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Your cart is empty. If areas of your lawn don’t see much sunlight, you may have had some difficulty growing thick, green grass. Requiring only 2-6 hours of sunlight, Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade offers the perfect mix of Tall Fescue and Fine Fescue to thrive in shady conditions. This grass seed is disease and traffic-resistant, resulting in a strong and durable lawn. Plant it in early spring or early fall and see results in 8 to 16 days. This 7-pound bag covers up to 1,750 square feet for overseeding an existing lawn and 580 square feet for starting a new lawn from scratch.
What makes Smart Seed smart? It’s our innovation. Pennington's NexGen Turf Research is the largest private grass seed research facility in the United States. We lead the industry in developing top-performing, water-conserving, sustainable seed. Once established, our purebred, drought-tolerant Smart Seed grass requires up to 30 percent less water than ordinary grass seed. That's year after year, for the life of your lawn. Plus, our advanced, fertilizer-enhanced seed coat technology speeds establishment and promotes greener grass. Born from Pennington innovation and NexGen breeding and research, Smart Seed brings you better seed, better sustainability and better results.
Erica
September 5, 2025
This seed works! It's winter here in north Texas. I wanted to get grass growing around a shady side of my house. Followed the instructions. I prepped the ground. I watered every day for about 12 days and it germinated. It's been getting in the low 50s and sometimes 30s and it's growing. I recommend. Just follow the instructions. Those who review and say it doesn't work. They are not doing it by the letter
Mike Upstate NY
August 19, 2025
Works best when soil is loose and cover with straw. Has fertilizer on the seed so bids will not eat them
Paul R.
July 14, 2025
About a third of my cottage lawn (north central Wisconsin) is under some 100 year old pines. This area has been grass free for at least 50 years due to the heavy blanket of pine needles it gets every fall and spring. Because of limited use in the fall and spring this has meant no chance for grass to get established. In an effort to change that we have been doing weekly raking for the last 3 years. We have also been planting seed in the area both fall and spring. The first two years we planted some Scotts brand seed which seemed to sprout OK but would eventually die off and not come back the year after. This last year I switched to the Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade Grass Mix. While I did not get the best germination rate (approx 1/3) (no sprinklers, so we are left to God's watering schedule) what we did get in the fall came back in the spring. The spring planting also lived all year and looks healthy despite a very hot and dry summer. I seeded again this fall with this mix. Nature cooperated by giving us rain every day for almost 3 weeks so we got better germination (1/2 ish). Judging by the year over year increase in the amount of grass I am hopeful one more year of seeding will fill everything in. One thing to note with the Fescue grass is that it does not seem to fill in on its own, so sparse grass remains sparse unless you put down more seed.Overall happy with the product. Watering schedule is probably to blame for the low yield. Grass that sprouted has lived despite less than ideal growing conditions.
Jules A.
June 23, 2025
I've tried for 4 years to get grass to grow under the shady area of my lawn. I've tried all sorts of grass seeds from different manufacturers. Heck! I also tried growing clovers since those are a better alternative but nope, nothing worked.I spread this and watered for about 8 days. Now I have grass growing like crazy. It's the thickest and darkest green grass I've ever seen. The rest of my lawn looks off because this seed makes some plump grass.I live in metro Seattle Washington USA, and I planted this mid April since our temperatures swing drastically during the day and it's cold really until May. I only used 25% of the bag and it grew like weeds.
See the value
June 4, 2025
I've sewn the seeds and after 8 weeks or so still no growth
Luke Strong
May 7, 2025
I bought this seed from here and one bag from Menards, excited that I finally found a good dense shade mix for one side of my property that gets about 4 hours of sunlight, certain patches closer to 6-8.I ordered a truck load of planter's mix soil, I first aerated the entire area. Next I added a nice layer of fresh soil and raked it in. Then I used a rotary spreader on the new lawn setting and applied the seed. I raked that lightly in. I then added a second smaller layer of seed on top. I watered everyday and it was still early spring, so the temps and weather were perfect for sprouting.I waited and waited and waited. After about 3 weeks, some sprouted, but VERY THIN. I could still see most of the seed just did not sprout and this was spring with ideal temps. Both the bag from here and Menards yielded the same results.I would say my germination rate was close to about 0.5-1 % after 4 weeks of consistent watering and proper preparation.I purchased a Pennington bare spot filler as well, and hardly any of those sprouted.You can't say it's the weather, you can't say it's the store. Pennington simply DOES NOT make a quality seed and I am never buying their products again.So then I bought a dense shade mixture from Home Depot, Vigoro and that sprouted fine.
Kevin
February 24, 2025
I spread these seeds in the woods on trails that we had cut and under a deck area that was shaded almost completely. I was amazed to see grass coming up nicely after watering and some rainy weather in all locations. Update: Two weeks later, still growing well and thicker. I've tried several brands sold in our local hardware store and this product is as good as the best at a value price.
Karen K
January 29, 2025
It doesn't matter where you live you still have to know your dirt and how it should be prepped before growing any grass. That being said this Pennington's is a good mix of various seeds so that hopefully there is enough of something in there to grow in your particular shade. And after having used them for several years now they seem most dependable for not having a lot of weed seeds mixed up in it. But whatever amount it is you think you need - go ahead and buy twice as much. The rain will wash some away, the birds will eat some, the squirrels will eat some, the kids will play on it too much before its growing well or worse someone will use the leaf blower in the area. So put down more to start with and save yourself the head ache.
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