Black Beauty® Original Grass Seed

THIS IS A TEST REVIEW

I purchased sowed and successfully sprouted 3 bags of this seed October 2020. It is now September 2021 and it is all dead. March 2021 I recommended this seed to my daughter and husband. They succeeded in sprouting 2 bags in March 2021. They too have no grass. At nearly $150 a bag. A score of 1 star is disappointing (0 is the correct score)It’s disgusting

JG response: As you stated, the seed did grow and now almost a year has passed. Please email us through our FAQ site for help. This time of year there are many things that can cause grass damage. We will be happy to troubleshoot with you. 

I dethatched the entire yard, core aerated the entire yard, applied Tenacity and Speed Zone to kill weeds, put down seed, then put down starter fertilizer. This was in early May, in New England, so a spring over seed. The lawn looks 100% better than last year, 1 month later. The plan is to do it all again in the fall and never allow the weeds to take control of the yard, through my neglect, again. Very impressed with the grass that has grown so far.

I dethatched and overseeded last fall with this seed. The tall fescue is really nice with very fine blades and very dark green color. However, I had a LOT of weeds this spring (much more than usual). Mostly wild onion and orchard grass. I\’ve never had these in my yard until this year. I\’m a bit disappointed.

I have tried like every brand, Scott’s, Pennington, even that Vigero stuff. Every other seed had issue with poor germination, poor drought tolerance, water saving fillers that took up half the weight of the bag, poor disease tolerance. I used this Black Beauty last fall (2019) because it was the only thing left in this little country hardware store. It’s the best grass I have ever planted in my life (I’m 42). It’s so impressive I took to the internet to see if other felt the same and apparently they do. I will be buying this every time I need seed for now on, even if that means buying in advance online. I haven’t seen it anyplace around here this year. I think Scott’s and Pennington sell poor seed on purpose so they can stay in business from everybody having to buy it over and over at Home Depot and Lowe’s. Black Beauty is once and done. It’s almost to good to be true.

I had some bare spots all over my large lawn(120 ft x 240 ft) thanks to a large crop of weeds last year and a large “crop” of raccoons. This seed germinates well and the grass is beautiful, thick and great to look at. I’ve tried lots of seeds in the past but none were as nice as Black Beauty. Plan to get more to keep on hand.

This is the first time I have re seeded my last(last fall). It’s now the end of May, and there are so much weeds, just like before. I cut the grass high(doesn’t remove much) but I’m afraid to cut too low. The temperature has been cold most of the spring, so hoping to see more growth in June. Applied Magi-Cal this week. Since I’m new at this, I hope I’m doing all this correctly.

This website it’s absolutely not user-friendly it should be easy to buy a product, this site it’s nearly impossible!!! It’s nothing wrong with the product but this is my only way of giving feed back, I shop on line everyday!

It was awesome just like before this is my third time ordering Black Beauty.

Grass grew slow steady and thick….many noticed and asked what kind and where I got it from.

The grass came up beautifully. Very happy did fall planting hope all is good for next spring! The grass is awesome.

Good product, lush green lawn

Excellent grass seed!

Great grass seed mix. Goes very far, and results are very fast. Used this with great success in areas that have never been able to grow grass.

Grass is growing very well so far it has been about seven days with watering one or two times a day will review more once the grass has established more so far so good

Had to dethach my yard due to a lot of chemical burn from Trugreen service so I cancel my contract after 1 year and 9 months, I put down this, 2 bag of Jonathan Green 10315 Black Beauty Grass Seed Mix, 25-Pound and normal watering everyday 2 min. in the morning , 2 min. in the high noon, and 2 min. in the evening and 4 week late my yard is so plush and green with the best grass I can ever imagine, man I so impress that I had to drop a tear.

Seedlings were over an inch tall after 2 weeks. I spread them around in October when the temp range was 69-82F with plenty of rain.

My grass looks great, used for reseeding, and bear spots.

Planted in spring in Texas, the spring was a wet one. The summer was dry and the grass that started well turned brown and stayed that way for several weeks. Then rain came in late August and most of the grass came back strong.

Worked in some places and not in others

Grew great!

We had a few areas where we needed new lawn. After trying a dozen or so other varieties through the years, often with mixed results, I wanted to try something different so I went with Jonathan Green Original.
The first, and largest area, was where we once had over 40 trees removed in early 2018. It is a large area and has steep slopes. The second area was in the front of the house where we had to dig up our below-grade wellhead to replace the well pump. I planted the seed on Easter Day this year (2019) using a commercial over-seeder for both locations. I used Scott’s starter fertilizer in all of the locations. It was a cold, rainy and mostly cloudy spring here in Connecticut. Germination took over 20 days. I even had the water sprinklers going three times a day for 15 minutes each time. I admit I was getting worried, but was thrilled when I saw some shoots coming up. After the grass germinated, it took nearly 6 weeks before it was high enough to mow it. I attribute that to the lousy weather and colder than average days.
I am now into early July. The old grass in the front, over the well (as you can see in the photo with the dark green patch and the lighter green grass all around it) has not been fertilized since Easter. There is a MAJOR difference between the J Green grass and the old lawn around it. The new grass is darker. It stays upright even after driving over it with my Kubota. It is much more draught tolerant as it’s still healthy even as the original grass around it is wilting in the July heat. The lawn in the back is the same. Thick, dark green and healthy.
The soil in the back yard is interesting. There are areas where there were thick beds of stump material from stump grinding and it’s kind of spongy. There are areas where the soil is in fact “top soil” with no sand, but it’s hard and compacted. And then there are areas with a high percentage of mixed in wood chips. As the arborists used a wood chipper to chip up the ten foot high pile of trees, I had a large pile of wood chips leftover. I knew I was taking a risk, but I spread those chips in the lowest area to raise it up a bit. The grass is growing well in all of the soil types, except the area raised with wood chips. I am not surprised really, and will spread compost over the top to revitalize it a bit. This is a perfect example of how the health of your soil is directly attributed to the health of your grass!
I am very pleased. So much so that I may kill off the old lawn and restart completely with Jonathan Green. If I could give this seed an 11 I would!

Nice product quality, cost and timeliness

I highly recommend the grass seed. I used miss to aid in the germination and growth. The results are great

First time making a lawn and using this seed. I used 2 50lb bags for a new construction 7,000sqft lawn in the Olympic Peninsula of WA state. I learned I should’ve used a preemergent like Tenacity at the time of seeding since I used compost as a base and the weeds took off at first. However, after about 8 weeks the grass thickened up so much that I hardly notice the weeds. I’ve already mowed 3 times since week 5 and this weekend I’ll be spot spraying with 24d to clear out the weeds. This grass is a super thick, super dark green, super soft grass. I can’t wait for lawn games with the kids.
All the other grasses in the neighborhood are already showing signs of heat stress and this stuff looks like it’ll keep on staying green with out fertilizer all summer. I’m so happy with this grass, I have 100,000 more sqft of lawn I’m going to try this on at different homes in my neighborhood. I’ll be buying a lot more Jonathan Green.

So I’m going to share my review with this product and all I need to say is I’m speechless. I planted on May 4 and now it’s the 19th I have the best lawn ever. This stuff is a whole different level of amazing. My neighbors have come over and asked me what I did and it it’s quiet simple. PUT EFFORT INTO WHAT YOU WANT. This grass seed is definitely worth every penny and then some . I live in northern Virginia and this stuff took off like wild fire. It took two weeks for it to be amazing back yard looks the same.

Very satifies with the results this year.

Took about 2 weeks to sprout. Looking good so far.

Sprouts in 7-10 days. I have apparently 100% sprouting. Satisfied.

Two weeks and hello black beauty!

Hard to grow grass in clay. Its growing.

I ordered Black Beauty through Amazon because none of the major retailers or garden centers in the metro NY & NJ area carry it. I read about it and wanted to give it a try.

I over-seeded my front lawn this spring and it really is lush. I used a drop spreader to seed. Just make sure you water it everyday and in 2 – 3 weeks you should see it sprouting. We had a few very rainy weeks so I didn’t have to water much myself. It definitely appears to have crowded out the growth of crabgrass. Also, I applied a good dose of lime with the drop spreader right after seeding.

Good product

Drought tolerant, beautiful lawn. Overseeded an existing lawn, but saw much better performance this past year. Hoping this spring is even better after a year of growth.

This grass has been impressive, it look great and has held up well under stressful conditions.

Only grass that’s ever grown for me.

So far so good. I planted in the fall over a month before the first freeze. The grass germinated in about a weeks since the temperatures were still around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. I got this grass because it is supposed to be drought-resistant and in those locations where the sun shines almost all day other grasses have dried up and blown away, even here in New England, and with faithful watering. I also had good soil from a nursery spread, and that is essential for results.
I liked it so much that I bought the 20 pound bag. However, I was too late in the season for it to grow as intensely as the first test bag. The real test will be next summer, however…

Fast growing 5 weeks 5 inches. Looks great

Takes a while to establish/grow, but suoer nice when it takes.

We decided to reseed our entire lawn( 6,500 sq.ft. ). This product is great because it’s a roots go deep and the color is a beautiful rich golf course green. It took 2 weeks to see real growth but after about amonth, our lawn is lush and gorgeous.

All I can say is this is the best grass seed that I have ever purchased.

These seeds are phenomenal because I did little prep and they still grew. Most were up in less than 7 days. The remainder were up in about 10 days. My project originally was classified as reseeding but I really should’ve been doing whole lawn replacement. So given the dispersment volume, my coverage is very good (that is to say a large percentage of what I laid down actually rooted and grew). I’ll do more this spring and next fall but I’m very impressed with the seeds.

Despite some negative reviews, I bought this Black Beauty (original) and wanted to give it a try for my back yard where 99% of grass is dead (a new lawn installed in Sep 2017 only by lawn installation company). Seeded on Saturday evening (Sep 15, 2018) and germinated on Thursday morning (Sep 20, 2018) at about a quarter inch height. The germination rate looks very high.
Here is a summary. I am a complete novice in gardening and lawn caring. I hope this could be helpful for anyone who is going to buy the same product or similar products to repair their lawn.
1. Location: Lansing, Michigan (Zone 5B).
2. Removed dead grass and scarified (-10mm) the soil using a lawn de-thatcher one day before reseeding on Sep 14, 2018.
3. Spread the grass seeds using Scotts hand held electric seed spreader (about 5 and 3/4 setting).
4. After spreading the seeds, covered the seeds with lawn soil and peat moss. I tried both in the beginning and realized that peat moss can cover about 5 times more area than lawn soil so I went for peat moss for the remaining lawn. I also tried two brands of peat moss. There is one brand of Peat Moss sold in Lowes (Canadian made) which is 3 cubic feet but since it is a compressed package, it can expand to about 6 cubic feet once un-packaged. I personally liked this brand. I didn’t pay attention to the thickness of applying peat moss but I think it’s about a quarter inch thick till you cannot see the seeds anymore. I didn’t apply too much peat moss because I was afraid that it might choke the seeds.
5. Watered one hour on Saturday evening immediately after applying peat moss and lawn soil. Then watered twice a day (30 minutes each time), once at 9am and once at 3pm.
6. The temperature from Seeding (Sep 15, 2018) to Germinating (Sep 20, 2018) is constant at about 60 lowest to 89 highest all the time. Sunny and hot weather from Sep 15 to Sep 18. Then thunderstorm and cloudy on Sep 19 and 20.
7. The lawn repaired in my backyard gets sunshine from sunrise to sunset. Guess that’s why 99% of grass died this summer.
I sincerely hope my humble experience could be useful.
Uploaded photos on Oct 14, 2018 to update the process of the development of the lawn.

what does seed to fill in animal wear and tear on our yard it grew and quick grew in thick and grew and beautiful what else can I say

Excellent product!

As expensive as this is I expected better results from description…. maybe stick with the cheaper products I guess

This seed came up nicely during the Spring.

Just as advertised . Can’r wait till i Can Plant it

Incredible product will buy again

AMAZING!!!!

Can’t believe there are bad review of this product ! I was skeptical , we live in a semi wooded area and I have tried many different seeds , all of them fail . We have poor soil , poor drainage . Planted this in the fall , it didn’t look so good , now it’s summer it looks fantastic and it’s durable ! Dogs and kid run in it and it holds up . It is a little pricey but I found it at a local hardware store for. 11.99 on sale . So shop around

Wonderful seeds. Added to existing grass and it loogs great after just 2 weeks

Yard has come in unbelievabley, really locked in the soil, nice and green.

Great seed but slow to germinate. Once it comes in you’ll love it. Just don’t expect it to grow overnight.

Grass looks great

Moved to Southern New Mexico and my back yard was not landscaped, it was that reddish pink desert dirt. I tilled it down to about 2-3″ and laid some starter fertilizer, spread the seed and raked it in. Lots of water required here to get it to germinate in this part of the country. Took 7 days and it’s coming in really nice. I didn’t put any topsoil down and it’s still grew. So far, so good!

This stuff is incredible!! We have some very shady areas in our backyard & in the twenty years that we have lived here, we have never been able to get grass to grow in those areas. It not only grew in the shaded areas, but it full & lush!! We put the seed down in November & it grew during the winter months when our other grass was dormant.. it’s a lovely shade of green & a really nice, even yard!!

The fescue mixture does well in shady areas. I have put down 14lbs of seeds in 2 seasons. Spread in September 2014 and 2016, the seeded areas under a heavy shaded silver maple. The seeded areas are full and even thrive in August in North Texas. The planted areas are now spreading due to the creeping fescue which is holding up well to the July through September heat. The planted areas are on timed sprinklers and are fertilized ever 3 to 4 months. I will buy again.

Best grass seed out there no competition I mean that our lawn is literally transformed from using this

So far so good it’s working just described although just barely planted 11 days ago I can start to see green cover on my soil!

I did not expect much but I used this product just because. Any way my lawn was stressed and really took a beating this past summer. So I power raked my lawn and put these seeds down with some starter fertilizer. I also put down some mushroom compost because I had lots of bare spots. I laid the seed down on September 30th, and today October 21st I almost have a full lawn, Its deep green and looks amazing. I have some areas that are still filling in, but I really cant believe it. I really hope it survives the winter, and looks this good in the spring.

Planted in first week of September in problem areas I pulled up. Watered everyday for two weeks ,and it came up beautiful and thick. My only regret is that I did not do more of my lawn. This spring I plan on replacing more sections and I cannot wait.

Overseeded on month ago and seed is taking well, should have used Black Beauty last year! Can’t wait to see how it overwinters.

As a landscaper for 14 years. I was looking for something different. I found this. This grass seed is what it says it is. Fast growing grows up thick and green. It’s fall here when planted so not sure how spring will do with it with the heat but has a long time to get well established. This has 2 week growth. Follow the directions and give it some lawn starter fertilizer help boost it. I’m very well pleased with this. This is the far best I ever used in my 14 years in the lawn care business. Would of gave it 10 stars but only had 5.

I am pleased so far, locally we have not much rain and I have to use well water. I am trying to conserve water. I know I did not get a perfect stand, so far what has come up looks good.

Seed came up in 7-10 days.nice dark green color.Really filled in after 3 weeks of planting.Very happy with the choice!!

just as advertised

Best grass seed ever! I have terrible clay soil heavy compacted and still, this seed germinated @day 5!! Today is day 6 and all of my bare spots on 2500sqft strip turned green over night!
Amazing germination and color.
Update after 3weeks, I do no longer water it and it became slush like a green carpet.
My wife is mad because it is sooo intense green that it makes the older part of the lawn look terrible in comparison. This is highest quality grass seed.

Worked as advertised quick shipping

This grass seed is awesome, we have been using to over seed and restore an old lawn. It really comes in strong, and has transformed our lawn. We used Jonathan Green Mag-I-Cal and soil food as well, so I am sure that played a part. Only con is the birds also seem to really enjoy it.

This is a great high quality seed to be grown in its proper zone (I live in South NJ zone 7) the same as Kentucky Blue grass. I did all the proper lawn procedures prior to planting a new lawn. Killing the existing lawn with roundup, tilling, killing the weeds again, rototilling. It takes a month to prep before you plant, never take any shortcuts, it doesn’t pay. I planted heavy, used about 40 lbs. I planted my lawn seed at the beginning of Sept. Picture is the beginning of May. June even looks better. The delivery guys FedEx/UPS say I probably have the best lawn in town. I say it is the seed , fertilizer and watering.

Planted this seed late spring/early summer along the street using rake aeration only and in patchy spots with a soil blanket cover around the yard. All began to sprout quickly, 3-4 days. Kept it moist for 2 weeks. ALL survived the summer. Healthy rugged attractive grass. Purchased large bag to over-seed back yard this winter. Will see how that effort progresses. Will update review this spring to determine if the grass along the street survived the effects of multiple winter street salt applications.

Really lush lawn after seeding; have a 2nd bag to overseed existing lawn in Spring; worth the cost.

made the grass nice and thick

Have used before, works as advertised

Germination was great. It is a beautiful grass.

I have been using this seed now for 2 years now. I am very happy. My first time I used the Ultra mix and I had grass within a week. I will be over seeding every fall with this mix as it makes my lawn look amazing! Very happy with the results and have much better luck with germination from Jonathan Green over Scotts/Pen. Another bonus is this seed mix is not full off a bunch of fillers like other seed out there.

Very Good seed. Nice and green for the WI. area Comes up a little slower be patience

excellent product, surpassed my expectations
if you want beautiful grass this is the seed to buy

Best Seed on the market. Tired Pennington, Vigaro, Scotts you name it. Used with the Prep Product (Magical and Love your Lawn) the Grass grew thick in really tough spots that would not grow in the past. Spend the extra get the Green!

Excellent product at a great price.

Best seed I have used in 15 years. I live in NC, USA.

This is by far the best seed I have ever purchased. My lawn looks great.

I planted this fall (2015) in my front yard. Seed germinated in 5-7 days and is doing well so far. I over-seeded and it looks good at this point. The real test is next spring and the dry periods of summer. It has a really attractive deep green color.

Jonathan Green Black Beauty Grass Seed has become my “go to” lawn product. This is the third season I have used it …and it always comes up a rich thick green…. and stays well into the late fall and winter. A bit pricey but worth it !!!

Amazing seed! Grows in well, with a beautiful deep green color. Was recommended by local landscaper to use this seed when I had to reseed my lawn. It proved to be a great choice … but just cheaper when bought at Amazon.

Great product and outstanding service

Worked great, looks great.

This seed really works. Planted it in a shady area of my lawn where other seed didn’t work. Within a week and half we have grass growing.

This seed germinated in 7 days and within 3 months my yard is full and dark. I will oversees with it in September !!!!!

Really fast germanation, however, even with consistent water only about half the seeds seem to germanate. We’ll see over the long term how this seed compares to scotts and Pennington (which is pretty good stuff! Better than the Scotts).
I gave it four stars because it germanated soooo quickly.
What I’m really interested in is drought tolerance – but because we’ve had such a wet summer here in Southeast Indiana, I won’t know until late Summer/early Fall.

The Best Grass Seed Makes The Best Looking Lawn.

great seed

The only seed that grows well and stays well in my near 85% shade back yard. Given its shaded in my back yard I can’t just cut the lawn and forget it about it, I have to give it quite a bit of TLC compared to full sun lawns. Other seeds required alot more TLC than Black Beauty. I would recommend this easily. Don’t plant your seeds in the spring unless you want to waste your money. Fall is the best time to do it and don’t forget to fertilize.

You should see my lawn…looks great after 4 – 6 weeks, both overseeded areas and newly planted. Best seed I’ve ever bought. AND…the price was less than 50% of normal retail, less than the price of a 10 lb. bag.

Great grass seed. Highly recommended.

got it on sale less than $20.
seeds do need 7-10 days to germinate.
if you want good result, make sure to cover the seeds with a thin top lay of soil and water it at least 2 times a day.

Great seed came in great with over seeder.

Great seed. I had germination in 5 days. I think what most people don’t realize is that the soil PH is extremely important when it comes to growing and maintaining a nice lawn. Here in the northeast, a tall fescue grows best, whereas this type of seed may not be good in other parts of the country. Research your climate zone, make sure the soil PH is correct, and choose the right seed based on your area of the country and your lawn will work out fine. By the way, keeping the soil moist for the seeds is just as important!

The grass takes some time and care to get established, but the results are worth it. Regular watering (in the absence of rain) is important for the first 2-3 weeks. Germination occurred at the end of the second week.
ees

Very nice lawn!

This is not an inexpensive seed, but for me it was worth the extra money. The deep green color is stunning. I filled in several areas that had become spotty , then did an even seeding over the whole lawn. The grass was very fine at first , then widened into nice consistent blades… peat moss and watering is key. I used both the Black Beauty mix and the Shady Nooks mix I am going to start the entire Jonathan Green program … it’s worth the investment.

Don’t know what the fellow who wrote that this is same as crab grass planted but I doubt it was Black Beauty. My lawn was ruined by fungus last season and I had to practically reseed the entire front Lawn.
Black beauty seed came up great after mixing with a little top soil and starter fertilizer.

Great product. Will definitely use again. Over seeding worked well. I didn’t put down enough on a bear spot but second application filled in nicely. Well see how it does in August, but right now it looks awesome!

This blend thankfully contains no fine fescues, which have begun to brown out in August in Maine. Black Beauty is our link to the new hot climate we are entering, so we love this blend. Great performance. Dark green and very sturdy.

After a tough winter I had lots of bare spots in my yard. I spread a natural fertilizer called Restore, waited about a week, then spread this grass seed. The only precaution I took was to cover the seed with straw so the birds wouldn’t eat it right away. Watered several times a day. It has filled in beautifully and I now have the best lawn I’ve ever had. I don’t know what the mixture of seeds is but they seem to grow in almost every condition from full sun to deep shade. I’ll continue to use this seed mix every fall and spring from now on.

This is pitched as the ultimate Turf Type Tall Fescue (TTTF) Blend, and maybe it is. But it is still Tall Fescue, which has its limits. The main limit is heat and drought tolerance. TTTF has great drought tolerance if it can root deeply. The problem is that in most of the USA Atlantic seaboard from SC to CT, the soil tends to be compacted clay, which no grass can root deeply in without constant and regular aeration from the homeowner. In such soils, TTTF is toast once the temps get above 90 and the soil gets dry. I’ve had much more success with Kentucky Bluegrass, which does not require deep rooting to survive the heat. You do have to irrigate KBG for it to stay green, but even if you don’t at least it will go dormant and survive. TTTF will just die. Black Beauty supposedly has a moisture retaining crown that helps it survive drought, but the reality is that the root is still the key to surviving drought, and if you have hard soil typical of the US Atlantic Seaboard, you are going to be better off with KBG or one of the new Scotts heat resistant hybrid KBG in my opinion, based on considerable experience with both grass types.

from the time i planted the grass seed it took 3 to 4 wks to geminate and i had a nice yard with good coverage in approx 7 weeks i watered twice a day and put down starter fertilizer

I used this to over seed my lawn, I live in malibu. It worked well, Just keep it heavy water for the first 10 days.

Black Beauty grass seeds worked great in my yard–while all of the other neighbors yards went brown during our recent drought, my lawn stayed green. Great product–a little bit expensive but worth it.