At a quick glance, one patch of grass can look much like another, but, even if you’re not a gardner, if you look closer, it’s usually quite easy to tell a lawn which is designed to look good from one which is designed to stand up to hard work and with a bit of practice, you can tell the various shades in between.

Whatever type of lawn you want, you need a good-quality grass seed which is right for your situation.  If you’re just looking for some recommendations, then head straight on down to our “Grass Seeds Review” section.  If you’d like to know a little more about grass seeds, then keep reading and we’ll fill you in.

A Basic Guide to Grass Seeds

The grass seed that you buy in gardening stores will actually be a mixture of different grasses, blended for different purposes.  The end result you get will depend partly on the grass-seed mixture you use, partly on the quality  of the product and partly on your ability as a gardner.  Reputable seed companies will generally provide you with instructions about how to get the best out of their grass seeds, but it’s down to you to follow them!

A Guide to Different Grass Types

Here are some of the common grasses used in grass-seed mixtures and what you need to know about them.

Browntop Bent (Agrostis capillaris)

Browntop Bent is a type of grass which can look really good, but it’s fussy.  It does best in cool, moist growing conditions and fertile soil plus it needs a lot of maintenance, including regular, close mowing.

Chewings Fescue (Festuca rubra commutata)

This should really be Chewings’ Fescue as it’s named after George Chewings.  It’s fine-leaved and densely tufted and it tolerates close mowing, shade and drought.  As a result, it’s very popular for sports’ grounds but it’s also widely used on lawns.

Creeping Bent (Agrostis stolonifera)

Creeping Bent will tolerate quite a wide range of soils, although it definitely prefers moist to semi-wet, fertile soils and it also needs a lot of care and maintenance.

Hard Fescue (Festuca longifolia)

This grass does best in stony and sandy soils, other than this preference, it will tolerate just about anything including low nutrients, shade, drought and heavy traffic.

Highland Browntop Bent (Agrostis castellana)

Even though it hails from the Mediterranean area, Highland Browntop Bent is hardier than common Browntop Bent and better able to cope with drought.  It’s a slow starter and requires regular maintenance, but does keep its colour well over winter.  It’s not used much but sometimes finds a place in grass-seed mixes intended for ornamental lawns.

Meadow Fescue (Festuca pratensis)

You’re probably not going to see this very often in grass-seed mixes for lawns, but you may see it in mixes intended for market gardens, homesteads, small farms and so forth as it’s good for chickens and grazing animals.  You may sometimes see it in grass-seed mixes for hard-wearing lawns, but these days that would probably be fairly rare.

Meadowgrass (Poa supina)

This grass can stand up to just about anything including lack of light, lack of water, cold weather and heavy traffic.

Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium Perenne)

This is one hard-wearing grass, which is why it’s commonly used on sports grounds.  It germinates at low temperatures, copes well with temperature changes, grows well and stands up to heavy traffic.

Sheeps Fescue (Festuca arundinacea)

This grass is very hardy.  It will grow in just about any soil and tolerate just about anything including low nutrients, shade, drought and heavy traffic.

Slender Creeping Red Fescue (Festuca rubra litoralis)

If you still remember your Latin, you’ll know that litoralis means “coastal” and that’s where this grass grows wild.  As you might have guessed from this, it is very tolerant of salt and reasonably tolerant of drought.  It’s also fairly hard-wearing.

Smooth-Stalked Meadowgrass (Poa pratensis)

This is also known as Kentucky Bluegrass because it’s a blue-green rather than a true green.  It takes a while to become established, but when it does its deep roots mean that it wears well and regenerates quickly.  It also tolerates both lack of light and lack of water.

Strong Creeping Red Fescue (Festuca rubra rubra)

This species of grass grows wild in just about every environment you can think of from semi-dunes and waste ground to regular grasslands via hedgerows and moorland.  That should tell you pretty much everything you need to know about it.  Basically this grass can survive just about anything, including heavy traffic.

Timothy Grass (Phleum pratense)

This is generally used for making hay rather than for lawns, but if you buy a “wild-grass” mixture or a mixture intended for use by market gardeners and so forth who want grazing pasture.

Grass seed quality

If you want the best lawn then you will need the best grass seed.  If you can actually see the seed (and you understand what you’re doing) then you can check what sort of condition it’s in and also how much chaff there is in the mixture.  These days, however, most seed will be sold in closed containers, in which case you’re going to have to rely on brands, reputable suppliers and honest reviews.

Grass Seeds Review

Speaking of which, here is our round up of what we think are the best grass seeds around.  We’ve picked a selection for different situations, but they all perform well and offer great value for money.

Editors Pick

Pronto Seed Grass Seed

Runner Up

GardenersDream 5KG Premium Hard Wearing Grass Seed

Best Budget

GBW Grass Seed

GroundMaster Hard Wearing Tough Garden Premium Back Lawn Grass Seed (5KG)

This is 50% Double Lolium Perennial Rye Grass, 30% Strong Creeping Red Fescue and 20% Troya Lolium Perennial Rye Grass.  It takes its time to work, in fact, it can take a couple of months before you see any real effect, but once it does get moving, the grass will be thick, strong, hard-wearing and with a good colour.

MeadowMania Shaded Woodland Shady Area Grass & Lawn Seed 800 Grams.

This is  40% Strong creeping red fescue, 15% each Chewings fescue and Amenity perennial ryegrass, 10% each Smooth stalk meadow grass and Slender creeping red fescue and 5% each Rough stalk meadow grass andWood meadow grass.  As its name suggests, this is intended for areas which receive shade from trees or bushes.  It can cope with fairly heavy traffic, but will need watering in dry conditions, especially when it is still fairly young.

Speedy Seed Grass Lawn Seed, Ultra Patch

This is 50% dwarf perennial rye grass and 50% annual rye grass, plus something else which looks like dirt but we're guessing is the urine neutralizer because this stuff really will grow over areas where your dog has urinated and what’s more it actually turns into a very decent, hard-wearing lawn which can be enjoyed by adults and played on by children and pets without the latter causing any brown patches.

Grass Seeds Review - Conclusion

There is no mixture we can say is the best grass seed for any situation, so much depends on your soil and what you want from your lawn.  There are, however, a couple of products which do stand out.

Best grass seed for shade

This is definitely the MeadowMania grass seed, which is unsurprising as it was created for this exact purpose.

Best grass seed for dogs

This has to be the Speedy Seed Ultra Patch.  We have absolutely no idea how it works but we’re still impressed!