Our Top 8 Grass Seed Picks You'll Want to Grab Now Before Spring

Best Overall

Scotts Turf Builder Sun & Shade Mix

$24 $19 at Amazon View on Walmart $55 at Home Depot

This blend of bluegrass, fine fescue, and perennial ryegrass seed will give you the green, healthy lawn of your dreams, making it our favorite overall. Each seed in the mix has a special coating to provide nutrients all while protecting it from disease. It gives the seed a jump-start on growing healthy roots and strong, green blades of grass.

To prep your lawn, rake the soil to loosen it and remove any dead grass, and apply the seed evenly (ideally with a spreader). Then gently rake the seed into the soil, and water it daily to keep the soil moist—not soggy—until the seedlings are at least 2 inches high. Within five to ten days, you should notice the first indications of new growth. However, don't mow until the grass is established and at least three inches tall.

Ideally, seeds are planted in the spring or the fall, when temperatures are between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Once established, you'll have a tough lawn that can tolerate high heat, shade, and drought. These are fine-bladed varieties of grass that feel soft against your skin, making it a good choice for yards where kids or pets play.

A 7-pound bag will cover up to 920 square feet when seeding a new lawn, and up to 2,800 square feet when overseeding an existing lawn. The seed is sold in different amounts, so you can find one that matches the size of your lawn.

_{Type: Bluegrass, fine fescue, perennial ryegrass | Climate: Northern | Sun Exposure: Full sun to shade | Lawn Size: Up to 2,800 square feet}

Best Value

Vigoro Tall Fescue Blend

$25 at Home Depot

Grass seed can be expensive, especially if you need to cover a large stretch of ground. This blend of tall fescue is fairly reasonably priced, and a 7-pound bag will cover up to 1,750 square feet when used to overseed an existing lawn. Vigoro does not state the coverage for a new lawn, but as a rough guideline, this amount should cover up to 1,000 square feet of bare soil.

Whether overseeding or starting a new lawn, you'll appreciate Vigoro's seed coating, which helps retain moisture and prevent disease during the germination period. You can expect to see new green shoots appear within a week or so of sowing the seed.

Fescue tolerates both full sun and light shade and grows well in just about every part of the U.S. except for the deep South. However, it will tend to go somewhat brown during the summer in areas where temperatures remain high.

This seed blend produces a lawn that tolerates foot traffic very well, but on the downside, it is not drought-resistant like our best overall recommendation, so you'll need a good garden hose or sprinkler on hand if there isn't adequate rain in your area. Plant it in the spring or fall when daytime temperatures are between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

_{Type: Tall fescue | Climate: All | Sun Exposure: Full sun to light shade | Lawn Size: Up to 1,750 square feet}

Best for Overseeding

Pennington Grass Seed Annual Ryegrass

$43 at Amazon $25 at Walmart $25 at Home Depot

In the southern half of the U.S., warm-season grasses like Bermudagrass and zoysia are common, but they tend to go brown and dormant in the winter. Unlike Northern states, where blankets of snow often cover dormant lawns, it's fairly common in the South to overseed a dormant lawn to keep it looking green all year round.

The best grass seed for doing so is annual ryegrass, which sprouts in as little as three days, quickly grows to provide plush, bright green cover, and then dies off just as the underlying permanent lawn is greening up again as the weather turns warm in the spring.

This is also a good temporary lawn for erosion control or to use as a filler while a more permanent lawn or other ground cover becomes established. You can also use it as a pasture crop for livestock. Annual ryegrass needs at least six hours of full sun each day for growth but will tolerate partial shade.

During its brief lifespan, it's quite tolerant of drought and disease, and it withstands foot traffic very well. If you are using it to overseed a warm-season lawn, it's best to plant the ryegrass in the fall. In northern climates, it can also be planted in the spring. But once temperatures rise into the 80s, expect to see the ryegrass begin to yellow and die off. It will also die if temperatures fall below freezing for a few days or more.

You can toss annual ryegrass over a small lawn by hand, or use a spreader if sowing it over a large lawn. Water it daily until it becomes established, which is generally no more than a few weeks. A 10-pound bag will overseed up to 2,000 square feet of lawn.

_{Type: Annual ryegrass | Climate: All | Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade | Lawn Size: Up to 2,000 square feet}

Best Fast-Growing

Vigoro Fast Grass

$13 at Home Depot

If you need grass in a hurry for erosion control or to fill in patchy or bare spots on an existing lawn, then this blend of annual and perennial rye grasses can do the trick. You'll see new grass start to appear three to five days after sowing the seed, and the grass will quickly become established enough to tolerate quite a bit of foot traffic.

This seed mix is not drought-tolerant, so be prepared to water regularly if nature doesn't provide enough rain to keep the grass green. While you can use this seed anywhere in the U.S., areas that regularly see triple-digit temperatures in the summer will see this grass go brown or yellowish as it enters a dormant state each year.

The seed is coated with fertilizer and moisture-retaining compounds to help promote good germination, but adding extra fertilizer will increase the health of the grass.

While the seed sprouts quickly and fills in bare spots very well, this mix isn't intended as a permanent, full lawn but rather more of a temporary lawn while other grasses become established. A 3-pound bag covers up to 750 square feet. For best results, sow the seed in early spring or fall.

_{Type: Annual and perennial rye grass | Climate: All | Sun Exposure: Partial to full sun | Lawn Size: Up to 750 square feet}

Best Low-Maintenance

Scotts Turf Builder Tall Fescue Mix

$39 $28 at Amazon

While there's no such thing as a truly maintenance-free lawn, this one comes fairly close. A blend of tall fescues, this seed does well in most of the U.S. other than the southernmost and northernmost states. It thrives in full sun to partial shade, and it stands up to heat, foot traffic, and drought. It's quite resistant to common lawn diseases and insect pests, as well.

You'll still need to water, mow, and fertilize regularly, but you'll find that this lawn is a little more easygoing than many others. Like other Scotts products, each seed is treated with a moisture-absorbing coating that holds in water, provides nutrients, and wards off fungal disease while the seeds sprout and become established. It germinates in one to two weeks.

Like all fescue lawns, this one will go dormant when temperatures remain above 90 degrees or below 40 degrees for more than a few days. Between those times, it's a deep, dark green with medium-coarse blades of grass.

Plant it in the spring or fall when temperatures are between 65 and 85 degrees and keep the soil moist until the seedlings are over 2 inches tall. A 5.6-pound bag will overseed lawns up to 1,400 square feet or start a new lawn up to 465 square feet.

_{Type: Tall fescue | Climate: All | Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade | Lawn Size: Up to 1,400 square feet}

Best Cool-Season

Jonathan Green Black Beauty Ultra

$45 at Amazon $20 at Ace Hardware $34 $29 at Macy's

Cool-season grasses are those varieties that do best in the northern half of the U.S. They include popular grasses such as fescue, bluegrass, and perennial ryegrass, all three of which are in this mix from Jonathan Green.

Gardeners anywhere above the southernmost states can generally grow this grass successfully as long as it's planted in a spot that receives full sun to partial shade; dense shade won't give you the thick, green growth you desire.

Once established, it's tolerant of high foot traffic and heat, and it's also fairly disease- and drought-resistant. But like other cool-season grasses, this mix can go dormant in the highest summer temperatures, as well as the lowest temperatures of winter.

You'll start to see the grass sprout within one to two weeks, but don't mow until the grass is at least 3 inches tall. The best time to sow this seed is mid-August through October, but you can plant it in the spring if necessary. Like our best overall, this 7-pound bag will overseed a lawn up to 2,800 square feet or start a new lawn up to 1,400 square feet.

_{Type: Bluegrass, fescue, perennial ryegrass | Climate: Northern | Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade | Lawn Size: Up to 2,800 square feet}

Best Warm-Season

Scotts Turf Builder Bermudagrass

$10 at Lowes View on Scotts.com

Warm-season grasses are those that do best in the southern half of the U.S. Bermudagrass is one of the hardiest varieties of these heat-tolerant grasses. This grass seed from Scotts is treated with a water-absorbing coating to help the seed germinate better, as well as protect against disease and provide nutrients.

Expect to see the grass start sprouting in about 5 to 12 days. Bermudagrass spreads rapidly, so you won't have to wait long for a thick lawn full of tough blades that stand up well to foot traffic. Be sure to plant your Bermudagrass in a full-sun location where the soil drains well, or else it won't thrive.

Ideally, it should be planted in late spring through early summer when temperatures are between 70 and 90 degrees. A 1-pound bag covers up to 1,000 square feet when overseeding an existing lawn, or up to 300 square feet when starting a new lawn.

A healthy Bermudagrass lawn is drought-resistant, tolerant of even three-digit temperatures, thick enough to choke out weeds, and resilient enough to spring right back after being walked or played on. However, Bermudagrass often goes dormant in the winter, turning brown or yellow until the temperatures warm up again the following spring. You can overseed it with annual ryegrass for winter color if desired.

_{Type: Bermudagrass | Climate: Southern | Sun Exposure: Full sun | Lawn Size: Up to 1,000 square feet}

Best for Heavy Foot Traffic

Jonathan Green Heavy Traffic Grass Seed

$27 at Amazon $43 at Walmart View on Jonathangreen.com

When grown in areas with colder winters and mild summers, this mix of perennial rye grass and tall fescue is an ideal choice for play areas, backyards, or lawns that receive heavy foot traffic. Thanks to the blend of strongly rooted, vigorous grasses, these will bounce right back after being stepped on, and resist tearing from shoes, paws, or weather. It should thrive in most of the U.S., but it might not do well in the southernmost states, including Florida.

With this mix, you'll get a lawn that can withstand full, hot sun and tolerate partial shade. It's quite drought-resistant once established so you can put your hose away. Autumn is the best season for planting the seed, but you can also plant in the spring if necessary.

We recommend applying a light topdressing of fertilizer before lightly raking it into the ground. Then keep the area moist for several weeks until the new grass is at least 2 inches tall. You should see the first signs of germination within two weeks, but don't mow until the new lawn is at least 3 inches tall.

This bag of seed will cover new lawns up to 1,750 square feet or overseed an existing lawn up to 2,800 square feet, but there are several bag sizes to choose from.

_{Type: Tall fescue, perennial ryegrass | Climate: Northern | Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade | Lawn Size: Up to 2,800 square feet}