Scotts EZ Seed. No go.

DrHicks

Product review here... Mods, you can move or remove it if I'm doing something wrong.


A couple weeks ago I decided to try Scotts' highly advertised EZ Seed - grass seed/mulch/fertilizer mix. I'm filling in a lot of little bare spots, where the freaking moles decimated my front lawn.

On Saturday I spread the Scotts EZ Seed per directions. The $30, 10 lb bag didn't last long. I then watered it.

On Sunday I spread regular seed in other bare spots in the same area, and covered it with about 1/4" of soft dirt.


2 weeks later, after watering twice daily, the regular grass is coming up nice & thick. On the other hand, there is absolutely no sign of life from the EZ Seed - the stuff that was supposed to come up even quicker and thicker than regular seed.


I think you can all guess how I feel about Scotts EZ Seed.

I'll post a correction/retraction if, sometime soon, things change.

Breakthecycle2

Weird, mine worked.

DexterII

Twice in the past few years I have tried similar "one step", or whatever you would call them, products, and have been less than pleased with the results, so will stick with the traditional method of preparing an area, using regular grass seed, and maintaining it through maturity, with which I have had good results the majority of the time. However, in fairness to such products, it could be the amount of rye that they contain, as compared to "off the shelf" packages of seed. As an example, I typically buy seed at one of my local mills or nurseries, and I have noticed that it too develops slower than packaged seed, which I have attributed to it containing more actual grass and less rye.

Leah Frances

Moles are predators. They eat grubs. If you have moles you have grubs. Grubs kill grass. Until you kill the grubs you are going to have a hard time with grass.

BTW - I have used the Scotts stuff - it took longer than I expected to produce.

__________________
If I could only remember to THINK about what I was doing before I did it.

DrHicks

I've treated for grubs. These bare spots are definitely the result of mole tunnels.

I've waged war on the moles. I'd say most of them are either dead or have moved on. But there's still lawn work to be done.

Leah Frances

Did you see my post about organic and effective mole control: Found organic and effective mole control!. Also, my dogs eat them too.

Good luck! And keep watching for grass.

__________________
If I could only remember to THINK about what I was doing before I did it.

DrHicks

Yes, and thank you.

I've got some copies of something very similar - everything from used coffee grounds to Bounce fabric softener sheets.

What I'm dealing with is moles and, unfortunately for them, I'm not interested in repelling them. I am going to kill them. One way or they other, I'm going to kill them.

Leah Frances

I can tell you didn't read my post my secret weapons are my chickens. They hunt and kill the moles.

__________________
If I could only remember to THINK about what I was doing before I did it.

DrHicks

My wife is determined to have chickens again (we had them when we lived on an acreage for 10 years), but we will not be getting any until after our daughter's backyard wedding. And our two little dogs have also caught and killed a mole or two. Unfortunately, that has inspired them to dig holes every time they're outside.

Life is tough up here!

Leah Frances

I have one hole digging dog. I have had to fence him out of my all my flower beds since he killed a couple hostas digging trenches.

Chickens should probably wait til after the wedding Congrats to you and the wife.

__________________
If I could only remember to THINK about what I was doing before I did it.

DrHicks

The chickens were a good time. All 3 of our kids were young, and they learned a lot. Every spring the local farm store had hatchlings. Every spring my wife would say she was NOT going to get any more chickens. Every spring she'd come home with more.

We had everything from Araucana, to Buff Orpington, to Barred Rock. It was fascinating.


But yeah, that's certainly a "post-wedding" venture. Something tells me that chicken poop all over the yard might not go over so well.

sdsester

Wish I could get you all to stop talking about anything you sprinkle on dirt and that comes up as green shoots as grass seeds. And that somehow that the germinates fastest is better turfgrass seed?

Turfgrasses come in variety and cannot be characterized as just "grass seed" and compared uniformly. Unfortunately the industry takes full advantage of this. And come on folks, no farmer would buy his/her seed from a box store where trucks sat out half the winter freezing the contents lined up for spring.

I have no idea what is in EZ Gro but you who plant it should as well as anything else you plunk in the ground.

Annual Ryegrass - Will practically germinate in your hand or 3-5 days
Perrennial Ryegrasses - Will germinate in 3-10 as I remember
Bluegrasses - 14 or more
Fescues - 14-21 or more

Annual rye grass is clumpy and coarse and will last one season at most. Some perrennial ryegrasses are gorgeous but do not do well in shade.

Bluegrass is the backdrop for race horsehorses. And one hopes designer show chickens (Evanston near me now allows the raising of chickens in fenced yards I guess)

And Fescues adds wonderful texture and color and can live in shade.

Bent - Many a golf course turf managers nightmare put the the stuff close cropped putting greens are made of. My back yard in California was bent and I think it took like 14 years to germinate

Dichondra - I sort of broadleaf turf that you really never have to mow if all you want is green year round. I always thought of it as a low cropped ground cover. Hard to establish but great once accomplished.

Bermuda - My inherited front lawn in California. Rhyzome based and thick and strong with no resistance to drought. Has to be mowed at 1/2 inch. Needs tons of food and water. Looks great when it works. Goes dormant and turns brown in Fall Winter. Golf courses dye it.

Anyhow, to say a grass seed did not perform as well as another if they are totally different species is like saying your banana disappointed you because it didn't taste like an apple or orange.

If EZ grow with seed, fertilizer and mulch did not do it for you? Hope you saved the pretty bag you paid how much for? Absurd. Take it back and get a refund! Go to a seed store or real nursery that sells turfgrass seeds this time of year and get like 1,000 pounds of a custom mix of FRESH seed specific to your situation for like $5. Buy some fertilizer and mulch for another $10. Put the fertilizer down on on prepared soiled. Sprinkle the seed. Top dress it? You really need a packaged product to handle something so complicated as this for you?

And don't be bragging about how fast your annual rye came up. If that is all that was in your seed mix you will be scratching your head trying to keep up with its water demands to look nice in the heat of summer and there will be nothing there next year.

ANNUAL RYE IS AN ANNUAL PLANT PEOPLE. Just like your marigolds, petunias and tomatoes. If that is all you plant for a lawn this year you will be back on this site next year at this time wondering what you did wrong? Nothing at all actually if you watered and fed it but you are going to have to till everything up and start the lawn over again.

My offer stands by the way, if the thing keeping you from buying turfgrass seed that is fresh and boring and plunked in a plastic or even kraft bag is the picture that the retail companies plunk on the outside of the packaging? I will send you one of a gorgeous lawn for the cost of postage. Just PM me.

Let me know if you want horses or chickens or forgotten wedding guests laying or grazing on it. Since semi-retired I get better at GimpShop, the open source free version of Photoshop, every day.

DrHicks

Now, after a couple good rains, the EZ Seed "cover" has all washed away.

Definitely a "never again" product.

Leah Frances

SDSESTER - Thanks for the informative post. Lots of good info!

__________________
If I could only remember to THINK about what I was doing before I did it.