Scotts EZ Seed Patch and Repair for Sun and Shade Combination Mulch, Sun and Shade Grass Seed and Fertilizer for Bare Spots and Repair, Grows Anywhere, 40 lbs.

Scott’s EZ seed works outstanding. I have been using it for several years and it has not let me down. I watered areas with new seed twice a day. After doing so and within two weeks I always has an incredible amount of new grass sprout. Grass did take several weeks to months to fully entrench roots deep enough to secure newly grown patch of grass. Very full and green fescue was prevalent at first but my Kentucky Blue slowly integrated into my patches after several months. Once thoroughly establish grass still growing strong.

I have crab grass that's been filling up our entire backyard ever since we bought our home seven years ago. Crab grass grows fast and is an invasive weed. Because it's weed, I learned that you can slowly kill crab grass by watering less often and deeper into the soil so that only good grass' roots can get water. With that in mind, I wanted to put that knowledge to the test by ripping out some large portions of crab grass from the back yard. (TIP: water the soil a bit so it's easier to rip the crab grass out) Once the ground was bare soil, I loosened it up a bit and pulled out any remaining crab grass/dead weed. Next, I sprinkled this Scotts seed (Tall Fescue grass) onto a small section to see what would happen. NOTHING GREW. I was disappointed. Then I read the instructions on the packaging: 1. Spread the seeds/fertilizer into the ground 2. Loosen/turn the soil 3. Water daily as needed to keep the soil moist for the first 2 weeks I changed my sprinkler to water every 2 days for 5 minutes. End result? Grass grew after a week, and now it has increasingly become fuller! See photos for the results! Once the grass has grown acceptably, I will change the sprinkler system to water less frequently again (but deeper through cycle soaking) in order to starve the crab grass weed of water and to help the new grass establish deeper roots. SUMMARY: water often in the first 2 weeks to help sprout the new grass. Once it's established, water less frequently (but cycle soak) so the new grass grows deeper roots.

Good stuff. Not all of it took but much of it did, so there are a few small spots I'll need to seed again. The key is to make sure you keep damp but not overwater. I manually watered it three times a day, once in the early morning before work and another evening after work. And the final watering just before bedtime. I watered just enough to keep the soil damp. Also avoided walking on it when I can. But had no control over neighbors and their dogs walking by, which didn't appear to impact performance.

My neighbors have giant fir trees that overhang my back yard, and they drop needles year round and make it very shady. Every Spring I end up having to re-seed patches of my lawn that have been overgrown with moss or have died out because of the needles (since I'm not out cleaning them up in the Winter). I'll admit I'm a pretty lazy gardener - I like my yard to look nice, but I don't want to be out there layering grass seed, fertilizer and peat moss, nor shooing away the birds that have eaten other seeds I've tried. This stuff works GREAT. After 4 years of this, I can say it's fast and reliable. I rake away the moss and loosen up the dirt under any dead spots just a bit, put this stuff down, turn on my sprinkler system for the grass area to run daily, and I have a fully recovered, bright green, thick lawn again in just a couple of weeks. Despite the shadiness of my lawn, it looks great all season. I have used this for large patches and for filling in where it's just thinned out after moss removal, and it works for both applications. Tip: After first watering it when it gets all plumped up and looks a little lumpy, I walk over it to even it out and flatten it down (I have a small yard, so this may not work for everyone). It doesn't seem to affect how the seeds grow, but it does prevent any unevenness that leaving it "fluffy" can result in. I'm sure that there's a more cost effective way to produce the same results - I'll admit the stuff isn't cheap for the area that it covers. But if you're looking for maximum results with minimum effort, I highly recommend this product. I went to order some more and noticed the poor reviews - I just had to write about my own experiences, because they aren't reflected in the current ratings that you see. This is worth 5 stars as far as I'm concerned!