Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed Sun & Shade Mix Review

Our Verdict

A mixture is the honest answer to a real problem: Penn State's own framing is that no one grass is ideal for all environments, and a typical yard has full sun at the front and dry shade under a maple. Blending species lets the bag succeed in both places, with whichever component suits each spot taking hold. That is genuinely better than one species everywhere. The bag also carries fertilizer and a soil improver, which invites confusion with the thickening product beside it — and the back of the bag settles it better than the front does. Divide net weight by the square footage each bag claims and this comes out at about 2.5 lb per 1,000 sq ft — the same figure from its 2.4 lb bag and its 5.6 lb bag. Thick'R Lawn comes out at about 10. Four times the material over the same ground is soil improver, not seed. Compare the two rates and the difference is plain — one is seed carrying a little feed, the other a topdressing carrying a little seed. Two things to check before buying either. Read the tag rather than the front: a self-repairing claim describes the Kentucky bluegrass or creeping red fescue fraction, not the perennial ryegrass or tall fescue in the same bag. And shade has a floor — below roughly four hours of direct light no seed mixture holds, and the honest answer stops being seed.