Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed - Perennial Ryegrass Mix 7-P

I live in Tucson Arizona, one of the most challenging environments to grow grass. Perennial Ryegrass was suggested by University of Arizona here in Tucson for fall-through-spring lawns (summers too hot and the grass goes dormant).WATER: The first thing you have to understand about this grass is it loves water. The seed really does required daily water to germinate. And it will germinate like crazy if you can provide this. When it mature grass, it still requires lots of water, however less frequently. I installed an automated sprinkler system that comes on every two days in the hot summer, three to four days depending on temp, for 45 minutes.FERTILIZER: This grass LOVES and NEEDS lots of fertilizer. I apply 5 pounds of 12-12-12 fertilizer to my 200sqft of lawn every three months. I didn't realize fertilizer was so critical until I accidentally dropped a handful-sized-amount of fertilizer in one spot on the grass. Normally this much fertilizer would kill any plant, however around that spot the grass started growing thick and lush about 3x faster than surrounding it (4 inches per week instead of 1.5 inches per week). This proved to me this grass needs a ton of fertilizer for best results. However if you are sick of cutting your lawn and its already lush enough, holding back on fertilizer slows growth and makes it more convenient to maintain. Please do not hold back on fertilizer especially in the southwest where the soil is alkaline and doesn't hold onto fertilizer very well.CLIPPINGS: As will all lawns, if you are fertilizing and watering frequently (and aerating if necessary), the lawn has everything it needs to digest itself. This means clippings will magically disappear in a week, and completely degrade in 1-3 months.SUMMER: This grass slows down growth considerably in the summer (100-110 degrees F here). The grass will die completely if temperatures rise above 105 F. I estimate its growing 3x slower around 100 degrees F than it does around 70 degrees F, although it still requires the same amount of water. If you live somewhere it is likely to reach 105 F, plan on this grass dying completely, and seed with a hot climate grass like bermuda, zoysia, etc.WINTER: this grass loves cool weather, however it stops growing around the freezing point.

Item did not germinate.I've been mending my lawns for decades, did all the usual care and watering.That happens sometimes.I contacted Scotts official Customer Service via their website. Since I worked after hours I could not call, but used their official web page email. The response page said they'd get back to me "in a day or two." When their was no response after a few days, I repeated the step. Same promise, same lack of response.The poor quality product was one thing, it sometimes happens. But the mark of a real consumer-oriented company is its responsiveness when things do go wrong.Who needs the risk?

I really want to give perennial rye grass five stars, but I just can't. Perennial rye will germinate very quickly in most situations, and will grow more vigorously than most other types of grass (please note that I am located in the upper midwest), but it has it's drawbacks. This type of grass tends to grow much faster than fescue or bluegrass. Unless your lawn is all ryegrass, any patching done with perennial rye will need to be mowed more often. You often hear the recommendation that you should never remove more than 1/3 of the length of the grass when mowing; well with perennial rye, you would need to mow every other day if that's your criteria (no, I am not kidding). By mid-summer, this rye will go completely dormant, or even die if temperatures are too high for too long.After many years, I've come to the conclusion that fine fescue is probably the best choice for lawns in my area. Fescue doesn't need to be mown as often, and seems to survive sun, shade, and warm weather better than rye. Yes, fescue takes longer to get established, but once it is, it's lower maintenance. Your mileage may vary; depending on where you live, other varieties may be better for you.

I had some of my neighbor's bermuda grass invade my yard about three years ago. After spending $100.00 for Round-Up and the work it took to do the spraying over a three year period so I wouldn't have to look at brown areas in my yard all winter, I gave up on that. I read somewhere that if you over-seed the bermuda grass with perennial rye grass you will see mostly green all winter because the bermuda grass does not grow in cold weather and the perennial rye grows in the winter. This coming fall I will give the lawn a heaver dose of the rye grass and hopefully the whole yard will be nice and green. This idea really worked.

I used this to plant a Northern grass during the mild Southern US winter. The grass seed requires you know how to plant grass. That may seem obvious, but a quick glance at the comments and you'll see that isn't the case. Don't expect this to grow on pavement (like some other Scott's products), or even without a solid understanding of how grass seeds germinate. If you provide the proper care and attention, you'll be happy with this grass and thrilled with the seeds quality.Perennial Rye is thin and soft without growing too quickly in 35°-75°F weather. I didn't notice a single weed I can attribute to the seed, nor do I notice any off-type grasses.For what I needed, this grass was perfect. Scott's seed once again lived up to its class-leading reputation.