3607 Grass Seed

I bought this about two and half years ago to plant under a very shady tree in my home country of tropical Ghana. The whole lawn was a ragged mangy brown thing but under this tree was completely bare red soil. I raked around the tree, sprinkled the seeds, then raked over it. Then mowed the rest of the lawn, sprinkled what was left of the seeds and tried to rake over it. I tried watering occasionally for about three weeks not nearly as much as I should have (simply because the tap water there is not a regular thing) and I wasn't going to lug buckets around. Within days there were a few nice shoots but very thin and I just gave up after the three weeks. Four months later when the rains started the grass kicked in. The whole lawn came to life and this thing started to spread. Today I just mowed the lawn and two and a half years later it still lush green and really nice even though I rely only on the seasonal rains and never water it... ever!!

I was wow'ed by the positive reviews stating that these seeds could grow virtually anywhere in any conditions. My lawn has suffered terribly from moss (another long and dull tale of my battle against the elemental force that is nature) and after yet another firm raking it was in a poor state; patchy, yellowing and sparse. Each night on my 'lawn' I would take pause to lean on my rake in the lunar like conditions that prevail in a Glasgow spring, shaking my head wistfully at the withered prune of a garden that lay before me. I had tried em all, all those seductive seed boxes in the supermarkets with their gaudy yet alluring claims of "aqua technology" or "urine resistant" coatings on their seed. Indeed it was getting to the point my garden was more seed than grass and the local wood pigeons held regular coo/munch fests on my wan brown turf. So it was with this that I purchased some of the finest Canada Green and awaited delivery. It arrived very quickly, despite not being "prime" which was a bonus. I proceeded to follow the instructions, apologizing profusely to my surviving grass that it had to undergo yet another raking. Then it was ready for me. Vigorously and energetically I sowed my seed on the bare soil. Again and again I cast my hand forth, seed beading the ground in great swathes. Then, spent, I somewhat furtively slunk back to my house for the long vigil. With each passing day I took my watering can and enthusiastically watered the seed, sometimes so caught up in my task that I would caper and dance in offering to great Gaia. But the days marched on and nothing grew. I became despondent, casting dark glances out my window in passing and muttering foul epithets at the seed. On the 14th day I had had enough and strode out my back door to confront the villain. Grow dammit, GROW! but nothing. Patchy soil with wispy ill looking strands as before. I began to lose hope and started plotting my Amazon review, the bile was ready to spew forth about how I had been duped and the Canadians had yet again bested me. Then the rains came, oh how they poured! Days and days of Sleet, Snow, rain and hail beset me and I barricaded myself indoors only occasionally venturing out to inspect my garage for leaks (none). Being only April I knew the foul weather could only last a couple of weeks at most before at least a day or two's relief of stark sun accompanied by chill arctic winds. The rains ended that weekend and I ventured forth into my garden. Something puzzled me, my eye couldn't take it in. Was it the Sun? Being Glaswegian we often take frit at unabashed sunlight but no it wasn't that. It was my bare patches of lawn. They seemed, somehow, thicker? I dropped awestruck to my knees for a closer look. Like a sponge my jeans absorbed a couple of litres of water from the boggy soil. I cared not, it was growing, my seed was growing! All over the shop in fact! I buried my face in the wet and earthy loin of my lawn and sobbed with unabashed joy. Thank you Canada, thank you for this glorious seed.

I cannot understand why some people complain about this seed. A few says it takes longer to germinate than stated but it doesn't take even 2 weeks as stated on packet. I sowed my seed last Wednesday (August 13th) and I watered it first thing in the morning and last thing at night. After 6 days it was already growing nice and evenly. So what are some of you doing wrong???? Prepare your ground, make sure it is free of weeds and big stones and rocks (do not worry about the small stones as you can tread these down after you have sowed) if not treat the weeds with a good weed killer first. You can use "ROUNDUP" and don't complain about that too as that also works. The beauty of "ROUNDUP" is that it will render it useless as soon as it touches the soil so you can sow the seeds after you have sprayed the weeds. Preparation and care is all you need to grow a successful lawn. This is not top golf course grass for the putting greens but it is hard wearing and really looks good. I am amazed after only 5/6 days this is looking green already. All you need to do it as I stated "rake it over and sow the seed. rake it over again and water it. Water it 2 or 3 times a day and keep it moist but not saturated as you will drown the poor little seeds. After 2 weeks you will see it is looking really nice but keep watering till it is well established. Wait for it to reach about 3 inches height and then cut it down to about 1 inch but don't have your mower setting on the lowest or you might just pull all the new grass up especially if you have a blunt cutting blade. After the first cut you can walk all over it to trample down any small little stones that you have left and these will bed into the soil and the grass will grow around them and also it will help the drainage. My ground was virgin ground (had concrete slabs for many many years) and I just dug it raked it and sowed the seeds and raked it again. Maybe some people have problems because they did not prepare it properly or it needed fertilising before sowing. This packet says it would cover 23.5 (23½) square meters, I paced out my bit of ground before I ordered and I wanted enough to cover a 5 X 5 meter square. Yes 5 X 5 = 25 so I used only one packet and it it covered all of the area. Well worth buying and don't listen to what others say that it takes longer to germinate than stated. It all depends on what time of the year you sow and the type of soil you sow it on. Mid August I sowed mine and took 5/6 days to germinate. This is a fantastic product for the price and I am ordering more for a few patches I need to do. I will always buy this seed now from Amazon and I can safely say "bye bye" to wilkos and the rest of the more expensive retailers and "buy buy" because it is brilliant.