In this guide we’ll take a look at the best grass seed for the UK market.
I’ve compared quality, coverage, seed mixture and cost
to give you my top recommendations.
What Is The Best Grass Seed?
In a rush? Here’s my top choice…
The Grass People SUPERSTAR: Back Lawn 10kg Grass Seed
Incredible results even in dry or wet soil and heavy shade!
This Grass People SUPERSTAR: Back Lawn 10kg Grass Seed truly works wonders. The 10 kg bag will cover 200 m², lasting for ages and creating a hardwearing, lush lawn with each application. Seeds will germinate in less than a week and will give you a stunning lawn even in difficult conditions like dry or wet soil and dense shade.
Things to Know Before Buying Grass Seed
It’s a great feeling when your lawn is lush and green. Unfortunately, this feeling doesn’t always last as wear and tear can really tire out a lawn fast.
If you buy the best grass seed available, you can create a more hardwearing lawn that won’t get easily damaged from children playing on it or pets wearing it out.
But, of course, it can be heard to know what make ‘the best grass seed’, so the following tips are useful to help you make an informed purchase:
Often, you’ll notice that grass seed isn’t made up of just one species of grass. In general, several different variations are combined to improve the overall properties of your lawn.
Having grass seed which contains Ryegrass will help make the lawn more durable. This isn’t a soft grass type and can be a bit more coarse than other varieties, but it is hardwearing and vibrantly green. As a result, buying a grass mix which contains some Ryegrass will really help improve the durability of your lawn. Dwarf Amenity Ryegrass has been cultivated to be slightly softer and is often found in garden grass seeds.
Fescue grasses will grow well even in shady areas. If you’ve got a lot of shade in your garden and have been struggling to get a healthy lawn as a result, a seed mix containing some Fescue species will do a good job. The Grass People SUPERSTAR: Back Lawn 10kg Grass Seed contains Creeping Red Fescue which is particularly good at spreading. This is excellent for patchy lawns as it will fill in the gaps.
Browntop Bent isn’t as commonly found in hardwearing grass seed mixes, but it can make be included because it helps make lawns fine and soft. A small percentage of Browntop Bent, such as the 5% found in the GBW 1 kg Grass Seed, will add some finer, short grass to your lawn.
If you have a large lawn, there won’t be much point in you buying a 400 g bag of grass seed that will only cover 9 – 16 m². These smaller containers are best suited to smaller lawns, offering excellent quality to small areas but not being cost effective in larger ones.
Most manufacturer’s will state how much coverage you can get from their product. This can also vary depending on how many grams of seed the manufacturer recommends on using per meter squared.
From the grass seed I reviewed we can see that the Grass People SUPERSTAR 10 kg bag will provide coverage for 200 m² whilst the GroundMaster 10 kg bag will manage up to 300 m². It’s important to consider the quality and mix of the seed, as well as the coverage, to make sure you are happy with both. You may choose to buy a packet which covers slightly less area, but has a better grass combination.
Your garden may have a tendency to be dry or the soil may retain a lot of moisture. Both of these factors may have affected your success in maintaining a healthy lawn. Another factor that can impact lawn growth is shade; some grass species don’t grow well in shady areas.
Ryegrass and Fescue grasses do well in the shade. So if you’ve always struggled with a patchy, uneven lawn in shaded areas, make sure to buy a grass mix which contains these varieties.
Tall Fescue in particular is known for managing well in wet weather. It’s a great grass species to look out for if you want to find the best grass seed for a wet or damp garden.
If you’ve got dry soil, you’ll want grass types with a good root network – there’ll be able to take nutrients from deeper in the ground. Meadowgrass (also referred to as ‘Kentucky Bluegrass’) has a great root structure and therefore fairs very well in dry soil. Fescue grasses will also handle dry zones well.
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More Detailed Grass Seed Reviews
The Grass People SUPERSTAR: Back Lawn 10kg Grass Seed
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The Grass People SUPERSTAR: Back Lawn 10kg Grass Seed Review
The Grass People SUPERSTAR: Back Lawn 10kg Grass Seed is the best grass seed if you want to get a lush, green, hardwearing lawn even in dry, wet or shady gardens.
This premium quality sowing grass seed is made up of different grass types for optimum results. It’s a blend of 80% Perennial Ryegrass and 20% Strong Creeping Red Fescue; designed to create a hardwearing lawn that will stand up to playtime and plenty of use.
This lawn seed creates a lush green lawn even in difficult areas such as dry soil, wet soil and deep shade. You can finally get a nice even lawn even under the shade of big trees. The grass seed germinates in less than a week and is often ready for its first cut in under five weeks, depending on weather conditions. This is pretty impressive and also very encouraging – you quickly reap the rewards of your efforts!
This 10 kg bag of sowing grass seed offers great value for money and is enough to cover an area of 200 m² so will likely last for several applications.
This is the best grass seed if you want a hard-wearing lawn but have found it difficult to achieve in the past due to tough conditions like dry or wet soil or deep shade.
GroundMaster Hard Wearing Premium Lawn Grass Seed
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GroundMaster Hard Wearing Premium Lawn Grass Seed Review
GroundMaster Hard Wearing Tough Garden Premium Back Lawn Grass Seed (10KG) grows in quickly after application. Coming through thick and fast in just a few days to produce a dense, lush lawn.
The 10 kg bag of grass seed provides will cover around 300 m² making this a great value product. It germinates quickly in the right conditions and you should see it shooting after 5-10 days. The seed has been carefully mixed to provide optimum results. It is a mix of perennial ryegrasses and 30% Strong Creeping Red Fescue. This creates a hardwearing lawn that is suitable for children and pets but still looks lush and green.
If you’re getting disheartened because your lawn is wearing thin, especially if it sees a lot of action from children playing on it and pets running around, this is one of the best grass seeds to help you grow a tough, hardwearing lawn.
GBW 1 kg Premium Quality Grass Seed
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GBW 1 kg Premium Quality Grass Seed Review
This GBW 1 kg Grass Seed grows quickly and provides a thick lush carpet of grass that is tailored to the UK climate.
If you have a smaller lawn or are looking to reseed an existing lawn, then is going to be a great option for you. It covers up to 35 m² for new lawns and 55 m² if you are reseeding a sparse existing lawn.
It’s more expensive than some of the more economical options in this top five, but a lot of thought has gone into creating this grass seed.
It is a mix of several different species that make it versatile and perfectly suited to British gardens and weather conditions. The seed mix comprises 43% Dwarf Amenity Ryegrass, 40% Creeping Red Fescue, 12% Chewings Fescue and 5% Browntop Bent. This provides a lush, green lawn that is fine and soft but also hardwearing.
This well-considered mix is also perfect for difficult conditions as it copes well with drought and wet conditions and will also grow in the shade.
This is an excellent choice of grass seed if you have difficult conditions in your garden, especially shady areas where grass seed often fails to grow. You will soon have lush green grass where you didn’t think it was possible!
Hard Wearing, Fast Growing Premium Grass Seed
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Hard Wearing, Fast Growing Premium Grass Seed Review
This Hard Wearing Grass Seed comes in a 400 g pack which makes it a good choice for those that want to create a small lawn or revitalise an existing one.
It will cover up to 9 m² if used to make a new lawn, and 16 m² if topping up the one you already have.
The lawn seed is a mix of Perennial Rye Grasses and Strong Creeping Red Fescue. These create a wonderfully lush, yet durable lawn. The seed grows quickly, in 5 – 30 days, and soon thickens up to provide a healthy, green hardwearing lawn.
This is the the best grass seed product for very small lawns as you’ll be able to buy a great quality product without wasting money on buying way more than you need.
AM Pro-25 10kg Top Quality Grass Seed / Lawn Seed
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AM Pro-25 10kg Top Quality Grass Seed / Lawn Seed Review
This AM Pro-25 10 kg grass seed is another product which will create a hardwearing lawn. It will provide durable and beautiful grass for many years to come.
This superb quality grass seed contains a mixture of 50% Dwarf Perennial Ryegrass and 50% Strong Creeping Red Fescue to provide a wonderfully lush, yet hardwearing lawn. It feels slightly softer than some of the other mixes which have a higher ryegrass content. This grass seed is ideal if you want a lawn that will stand up to children and pets but is soft and lush enough to lie on for a nice sunbathe.
The 10-kilogram grass seed provides enough seed to cover 285 m² making this great value for money.
This is the best grass seed if you want good value for money and it will provide good thick growth in most soil and light conditions.
Grass Seed FAQ
Ideally, you should plant your grass seed between August and October. This is the optimum time because there is less chance of it getting taken over by weeds (which may happen at other times of year) and the soil is still relatively warm. It should also naturally get plenty of water at this time of year.
You can plant seed partway through spring if you need to, but you’ll need to be diligent and make sure that it is always very well watered.
Yes and no. Grass seed will likely sprout if it is simply thrown on the ground, but it certainly not the best path to achieving a long-lasting, lush green lawn. Using a spreader will give you much better results. It will aerate the soil allowing the seeds to penetrate into it slightly so they’re not just resting on top. This will give them a much better chance of taking root properly and giving you a healthy lawn.
If creating a new lawn, there are several steps you can take to really get the best results:
- Spread seed ideally in early autumn. Spring is also an option.
- Turn the soil over in preparation, to loosen and aerate it.
- Get rid of any weeds.
- Prepare the soil by raking it and creating a level surface for the seeds.
- Sow the seeds based on the manufacturer’s instructions: there may be some variation on how many g/m² is recommended.
Grass seed only needs to be planted at a shallow depth. Somewhere between 30 mm and 75 mm. If, at the end of the process, there are no seeds visible on the surface, the likelihood is the seeds are too deep.
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