Hot and dry, or with plenty of water falling from the sky? Or perhaps where winter frosts are at play? In much of mild temperate Aotearoa, weather isn’t the limiting factor for lawns.
If you're in an area with cooler conditions and you'd like a very fine looking lawn, consider Yates Lawn Seed Sun & Shade. If you live close to the coast where summers are hot and dry, Yates Lawn Seed Kikuyu may be for you.
If your lawn is regularly exposed to a wide range of challenging climatic conditions, from drought to heavy rainfall, consider Yates Lawn Seed Tall Fescue. It's a rich, dark green cool season turf grass that's highly resilient, very easy to maintain and tolerant of drought.
A well-drained soil with good water retention is the ideal for lawns. Fortunately, however, many grasses perform well in heavy loams while others will tolerate very free draining sandy soils.
Kikuyu is ideal for retaining sandy soils in frost-free coastal gardens. Yates Lawn Seed Kikuyu is blended with quick-germinating ryegrass which serves as a nurse crop to reduce weed competition while the slower Kikuyu gets established.
Yates Lawn Seed Tall Fescue is a good choice for clay based soil, with deep roots and excellent drought tolerance. Fine fescue grasses, as found in Yates Lawn Seed Sun & Shade, Sow Anytime and Tuff Grass also do well in heavier soils. These grasses have strong deep root systems, which require less watering once established but are relatively tolerant of wet conditions.
Generally, lawns don’t love dense shade which can leave them thin and prone to moss, but some grasses are more shade tolerant than others. For a lawn that’s partly in full sun and partly shaded, a grass seed blend that copes with both makes sense. With Yates Lawn Seed Sun & Shade you can use the same seed to achieve a uniform colour across a whole lawn. A clever blend of turf type ryegrass and fescue, it provides a beautifully fine-textured deep green lawn, both under trees and in bright sun.
Do you need a hard wearing surface for heavy use or a rough and tumble play zone for kids and pets? Or is a super smooth ornamental lawn more important? For a beautiful looking lawn that’s smooth, dense and deep green, consider Yates Lawn Seed Sun & Shade. Yates Lawn Seed Kikuyu is ideal for high traffic areas in hot dry locations, forming a resilient carpet that can take a lot of hammering.
Though extremely durable, Yates Lawn Seed Tuff Grass has a thinner leaf blade, giving a finer textured look than other tough grasses. It establishes quickly, delivering a vibrant green lawn, which crowds out unsightly weeds.
Dogs can be tough on lawns but, while no lawn is 100% resistant to wee patches, some are more dog-friendly than others. Yates Lawn Seed Tall Fescue has a clumping growth habit and recovers quickly from injury. Yates Sow Anytime germinates very quickly, so is good for reseeding over ugly dead patches caused by dog urine or digging.
Is a once weekly mowing the most you will have time for or are you a keen lawn geek with time for pampering and preening? Choose a variety that matches your soil and climate, and your ability to maintain it. Provided you choose a seed that’s right for your soil and climate, easy care is a key attribute common to all Yates lawn seeds. Fine fescue grasses as in Sow Anytime have strong deep root systems, requiring less maintenance and watering once established. Rapid germinating Yates Lawn Seed Sow Anytime is suitable for areas that need quick coverage. If the soil temperature is dipping down to 3°C it can take a little longer than the usual 7 days, but it gets there! For a lawn that needs less mowing, the fine fescues, as found in Yates Lawn Seed Sun and Shade, are green and lush, but naturally slower growing than other grasses, and can still look appealing when slightly overgrown and shaggy.
If you're looking to repair a thin or patchy lawn, Yates Seed’n’Feed is an easy to use, dual action solution with all the ingredients needed to mend bare or thin patches of lawn. It combines fast-germinating seed with enough fertiliser, to feed new and existing grass for up to 12 weeks. Seed'n'Feed contains the same seed varieties as Yates Sow Anytime, germinating at temperatures as low as 3°C.
TIP: To mend a dead patch: mow the lawn short then rake to remove the dead grass. Apply weed-free topsoil or lawn mix then sow lawn seed and water gently.
Yates recently took a fresh look at their lawn seed range to make it even easier for all gardeners to use with success. All Yates grass seed now contains added zeolite, a natural volcanic mineral that improves soil condition and increases water retention, which is an advantage during the initial germination period.
An updated box design makes it easier to shake out the seed accurately. Yates Lawn Seed boxes are made from PEFC certified board, assembled with water based glue and printed with soy-based ink so they can go into kerbside recycling.
For more information on lawns visit www.yates.co.nz