Creating a healthy, attractive lawn starts with choosing the right seed for your needs. Whether you want a traditional turfgrass or low-maintenance alternative, understanding what to plant and how to care for it can make all the difference.
How to Choose the Right Grass Seed for Your Yard
When choosing a new grass seed, the first step is understanding whether you need a cool-season or warm-season grass seed variety. When selecting a new grass seed, the first step is determining whether you need a cool-season or warm-season variety. While these categories are fairly broad, they offer valuable initial guidance to help narrow down your seed options. Cool-season grasses perform better in the cooler times of the year and grow best in temperatures ranging from 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. In contrast, warm-season grasses thrive in warmer climates, growing well in tropical regions and performing best in temperatures between 80°F and 95°F.
The climate zone in which you live is your next consideration. The United States is divided into five primary zones:
- Cool/Humid: This zone comprises the Northeast, parts of the Midwest and much of the Pacific Northwest. Any cool-season grass seed can be grown in this zone.
- Cool/Arid: The dryer areas of the Midwest and West are included in this zone. Cool-season grasses are best adapted to this area when irrigation is available; however, Buffalo grass, a warm-season grass, is widely used in warmer areas of the zone.
- Warm/Arid: This zone include the Southwest states; warm-season grasses are best-suited for this zone.
- Warm/Humid: The Southeast and Gulf states make up this zone. Similar to the Warm/Arid zone, warm-season grasses are the best choice for this zone.
- Transition: The Transition zone spans across the central part of the U.S. and includes parts of each of the other four zones. This zone is the most challenging due to its hot summers and cold winters. For this zone, consider Outsidepride’s Combat Extreme™ Transition Zone w/ OptiGrowth.
In addition to season and zone, factors like sun or shade exposure, maintenance requirements and durability will also help guide your selection of the right grass seed variety.
For a highly durable and drought-tolerant warm-season grass, consider Outsidepride’s Oasis Bermuda Grass Seed. Or, if you are interested in a cool-season grass and would prefer a low-maintenance option, try Combat Extreme™ Northern Zone coated with Outsidepride’s OptiGrowth seed enhancement for better moisture-retention, seed spreading, soil contact and long-term plant health.
Easy Lawn Care Tips for Lasting Results
Proper mowing is essential to maintaining a healthy lawn. Not sure how much to mow? Use the 1/3 rule: never cut more than one-third of the grass blade at a time. If the turf should be 2 inches in height, mow when it reaches 3 inches.
Watering is also a key maintenance task, especially during the early stages of growing a new lawn. After seeding your lawn, water the area gently with an oscillating sprinkler and keep the seeds moist until grass begins to grow. You may have to water the seeds several times a day in order to keep them moist. Once the grass begins to grow, decrease the watering frequency but increase the length of each watering. This will ensure a deep-rooted, vigorous lawn.
Overseeding your lawn is one of the best ways to keep it healthy. It’s recommended to overseed your lawn once couple of years. To do so, mow the lawn at 1 to 1 ½ inches and remove clippings. Then rake the lawn hard enough to loosen soil and break apart the thatch. Apply the grass seed over the entire lawn at the rate according to the seed packet. Rake the lawn once again to ensure the seeds are in the soil. Keep the soil moist until the new seeds germinate. In about 5 weeks, your lawn will be thick and rejuvenated!
Miniclover®: A Low-Maintenance Lawn Alternative
Outsidepride’s Miniclover seeds are an ideal lawn alternative for those interested in cutting back on maintenance or water usage. This perennial white clover grows to a mature height of 4-6 inches and is ideal for high foot traffic areas. It can be used as a groundcover or as a lawn alternative mixed with other turfgrass or groundcover plants like red creeping thyme, creeping jenny and sedum seeds. Whether you use Miniclover alone or pair it with other Outsidepride seeds, it offers a multitude of benefits for your outdoor space.
Miniclover is drought-tolerant and self-fertilizing, helping to improve soil health while reducing the need for frequent watering or fertilization. After just a few mowings, it can be trained to maintain a height of just 3 inches—meaning it won’t need to be mowed again.
It’s critical to keep Miniclover seeds moist until they are established. At that stage, Miniclover can tolerate both moist and partially shady conditions—though it’s important to note that it won’t withstand standing water or flooded areas.
Use Groundcover for High-Impact, Low-Effort Design
Dichondra and Irish Moss seeds produce groundcover plants that bring visual interest to your landscape setting and require very minimal maintenance. Use these low-growing varieties to fill in borders, garden paths, shaded areas or even as lawn alternatives. They adapt well to both sun and shade, and form a dense, carpet-like appearance for added texture.
Dichondra is drought-tolerant and only requires watering once the soil has dried out, whereas Irish Moss prefers consistently moist soil and should be watered more frequently.
Every outdoor space is unique, and finding the right seed can make all the difference. From traditional grass seed to lawn alternatives like Miniclover and groundcovers such as dichondra and Irish Moss, Outsidepride has a wide selection of seeds to help you build a better lawn from the ground up.