I think at least some of the text describing it is hyperbole. It takes me an hour or more to mow my lawn each week and a gallon of gas lasts three weeks. I don't see how 40 cars can run for an hour on 1/3 gallon of gas.

I agree with Paul that you can do better (and definitely cheaper) by mixing your own.

They do include some creeping red fescue in the mix, so it will fill in somewhat, but not as well as KBG will. Some of the fescues in the mix will do well in either sun or shade.

But $30 for 5 lbs seems a bit steep to me. I've paid that much for seed, but usually because I'm buying seed that isn't normally sold to consumers (I'm replacing my lawn with native grasses).

The south end of the lawn is bordered by tall trees and gets shade. The north end of the lawn gets much more sun. Kinda funny that the south end is shadier aint it? Irrigation is spotty at best. I don't live at the lawn, I just help service it as a volunteer so the less maintenance required the better. I like creeping red fescue (and research gives me mixed results as whether it is native or not) and have put that seed down before but a lot of it didn't take in the lawn but did better in more woodsy areas of the property; the lack of consistent watering probably did not help. I put down corn meal gluten and milorganite in mid or late spring which I think helped with some weeds but it was too late for the dandelions. I treated the dandelions once with Weed Be Gone gut they are back. I bought sowed a 50 pound bag of sun and shade mix which had more than 25% fine fescues a little later and some green papery mulch product and that grass seems to be doing better than any I tried before. I think the brand was called "Green Mountain". It seemed to be better and certainly more expensive than typical contractor's mix. I also threw down a small amount of sun and shade mix from Pennlawn with some myco coating. I don't think that did much but that didn't get as much water as the Green Mountain did. I did manage to get lucky with rain and with more consistent watering this time as well. But it's still not quite right and I realistically know that the most low maintenance option is what I need. I might try making my own custom blend based on the advice you all have given me. About two springs ago we lost more grass than normal after a record breaking storm drowned the area and even swept away some soil. I looked up the Bonny Dunes. It is definitely much cheaper than Eco-Lawn so I might go that route as well. From a seed company in PA I can get creeping red pretty cheap even with the costs of shipping added in. I might get a bag of that also. Thanks for the help.

I had areas of crabgrass - about a 30% tranche - on my lawn which I hoed up and I replaced with eco-grass which I got from Lesco. I also spread the spare seeds around on the rest of the lawn.

It is very easy to spot the eco section - it is much much greener. There is no doubt its drought resistant as I dont have to water the lawn any more (and it was a very dry summer) and another benefit - I rarely have to mow the lawn as it doenst seem to grow as fast (unless its watered like near a new planting which I have to water regularly). I have recently tried to buy more eco-grass seeds without success - my local Lesco supplier no longer carries it.

Quoting bpgreen

I agree with Paul that you can do better (and definitely cheaper) by mixing your own.
They do include some creeping red fescue in the mix, so it will fill in somewhat, but not as well as KBG will. Some of the fescues in the mix will do well in either sun or shade.

end quot bpgreen

I hope it's is all right on these forums to add a question on a thread you didn't start. But anyway this is my question. This KBG as in the quote above is that a brand name was something I did a search on the Internet for that KBG grass seed and could not find any. I live in Centennial Colorado just south east of Denver Colorado. wouldn't mind doing better than Eco-Lawn, but I'm not seeing a mix-your-own option in the stores in my area like Home Depot and Lowe's hardware. So do I have to use the Internet or should there be specialty nurseries or stores in my area where I could mix-my-own? Will these places assist me on the mixing if they do exist? And also what would you recommend for my area which is said to be a semi arid climate in which I am having most trouble in my sunny areas?

bbmarc the acronyms are usually the species of grass ie. KBG is Kentucky-BlueGrass, CRF is Creeping-Red-Fescue etc etc. the exact cultivar or the company that makes it isnt usually abbreviated here.

Sometimes herbicides or pesticide have their acronym, RU for Round Up. NPK is the chemical symbols for nitrogen phosporus and pottasium which is used with fertilizers. NTEP is the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program which tests and compares various cultivars.

KBG is an abbreviation for Kentucky Bluegrass.

You won't find individual cultivars in a big box store. You might find them in a nursery or garden center, but you'll usually need to look online.

Most Colorado lawns are probably KBG. You can probably save some water with something like Eco-Lawn (or Bonny dunes) or a similar grass seed mix that you could come up with if you could find someplace to get the individual fine fescues.

One caveat on fine fescues is that although they are very drought tolerant, they tend not to be very heat tolerant, so they're likely to go dormant during the hottest part of the summer.

What are your goals in selecting a seed mix? Are you looking for the lowest water use, the greenest lawn, or something in between?

The absolute lowest water use lawn for you would probably be buffalo grass and/or blue grama. But those are warm season grasses, so you'd only have a green lawn from mid May through mid October.

You could also go with some grasses like streambank and/or western wheatgrass and/or crested wheatgrass. The first two are native and the last is introduced from Siberia. Most crested wheatgrass varieties are bunch grasses, but there are ewer varieties that spread. Both of the native grasses spread. I used to be somewhat anti-crested wheatgrass, because I thought it had an off color, but I recently found some that looked like a nice green, so I'm revising my thinking. None of these would look as dark green as a well watered KBG lawn, but they'd all live with no irrigation and stay green if they're watered every couple of weeks.

Well my goals aren't much to not be in Covidence violation with my homeowners association. When I bought the house that had a homemade sprinkler system installed by the previous owner, I mean the link to this sprinkler system was a faucet in the back attached to his homemade sprinkler system with some PCV piping he put together by himself. After it broke I stopped watering my grass and some how the grass that was drought tolerant never died on most of the lawn. There was one corner in the front lawn near the mailbox that was completely roomed however because the water company dug it up to get to some pipes. So I got a covidence violation without one corner. The rest of the lawn is like a man with thinning hair but not in Covidence violation. However I am having trouble with that one corner I grew grass from seed that grew OK but it looks like I am going have to grow it for the third time because there are parts that burnout after they fill in nicely. That corner is a sunniest part of the hold lawn.

I suppose I could find a way to fix the pipe that would get the sprinkler system working again. But my goals are these to have the lowest maintenance lawn which will not be in Covidence violation. I am who person lives alone and I'm not worried about the aesthetics of my lawn as long as the homeowners association says I am not in Covidence violation. I thought if it is not too much trouble in addition to fixing that troublesome corner would tried to thicken the rest of the lawn with low-water grass seed. But I am having trouble understanding what over seeding means. I watched some YouTube videos in one video seemed to be patching the grass and calling it over seeding. Is that what it means to over seed or can I throw grass seed and fertilizer on top of the thin parts of my lawn? Is that what it means to over seed? Another question is how does watering with a hose compare with using sprinklers. If one wanted to do a the watering of one's grass with a hose on what I think is 1000 feet how long would it take one each time you watered.

I didn't follow the whole post, but overseeding means putting seed down on an existing lawn. You can overseed with fine fescues in it and it will live with no water, but will require some water to stay green (and it may go dormant even with water during the hottest part of the year). You could use something like one or more of the wheatgrasses and it would probably stay green in the heat with a little water.

It's tough to tell how long it would take to water because different water systems supply water at different rates.

Sorry about the lack of clarity on my last post. It is because I am dyslexic and are writing you via dictation software. I am going to try to proofread this post better than that last post before I send it.

If it isn't completely obvious already I am a complete newbie when it comes to knowing about how to grow grass. I have seen some videos on YouTube that makes me feel it is coming to crunch time if I am to order grass seed over the Internet and have it here by late August which according to these videos is the next planting opportunity for grass seeding. From what has been said on some of the posts I have read on these forums I am thinking of going with "Legacy Fine Fescue Grass Seed" sold at the site "http://www.outsidepride.com/seed/grass-seed/fescue-grass-seed/legacy-fine-fescue-grass-seed.html."; I am thinking of using this grass seed becuase it is less pricey than Eco-Lawn and I fear I may mess up with anything I try being such a newbie. If anyone who reads this and thinks this is a much lesser grass seed then the Eco-Lawn please tell me now before I order it. Do you think I have it about right for planting this grass as far as timing goes? I mean is late August about right to plant this grass if you live just southeast of Denver Colorado at about elevation 5700 feet. One thing more before ask you detailed questions about planting grass procedures. I have a spot where right next to the driveway in the very front near the mailbox and driveway grass keeps burning out after it's established. The burnout which is in a little brown streek about 3 or 4 inches wide and about 3 and 4 inches right of the driveway happened repeatedly. Once when I planted, what may have bin, Kentucky bluegrass successfully about September 30th then again when replanting seed on my trouble spots about June 30th with grass seed Scotts Turf Buider EZseed , and having it be successful. So do you think I have a good shot over seating my lawn with this grass seed in spite of that trouble spot.

If so the questions I have on how to do it is as follows. The website I mentioned above to buy this "Legacy Fine Fescue Grass Seed" is selling on the same page a liquid preparation to get it started called "LazyMan Liquid Gold" which they say about on a link that tells you more about it the following "LazyMan Liquid Gold lawn aerator, dethatcher and conditioner is a 3-in-1 easy apply spray-on liquid application to aerate, dethatch, and condition your turf and soil." Well is this necessary and if necessary available in itself or its equivalent in big-box stores so I could avoid having it shipped to me. Will I also need fertilizer in addition to this "LazyMan Liquid Gold." Another question is does over seeding means seeding not just over old grass, but with more seed then you would use if planting a new. Still another question is how do I use my grass spreader which I haven't used for 20 years. It has a crank , a compartment where you put the seeding, a trigger button, and life numbers next to this trigger button which is some sort of control. It is called the EZ Handspreader with its little spinning thing that spins at the seed. How high do I hold it? How fast do I crank it? What setting do I put it on? For this particular seed I am thinking of buying? Or how to live find this out if you do not know? Well I have just ask a lot I know. So I would certainly appreciate it is someone here could take the time to answer.

Will you get a violation if your grass turns brown? Some grasses go dormant and turn brown during cold or drought, which is a good thing if you dont want to water or mow. Will they care about thick dense but brown grass?

Will you get a violation if you let it grow too high?

bpgreen which of those grasses grows slowly and doesnt need much fertilizer?

The mix at Outside Pride is similar to the EcoLawn mix and is about half the price, so it's a much better choice, I think.

In the Rocky Mountain forum, I listed the Cabin mix from Wheatland West. It's closer in price to the EcoLawn mix, but will probably stand up to the heat better than something that is all fine fescue.

The fine fescues and wheatgrasses will all grow slowly and require very little fertilizer and water (most will suffer with too much fertilizer and some will suffer with too much water). If you water a little and mow every few weeks, your lawn will be greener and will fill in better.

that cabin mix isnt bad, i though wheatgrass was supposed to be alot more expensive than the common grasses.

I've seen a huge spread on wheatgrass seeds. They've dropped about 50% in price in general over the last few years. And that's a mix of crested wheatgrass, sheep fescue and streambank wheatgrass. Of those, the first two are usually fairly inexpensive. The streambank wheatgrass seeds are 15% by weight (so probably 2-3% by number of seeds).

I should point out that this mix wouldn't produce a lawn that most of the lawn junkies here would like. It'll be a slightly different shade of green and would likely have dormant spots in the heat of summer. It would also probably only do well in a small part of the country (mostly the intermountain west).

I live in the North Bay Area of California (Santa Rosa). We are looking for a replacement grass for our lawn that is both drought resistant and (hopefully) requires less mowing and maintenance. I was reading about Eco-Lawn in a Sunset magazine and became curious about it as a choice for us. Our lawn is generally sunny, but gets afternoon shade. Our soil is a silty clay (ancient river bottom) and there are sequoia tree roots all over our yard. Does anyone know if the Eco-Lawn product will grow in our zone 9 area or if another product would be a better choice? We would like to convert the yard to a water-friendly, natural setting that favors native and low maintenance plants.

Whoa, a blast from the past.

bpgreen was probably THE resident expert on low maintenance lawns using prairie wheat type grasses. He no longer posts. dchall may be able to help you. Be prepared, using low maintenance grasses like wheat grasses has many trade-offs (color, general appearance and texture) when compared to what is now generally expected for home lawns.