to plant grass on it, nothing worked out. Until I found this product for shady area , I used it and it worked! It worked even better than I expected where seeds bloomed sooner than the time of the product’s instruction. I would recommend it for you.

This grass seed is amazing. It came in very thick and soft in an area that gets very little sunlight.

Rooted fast..lasted through our mild winter..only got to 28 degrees. Dark green. Bought more. Growing without extra water in mild temp

It’s been exactly two weeks and I’m starting to see green. Now if they could help me grow a money tree!

Greened up nice, has thinned out some probably because of our clay soil. Does grow well in shade. Will order more.

Grows fairly well in the shade

Great product would buy it again!

My grass looks great.

Best looking grass in my shaded areas.

WOW!! This stuff is amazing!! I have tried several different grass seeds under a tree I have in my yard. They have hardly grown. This not only came up quick, but covered the area I seeded at about 90% or better on the first try!! It rooted well and made it through the entire summer. So happy to look at grass from my patio instead of dirt. I would buy this product again in a second!

I planted this seed in the fall (Midwest location) under a woven straw blanket and it sprouted in approximately two weeks. It is growing nicely in this heavily shaded area.

This is the only seed that will grow in my back yard.

Covered pretty good.

It is too early to know how this grass is going to do, but so far it has done very well. It came up about 8 days after I scattered seed. I have watered it every day since scattering the seed and it continues to grow, slowly but surely. I haven’t cut it yet and probably won’t until next spring, if it is still growing at that time. It isn’t tall enough to cut yet and I doubt it will grow much as we are closing in on colder temperatures.

My front yard in the house I recently brought had such overgrown trees that most of grass was dead. So far so good, starting to grow!

This is truly the best grass seed to use. Best used by early to mid spring for best results especially for those in the Midwest. I don’t know why you can’t find this in stores, they would make a killing off this stuff.

Grass grew well, but a little spotty.

fast delivery. I am looking forward to seeing this product grow my grass area under this huge tree in my backyard this fall since its still summer right now. Based on reading other reviews about grass growing for them, I think I will be pleased.

I was very pleased with the product sent. There were virtually no “weed” seeds in the package.

Had tried a ton of other seed…this one WORKED!!!

The grass is coming up nicely where we planted it. My yard is hard to grow new things in, so I am pleased.

good stuff it grew like a chia pet

Instructions: throw on the ground. Water. Seriously, that’s all you have to do. These seeds are expensive; but they work. You do have to water diligently though, so its easiest to plant during the rainy season (fall or early spring).

I’ve found that to get grass seed to germinate & grow well, you really need to emulate nature and soak the ground well. Muddy it up to let the seed sink in and keep it muddy until it takes. Neighbor planted seed before me and he just sprinkles his lawn and frustrated because nothing is growing. I was out three to four times a day giving it a good soaking during a dry spell & mine is looking pretty fine!

Heavy wooded property in IL. One of the few shade grass seed that actually worked.

Grass grew very good.

My favorite for our shady lawn. The only seed that works. Have tried pretty much every one of the other brands to no avail. Would always end up spotty. This one works and also seems to be dealing with dog pee much better than other brands.

Grea product, would recommend it to anyone with heavy shade areas they can’t get grass to grow. I have had lots of compliments from the neighborhood wanting to know how I did it, because all previous owners were unsuccessful in getting grass to grow there.

Has grown where I haven’t been able to get any other grass to grow.
I would recommend this for sure!!

We rototilled a shady area and raked in seeds. Three days later GRASS has sprouted. It is a very thin blade grass so I am hoping it will look fuller as it ages and fills in a bit. I am also wondering how it will hold up to foot traffic and winter. I will revise this review in a couple months. So far, very impressed at how quickly it sprouted in such dense shade.
After a year, second summer and this grass is thick/dense and really held up nicely. I have purchased more for other areas of our yard. I would definitely recommend this seed.

scratched up the dirt and raked it in (half-heartedly) and it really grew. Nice!

My backyard was a 100% overgrown with ivy and kudzoo. Once we took a year to get that cleared we were left with no grass at all. So, I decided to try this brand since the yard is mostly shade. The grass began to go to about 1 inch height in about 6 days! I am now at day 12 and I have amazing results, even under the trampoline which receives zero sunlight. I plan on purchasing another bag to apply another layer to help thicken it up.

This was what I was lacking in trying to grow a lush, green lawn. I have tried every major brand out there, S*#’s, P+^^~^@#&n, R+`+-‘s, you name it. I followed directions, I bought a sizable tiller and dug the soil to a 10″ depth, sowed the seed per directions, raked it in and then spread wheatstraw and watered it. I spread lime, fertilizer and weed control. They all sprouted and grew till the heat of a Georgia summer took its toll and before the Fourth of July it was beginning to develop rigor mortis. So, I did some searching and found this; I bought a small amount last year and tried it, and the proof was this spring when approximately 50% of what I grew last year came back. That is a phenomenal percentage for my circumstances (our yard is covered with dozens of fully mature hardwoods: red oaks, Southern maples, hickories, poplars, post oaks and they produce a huge volume of leaves in the fall that preclude seeding then and that drop the ph like a lead brick when the tannic acid leaches out). So I purchased a larger amount and seeded the entire yard, which is now covered with a lush, green carpet of emerald velvet. This is some of the prettiest grass you can imagine, and that is with a month of May in which we had no rainfall whatsoever. None. There are spots that need to be filled in next spring but that will be done, along with a proper reseeding, and I am confident that with a modicum of care and maintenance our yard will be a welcome, cooler place to enjoy our outdoors for years to come. This product does exactly what it says it will do if you do your share of the equation.

A great choice for shady dry areas. It grows quickly comes back year after year. A better quality grass seed no question. You won’t find such a great product at a local box store.

Worked very well. Quick germination, around one week. Worked well in spots where other brands failed. Under trees and lilacs where very little sun penetrates.

I spread this seed in early spring before the rains started here in Buffalo. I literally did NOTHING to my soil and just went out to the back yard threw the seed around and was hoping for the best! Almost two months later I now have a lush bed of dark green grass sprouting up and I couldn’t be happier!

Awesome product

We have not had the best weather for starting grass, the seed has been in the ground for about 3-4 weeks and has just started to show, maybe in a couple of weeks you should ask me how the seed is doing.

Planted at the beginning of the season in Northern Alabama under oak trees, looks like most of it came up. Did not water, but it did rain a lot. Would buy again and recommend this seed as it seemed high quality.

Works as promised, especially in shade. Very full and grows fast (might be a downer if you hate to mow like me)

excellent product!!! grass grew like it said. after trying all other different grasses from the isle at home depot….i have found the right product! i live in NYC, i think zone 7-8

Grew fast in less than 25 days I had grass to mow.

Requires proper terrain preparation for a fast growth. Key importance about this grass, it love humid area as it will growth very fast. In normal areas the growth is slower, and requires constant spring of water to refresh the earth. Dry terrain may takes a while to growth, smooth and humid (not swamp like) will create the environment to growth and spread rapidly.

So far looking great! I got a little antsy and spread the seeds when night temps were in the low 40s- regardless, 1 week later the grass is coming up! I just hope that it matches my lawn color and is more robust than whatever “shade tolerant” seed the landscaper used. I will update after one full Portland OR winter in rain and darkness.

I was able to grow some nice grass under an oak tree. I am very happy with this product.

Great seed for shady areas.

Best grass seed out there… Period!!! My yard is completely shaded and after numerous other seeds this worked!

Works fast!

I threw this down in my yard, kept it watered, and the grass sprouted really well. Only downside is the grass is fine and delicate. All in all, my yard is greener than I expected it would be and it didn’t require much work.

Where there was dirt last year it now has thick green grass growing. Completely satisfied. Would recommend.

First used in fall 2014 on heavily shaded backyard in Austin TX which had lost 90 percent of St Augustine. Tried 3 lb bag dispersing by hand .in loosened soil and also unprepped area with compacted clay soil. Impressed with quick growth and got about 50 percent patchy coverage but again used only half the recommended amount for establishing new lawn. This is my second purchase and spread it in early spring (3weeks ago) by hand without prep into bare patches because.Everytime i raked it would pull up previous grass which dont appear to have a deep root structure.again probably do to the fact i didnt prep alot of the compacted soil. With no prep again had good growth in those patches. Given poor prep on my part. I am impressed with the product. Temps currently 80s high and mid to upper 60s low and grass still growing. Curious to see how much comes back in fall after Texas heat. Will lay loosened landscappers soil at that time and overseed with starter fertilizer.Will keep u posted.

Per all reviews, SUGGEST triple the application of seed to soil for a good growth coverage due to seed mixture and 50% to 2/3rds die off ratio after spreading some top soil down on the hard ground. I’m in.

I have a number of large trees in the yard that, over the years, have caused the grass to thin or even disappear in spots. I tried the Dense Shade seed last year as an experiment because I had not had much luck with some other well-known brands of “dense shade” grass seed. I got good results, especially considering our red Virginia clay soil. I picked up another bag this year to hit the remaining spots and overseed the grass from last year. Yes, it is a little pricier than the competition, but it produces grass that lasts. In my view, that makes it a bargain since the competition, while cheaper, doesn’t survive from year to year.

As a test, I threw this seed out late fall of 2014 with minimal bed prep, in an area with 100% shade cover… and it came right up as advertised. Through a pretty rough winter it is still looking better than any other grass in my yard. If it holds up through spring and into summer, I plan to use it in my entire front lawn, which is about 70% shade…Will keep you posted

this actually grew

Works beautifully

Grass seeds growers surprisingly fast with little water you will have to occasionally water to keep it growing, have had a good stand of grass for about two months, I live in S FL where their is lots of sand.

My grass looks great! It had become just weeds, so I dug it all up down to dirt and used this and Jonathan Green Drought Tough Grass Seed mix and viola!

Got good seed germination in shaded areas. The grass is dense and dark green. Will order more.

This has really worked. I tried it on an area that never grows and it did. Beautiful soft green grass. Love it

Item was exactly as described and was delivered promptly. Planted the grass seed and saw sprouts within two weeks. It continues to grow and spread in an area that was hard to get grass to grow in the past.

So far so good after almost two weeks there is a slight hew of green shoots appearing on the loosened soil . I thought there would be more shoots due to the amount of seed I put down ,we will see in a week or so .

Great price and grows quickly in shade, as advertised. The only drawback is the blades of grass are very thin, so the 1800 sq. ft. coverage advertisement is suspect if you like thick grass. I would purchase this product again.

Half of seeds sprouted! Half of seeds did not sprout. Birds did not eat any due to cats on the look out!

Grew with in days, very plush and bright green

grows where others did not.

I have two 30 ft maple trees in my yard and can’t really get too much grass to grow because of that. I planted this stuff a week ago, have been watering it 3-4 times a day and the seeds are already sprouting. In another area of my lawn I planted the Pennington dense shade mix and it hasn’t sprouted yet. I’m impressed at how quick this stuff started to grow, I just hope it takes hold!

Coming up fast in dense shade, just as advertised. Love it

Good product. It started springing up in about a week after planting. No fertilizer was used. I was very impressed, as it grew where nothing had grown before. The only reason why I took of a star is that some of the grass which initially grew near the wall seems to have died. Also, the blades and density are thinner than I expected, despite close seeding.

My grass is growing!! So exciting.

Grass grew in the dense shaded area I have – surprised with minimal effort (we have had a wet spring / summer). I did use a plug aerator to prep the area I used the seed in

Love this product. It started producing grass within about 8 days and with very little effort on my part. I would recommend this to anyone.

planted this stuff in total shade and it produced growth quickly. Will now get more.

Sprouted quickly and grew in dense shade as advertised.

Great value, best seed I’ve found so far, good germination.

Ok my lawn is full of trees. All shade. This grass came in real nice. Will it last. Only time will tell. it did come in week and I used the rest of the seed to fill in spots, but my dirt now green. I hope it lasts and survives the summer and the winter. I do have to say it looks hot. next week I am going to weed and feed it. I believe it will do well. My poor lawn has a lot of weeds growing in between that amazing new lawn I did not have. I did find it needed a lot of water to start, but it is green again.

I had read to not expect much to sprout but it seems to be coming up greap for me. I really need to get some more but money is too tight right now.

Very good product. No random weeds mixed in with the seed….manufacturer claims are accurate

I Just scattered the seed, on the bare areas. I did not even water, but depended on the normal spring rains!
And sure enough, the grass came up where no grass had grown before. Great product. So far it is growing great!

I had several bare spots in my yard due to shading from my fence and landscaping. My two dogs also walk in that area when I let them outside. This grass seed grows a nice deep shade of green and is also very thick. The grass started growing in just under a week.

I had a long stretch of bare ground along my backyard fence. It looks like that for 3 years since I bought the house. Now it filled up nicely with grass.

This isa very good seed ,it came up in 1 week and appears to be nice and thick and dark green

It really grew nice grass in a shady area.
I was skeptical but it really does work.
Now I have to write more words to comply with the required amount of words
for a review, great.

I have tried all different types of grass in a heavily shaded area in my yard and now have a lawn there thanks.

I was having a issue in my backyard in a area that would not come in at all . The area had a lot shade and the soil in the two area where not great at all. I tried this Jonathan Green Grass seed and it was great! This is my first lawn season using Jonathan Green lawn product and it has been the best! I hope this company continue to make these great product well as Amazon continue to sell thier excellent lawn product! Go Jonathan Green!

My lawn could not be a more difficult area to grow grass, as it is basically in the woods. This grass grows there and no other will. Your mileage may vary, depending on soil and water, care of application, etc. Works well for me and I find the Jonathan Green products superior to those I have tried form the big box hardware stores.

I live on a very shady street with 100′ trees. So far the seed has come up after a couple of weeks it’s starting to come in nicely. However, the trees are not fully in yet so it’s not completely shaded yet. We will see how it holds up.
The grass is very fine as others have said but it looks nice.

This is the right type of grass I’m looking for in my backyard due to a lot of fruit trees. I’m very happy about this grass.

Quite impressed with the results. If you use a modicum of care in preparing the ground (not jus sprinkling the seed on hard, dry compacted earth), grass will actually grow where it hasn’t for years.

Had requirements for a low light tolerable grass seed between our zero lot line home. Post + 40 days and most areas that were soil are now grassy. Currently, The grass is not nearly as dense as our regular lawn but I am happy with the current growth rate in low light or difficult to grow areas. I planted the grass seeds during the Florida winter /spring for the grass to establish.

Cheap seed for a good amount, have not used it yet because there is 10 inches of snow in my lawn

Very Good Grass Seed;…seems to grow well on hard surface yard soil…will order again when in need, in spring! thnx LesH

Short term this seed has worked well. It was used on a shaded problem area with a thin layer of decent soil over a more clay like layer. We put minimal effort into putting it out. We raked the area with a steel tine rake, scattered the seed by hand then raked it in. No amendments or fertilizer was added. Over the next 2 weeks we had 1.5″ of rain and we watered it a few times but there were a few days it didn’t get any water. Temperatures ranged from 40 to 80 those 2 weeks. It has been one month since seeding and the germination rate has very good. The area has fine grass about an inch tall in most spots. Hopefully long term results will be as favorable.

I mixed this dense shade mix with Jonathan Green’s Shady Nooks on a whim as I have no idea what makes them any different.
I seeded an area that I cleaned up and that is heavily wooded. I added a starter fertilizer and some pelletized lime. The results are very good as there is grass growing everywhere even under the trees. I planted about six weeks ago and the grass is thick and green. I am excited to see how it does through the winter and this spring.

The grass grew fast, but there are still a few patchy areas though. I am hoping they will come in soon!

This grass did grow in a shady area but it is a kind of odd looking grass. I live in the South and it looks as if the grass may not survive the hot summer.

I raked the soil under a large maple with low branches, where no grass was growing, scattered the seed, and raked it again. I did not water, but depended on the normal spring rains, and sure enough, the grass came up where no grass had grown before. Great product.

Shipped “Free” which is a big plus, since you can not buy Jonathan Green seed in my area. Easy directions; however, I have not planted yet.
I have NEVER had a problem with ANY Jonathan Green seed, it is the BEST !!!

Planted the seeds as recommended. Threw in a very light sprinkling of fertilizer. Very shady areas now have grass. Hopefully our 100 degree summers will not kill it. Performed as described after being planted in the late fall and early winter.

I purchased this seed in the Summer of 2011 for my Atlanta lawn, however, our area seems to constantly be in droughts during summer hot and humid days so I decided to wait until mid to late Fall to sew the seed over my existing areas that has lots of shade. I also mixed the seed with my Summer Bermuda which I was reluctant but with the drought and dead patches around the home…had to get something growing. I thought that the seed had gone bad since waiting so long to plant but we started seeing new beautiful green grass growing in the shady less dense areas of our yard. This seems to be a cool weather grass seed like many fescue seeds. I am curious to see what will happen in the Summer of 2013 or if it will keep growing and stay green. I will update this posting later in 2013. The reason I am giving 5 stars is because it did grow where I planted in less dense area of back and side yard where sunshine is limited. I hope the grass continues to creep (like warm season grasses (Bermuda)) to help fill areas of yard where sunshine is limited. If it hold up to the Atlanta heat and humidity…I will purchase more of this grass seed.

Yes, it was a little more expensive but it grew grass where I couldn’t before.
Be a little patient.

Not sure what type of grass is but it sure does grow fast. On my first attempt I sprinkled some seed just for fun on top of the soil (hard compact) doing nothing else but watering and waiting and about two weeks later it is about 3 inches tall and luscious. The grass is very thin and a little lighter green than st augustine but is great to make your lawn look fuller and grows great in the shade (go figure)
My second attempt is spreading the seed and laying soil on top. It’s day three now, not seeing anything yet but I will update later
All in all this stuff is great, even if you’re starting fresh you could definitely grow a whole residential mid-sized lawn with this bag.