Building Moxie is Growing Grass with Pennington Smart Seed :: Experiment & Results

Disclosure: This was a partnered post with Pennington Seed, but I was under no obligation to post the results from this experiment. 

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In the post Stone Border Edging for a Garden, I installed stone edging around a new garden space. I patched the surrounding area with Pennington Seed‘s 1-Step Complete.  First, a quick follow up on my progress with that. The picture below was my patch at about 11 days.  Thankfully, we did get some rain in the period since the product was down, because you know, even with my best intentions — I was a little lazy with the watering. I only got to it about three days.

My results it seems are pretty consistent with those that I got in our trial. See: Our growing experiment One Step Complete. (For more information, the trial discussed below, please see that article.)

But as I ramp up to essentially seed a new lawn at my wife’s flip project (and I promise to report on that soon), I figure it would be a nice time to take a look at the results from the “seed only” portion of our experiment.

Below we used Pennington® Smart Seed™ to seed a small (approx. 1×1) plot.  (A note on Pennington Smart Seed: While containing only the most advanced varieties, each seed is further enhanced with Pennington’s exclusive MYCO Advantage™ seed technology, which helps to introduce beneficial micro-organisms that attach themselves to the emerging seed roots for a denser, deeper root system.)

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After minimal soil tilling, we spread fertilizer and Pennington® Smart Seed™ across these plots. Over the next several weeks, each plot received regular watering as appropriate.*

Here you can see us taking part in the experiment:

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DAY 1- Initial Seeding

A Note from Pennington Seed on Watering:

*Watering requirements can vary dramatically between germination, establishment and ongoing maintenance. During germination, homeowners should water to keep the soil moist. Following the first two weeks, homeowners should then water their lawn every third day for 15-20 minutes until established.

As part of ongoing maintenance, watering should occur every fourth day for 20-30 minutes. At this stage, the main goal is to maintain a healthy lawn. This can be primarily accomplished by monitoring for color changes. A lawn does not need water until the color falls by 50 percent, at which time one inch of water should be added. To determine the length of irrigation, place plastic cups or small tins to observe waterfall in a given area.

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DAY 14 AND DAY 28

During the first days of planting, the seed absorbs water but has not swelled to the point of bursting open. Depending on the variety of grass, germination is not typically visible until at least 8 days, with some varieties taking well over 14 days.

At 14 days, germination is visible with a number of seeds having sprouted. Germination progresses over the next few weeks.

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DAY 35 AND DAY 49

Through day 35-49, the grass continues to thicken across the seeded area. While full establishment for Pennington® Smart Seed™ takes longer than Pennington® 1-Step Complete™, the grass still grows beautiful and thick.

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As a reminder, seed requirements by region vary. For a pretty comprehensive list of Pennington‘s products, see a major retailer like Amazon.com >> Pennington Smart Seed™.  For more lawn care and growing tips, please check out my previous article: The Seeds of Knowledge.

Pennington offers specialized variety blends or mixes of Pennington® Smart Seed™. Pennington® Smart Seed™ comes in both traditional variety blends/mixes (Perennial Ryegrass, Kentucky Bluegrass, Tall Fescue and Fescue/Bluegrass), as well as specialized mixes that are customized to specific regional climates – taking the guesswork out of selection. Varieties include: Sun & Shade, Dense Shade, Northeast, Midwest, Pacific Northwest and Pennsylvania State.

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Thanks for reading.

For much more on Growing a Healthy Lawn, please see our Categories, Lawn and Landscape. ~jb