- Measure the amount of shade your yard gets by counting the number of hours the sunlight shines on it. Shaded areas will grow grass as long as they receive at least 4 hours of sunlight per day. Beyond that, try a groundcover to replace lawn. For choosing the seed, the University of Minnesota Extension Office recommends that you use a mix of 2 parts fescue seed to 1 part bluegrass for shady lawns. The common Kentucky bluegrass thrives in sunny conditions. Find a sun/shade seed mixture like Kentucky bluegrass and creeping red fescue for a yard with both sunny and shady areas.
- Choose a grass seed that will stand up to the use for your lawn. For instance, if you plan on playing ball on your lawn, a perennial ryegrass is the toughest grass plant. General usage calls for the most common mixture of grass seed: Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, tall fescue and fine fescue. Look at labels on the grass seed packaging for words like "high traffic" if you plan on using the lawn a lot.
- Get an idea of what type of soil you are planting the grass seed on, whether it is heavy clay-filled soil or on the opposite side of the spectrum: a loose, sandy soil. For sandy soil, choose a drought-resistant seed like the Kentucky bluegrass, which has rhizomes to store water longer than the softer roots of the fine fescues. Perennial rye grasses are tough plants that have deep roots to reach water levels lower in the soil, making it also drought tolerant. Most grasses will grow in nutrient-rich clay as long as they have enough moisture.
- Consider the rate of growth when you purchase grass seed, since it will dictate how often you will be mowing the lawn. Choose a slow-growing lawn grass like the fine fescues or the centipede grass if you really don't want to spend much time mowing. Another variety is the buffalo grass, which, although slow to germinate, will slowly grow with almost no care.
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