The Best Grass Seed for Shade (2026): 6 Picks by How Much Shade You Have

The best grass seed for shade, for most shady lawns, is Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade: a tall fescue, perennial ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass mix that Pennington rates for 2 to 6 hours of sun, and the one dense shade mix in our reading that a tester actually grew. For deep tree shade in the north, the extension answer is fine fescue, and Outsidepride Legacy matches the percentages the University of Minnesota recommends. Sow cool-season seed in late summer or early fall.

Then the honest part, which the seed bags leave out. NC State Extension puts the line plainly: if an area gets "less than 50 percent open sunlight or less than four hours of sunlight per day, it is much too shady for turfgrass to grow well." Several dense shade bags promise 2 or 3 hours. So this guide sorts the picks by how much sun your shade actually gets, puts each maker's claim next to the extension line, and works out from each maker's own coverage figures how many bags a 1,000, 2,500 or 5,000 sq ft shady area takes.

We make digging spades, not grass seed, so nothing on this list is ours or was sown on our lawn. How we picked is below.

Disclosure: some links in this guide are affiliate links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, Spear Head Spade earns from qualifying purchases. This is at no extra cost to you, and it never changes our honest, use-based recommendations.

The best grass seed for shade at a glance

How we chose these

We did not sow any of these seeds. We compared each maker's published figures (seeding rate, coverage per bag, the grasses in the mix and the sun it says it needs, from the brand's own page and the Amazon listing) against what named reviewers reported: Bob Vila's month-long grass seed test, Bob Vila's shade roundup, Lawn Love and Family Handyman. Be clear on what that evidence is. Only one of them grew seed at all: Bob Vila's test, which seeded eight products and scored germination, height and blade thickness over a month. Its shade roundup says it "extensively researched dozens of grass seed products", Lawn Love lists options by species, and Family Handyman quotes experts without naming products.

The turf science (sun hours, seeding rates, timing, which grasses take shade) comes only from NC State Extension, the University of Minnesota Extension and its turfgrass program, Ohio State's turfgrass researchers and, for centipedegrass, Clemson Extension. Two rules run through the page. Where a maker's page and its Amazon listing disagree, we say so and give both. Where a reviewer and a maker disagree, we give both too. Only pick 1 has a hands-on test behind it. Picks 4 to 6 come from Bob Vila's researched roundup, Legacy is on Lawn Love's list, and nobody we read names Shady Nooks; each says why it is here.

The best grass seed for shade, by how much shade you have

1. Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade (7 lb): the best grass seed for shade overall

Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade (ASIN B08QCFWWMV) is the one dense shade mix in our reading that a reviewer actually grew. Bob Vila's month-long test named it Best for Dense Shade: it "was the first to germinate in our tests, sending up bright green sprouts in just over a week", and its tester, Michelle Larson, says it "filled in a large full-shade section next to our deck that multiple rounds with a different product couldn't fix". Bob Vila's separate shade roundup lists it too, as a seed for "spots on the north side of a fence or house".

Pennington's page lists the mix as tall fescue, perennial ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass, needing 2 to 6 hours of sun, with fertilizer in the bag. Its stated seeding rates are 8 lb per 1,000 sq ft for a new lawn and 4 lb for overseeding, so this 7 lb bag overseeds the 1,750 sq ft its listing gives, or seeds about 875 sq ft of bare ground (about 580 at the rate its page gives for the 3 lb bag). Pennington says to plant it in early spring or early fall and to see results in 8 to 16 days. Bob Vila credits calcium nitrate in the seed coating for "quicker greening and growth".

It is our overall pick for two reasons. It is the only pick here with a hands-on result behind it, and its tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass are the pairing NC State calls "the best choices in most locations where cool-season grasses can be grown", though NC State means 80:20 tall fescue to bluegrass by weight, and Pennington does not publish its percentages.

Where it loses: Pennington's own page rates its "Sun Tolerance: Inadequate", so seed only the shaded part with it. Bob Vila's tester describes it as "a mix of tall and fine fescue seeds", but Pennington's current page lists no fine fescue, so the bag on sale may not be the blend that was tested. Bob Vila's roundup warns that the coating contains Mefenoxam, "which can be toxic to some wildlife if consumed in large quantities", and the test's own con is "Largest size available is only 7 pounds". Its 2 hour floor is well under NC State's 4 hours. Pennington's page also gives a second new lawn figure (a 3 lb bag covering 250 sq ft, which works out to 12 lb per 1,000); the bags table shows both.

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2. Jonathan Green Black Beauty Shady Nooks (two 7 lb bags): the best for deep shade under trees

Jonathan Green Black Beauty Shady Nooks (ASIN B09R24YM5X) is the one to try where the shade is deepest. Jonathan Green calls it "our most shade-tolerant grass seed mixture" and says it survives "up to 90% deep shade", including "right up to the base of trees". Its page lists tall fescues, perennial ryegrass and fine fescues, a planting depth of a quarter inch, and germination in 10 to 14 days.

It covers a lot of ground per bag. This listing is two 7 lb bags, and each seeds up to 2,625 sq ft of new lawn or 5,250 sq ft overseeded, so the pair covers 5,250 sq ft of bare ground. Jonathan Green says Shady Nooks "requires less fertilizer", and for its shade mixes it warns that shady lawns "do not respond well to overfeeding, especially with high nitrogen fertilizers". NC State says the same thing in its own terms: fertilize shaded lawns at the same time as sunny ones "but at a lighter rate".

Where it loses: no reviewer we read named it, so there is no test behind it, only its maker's claim to be the most shade tolerant mix it sells. The sun it needs depends on where you read: Jonathan Green's page says "3+ hours of sunlight per day", and this Amazon listing says "4 to 5 hours of sun". Its "90% deep shade" is past NC State's line of 50 percent open sunlight, so read it as the mix to try in the worst spot, not a promise that grass will hold there.

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3. Outsidepride Legacy Fine Fescue (10 lb): the best fine fescue blend for northern shade

Outsidepride Legacy Fine Fescue (ASIN B004MN5NO4) is the pick with an extension recipe behind it. Its listing gives the blend as 20% hard fescue, 40% Chewings fescue and 40% creeping red fescue. The University of Minnesota's advice for "a lawn with a lot of tree shade" is "approximately 40% Chewings fescue, 40% strong creeping red fescue, and 20% hard fescue". Those are the same three species in the same proportions. Lawn Love lists Legacy among its fine fescue options.

Why fine fescue: Minnesota says fine fescues "Tolerate shade better than other cool-season turfgrasses", and Ohio State's researchers call them "among the most shade tolerant cool-season turfgrasses". It is raw seed, "No fillers or other coatings", and Outsidepride's page gives 4 to 5 lb per 1,000 sq ft for new turf and 2 to 2 1/2 lb for overseeding, inside Minnesota's range of "around 3 to 6 pounds" for fine fescues. At the heavier rate the 10 lb bag seeds 2,000 sq ft new or overseeds 4,000.

Where it loses: Outsidepride does not say whether its creeping red is the strong or slender type, and names no cultivars, and Ohio State's researchers write that "Choice of fine fescue cultivar under shade may be more important than species itself". The listing says it "withstands heavy foot traffic", but Minnesota rates strong creeping red "Poor to fair" for traffic and hard fescue "Fair to good", so keep it off the path to the shed. The listing also suggests a starter fertilizer, where Minnesota says research shows fine fescues "do not benefit from starter fertilizer during establishment" unless a soil test shows low phosphorus. Outsidepride's listing says it suits "northern and southern lawns", but NC State's table places its fine fescue mixes in the mountains and piedmont only; for southern lawns, see the warm-season section below.

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4. Jonathan Green Black Beauty Dense Shade (7 lb): the best for tall fescue lawns under trees

Jonathan Green Black Beauty Dense Shade (ASIN B01LX10FWK) is for a tall fescue lawn that runs under trees, the kind of lawn NC State's shade advice is built around. Jonathan Green describes it as "a mixture of primarily turf-type tall fescue grasses" that "blends well into sunnier areas", for "up to 70% shade", needing "4+ hours of sunlight per day". Bob Vila's shade roundup calls it Most Disease-Resistant, pointing to its endophyte-enhanced strains, and notes "The seed is uncoated".

Uncoated seed shows in the numbers. This listing's rate is 3.3 lb per 1,000 sq ft for a new lawn and 1.7 for overseeding, and Jonathan Green's page has the 7 lb bag seeding up to 2,100 sq ft new or 4,200 overseeded: 2.4 times the bare ground Pennington's coated 7 lb bag seeds at its stated rate. Bob Vila's roundup explains why: coatings add weight, so "a 1-pound bag of coated seeds has fewer actual seeds than a 1-pound bag of noncoated seeds". A note on the listing: its Amazon title says only "Dense Shade Grass Seed Mixture" and a third-party seller sells it, but its part number, 10620, is the one on Amazon's Black Beauty Dense Shade 7 lb listing, its UPC carries the same 10620, and its stated rates match Jonathan Green's 7 lb coverage exactly. The brand's own listing showed limited stock when we checked.

Where it loses: it is slow, with a germination time of 14 to 21 days on Jonathan Green's page. The listing's own care text says the seed germinates quickly; we go with the maker. Bob Vila's roundup says it takes "as little as 2 hours of sun" and is "not suitable for sunny areas"; Jonathan Green says 4+ hours and rates its sun tolerance "Good". We go with the maker. Jonathan Green's page lists Kentucky bluegrass in one place and leaves it out in another. And its new lawn rate is a little over half the 6 lb per 1,000 sq ft NC State gives for a turf-type tall fescue blend; we report both, and cannot tell you which suits this mix better.

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5. Scotts Turf Builder Sun and Shade Mix (5.6 lb): the best for a lawn split between sun and shade

Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed Sun and Shade Mix (ASIN B0B72GKJM5) is for the case Bob Vila's shade roundup starts from: "most lawns receive a combination of both sun and shade". The roundup named it Best Overall and says its shade varieties grow "in areas with as little as 4 hours of sunlight per day". Scotts lists Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, creeping red fescue, Chewings fescue and hard fescue, sold as a "combination lawn seed, grass fertilizer, and soil improver". One bag seeds both the sunny side and the shady side.

The 5.6 lb bag seeds 745 sq ft of new lawn or overseeds 2,240 sq ft. Scotts says to sow it in spring or fall "when daily average soil temperatures are consistently between 55°F and 70°F, or air temperatures between 60°F and 80°F", and its page says the mix "spreads to fill in bare and thin spots over time".

Where it loses: it is not a deep shade seed. Bob Vila's con is "Not for areas that receive less than 4 hours of sun per day", and the Amazon listing says "designed for full sun and moderate shade". Scotts' own page now says "from full sun to dense shade", wider than both; we go with the tighter figures. The coated seed is heavy for its coverage, about 7.5 lb per 1,000 sq ft of new lawn.

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6. Scotts EZ Seed Patch and Repair Sun and Shade (3.75 lb): the best for patching a bare spot

Scotts EZ Seed Patch and Repair Sun and Shade (ASIN B0168K936W) is for the bare patch under a tree, not a whole lawn. It is seed, "mulch that expands to surround the seed, controlled release fertilizer, tackifier to help keep seed from washing away and a protectant" in one jug. Scotts' page lists Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, creeping red fescue and Chewings fescue. Bob Vila's shade roundup named it Best for Repairs.

Scotts gives three steps, "prep the area, evenly apply the seed and water until no more water is being absorbed", and says it germinates best when daytime temperatures run "between 60°F and 80°F with no danger of frost". The 3.75 lb jug covers up to 85 sq ft, so a 2 by 3 ft bald spot under a maple is a small fraction of one jug.

Where it loses: it is not for large areas. At 85 sq ft a jug, it is about 44 lb of product per 1,000 sq ft, and Bob Vila notes it is "not suitable for use in a seed spreader". Scotts says it will grow "anywhere with proper care including in full sun, dense shade"; NC State's four hour line still applies to the grass that comes up. This jug is a bluegrass, ryegrass and fine fescue mix; on a tall fescue lawn, Scotts sells a Tall Fescue Lawns version of EZ Seed.

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Also considered: seed that missed the list and why

Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed Dense Shade Mix (2.4 lb). Bob Vila's shade roundup named it Best for Dense Shade, and Scotts says it "grows with as little as 3 hours of sunlight" from Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue and creeping red fescue. It missed on three counts. The in-stock 2.4 lb bag seeds only 200 sq ft of new lawn (the 5.6 lb size shows a lead time on Amazon). Scotts' 3 hours sits under NC State's 4. And its sources disagree on sun: Scotts says it is "designed for full sun and dense shade", while Bob Vila calls it a "shade-only blend" that "isn't suitable for sunny lawns or those with mixed sun and shade".

Scotts Turf Builder Thick'R Lawn Sun and Shade (10 lb). The overall winner of Bob Vila's month-long test, grown in "a completely bare patch next to our covered deck that's half in full sun and half in mostly shade", where "it also gave us one of the best end results". It missed because Scotts sells it "for thickening and greening thin, weak lawns", once in late spring and once in late summer or early fall, and gives one coverage figure, 1,000 sq ft, rather than a new lawn rate.

Jonathan Green Black Beauty Ultra (7 lb). In Bob Vila's test, this blend of tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass, which Bob Vila gives as 80:10:10, "grew equally well across our entire test plot, even though one section sees substantially more sun than the other". It missed because it is sold as a general lawn seed, not a shade mix, and its listing gives a single 2,800 sq ft figure without saying whether that is new lawn or overseeding. Its shade sibling is pick 4. Bob Vila's con: "Seed only; does not contain fertilizer".

Pennington Smart Patch Dense Shade (5 lb). Bob Vila's roundup lists Pennington's One Step Complete Dense Shade Bare Spot; a Pennington dense shade patch mix on Amazon today is Smart Patch, a tall fescue and "American Rye mix" with mulch, fertilizer and a tackifier. It missed on its own claim: the listing calls it "ideal for lawns that receive little to no sunlight", which nothing we read from NC State, Minnesota or Ohio State supports. The 5 lb jug covers up to 100 sq ft.

Barenbrug Turf Sense Dense Shade (25 lb). Barenbrug's seed page says Turf Sense Dense Shade grows "in areas with as little as 4 hours of sunlight per day", with a 7 to 12 day germination time, and its Amazon listing gives rates of 10 lb per 1,000 sq ft new and 5 lb overseeding. It missed because neither the listing nor Barenbrug's page names the grasses in the bag, so you cannot match it to your region or your lawn.

Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed Kentucky Bluegrass Mix (5.6 lb). Bob Vila's Best for Light Shade. Scotts designs it for "full sun and light shade", and Bob Vila says it is "Not suitable for areas that receive less than 6 hours of sunlight". It missed because 6 hours of sun is not the problem here.

Eretz Creeping Red Fescue (3 lb). Lawn Love lists Eretz creeping red among its fine fescue options, and the listing claims "Excellent performance in shaded areas" at 99.6% pure seed. It missed because it is one species, where Minnesota's tree shade mix uses three fine fescues and NC State says a blend or mixture, "rather than a single cultivar, can help reduce potential turfgrass loss from disease", and because its listing gives no seeding rate.

How much grass seed do you need for a shady area?

Every bag gives a coverage, but the numbers are not comparable at a glance: some are for new lawns, some for overseeding, some for both, and coated seed covers far less per pound than raw seed. The table below is computed by us from each maker's stated coverage per bag (and, where a maker gives a rate instead, from that rate). Pounds per 1,000 sq ft is the bag weight divided by its coverage. Bags is the area divided by the coverage per bag, rounded up.

How to read it. The coated, fertilized mixes (Scotts Sun and Shade, Scotts Dense Shade and Pennington) run 7.5 to 12 lb per 1,000 sq ft for a new lawn; the two Jonathan Green mixes run 2.7 to 3.3 lb (Bob Vila notes Dense Shade is uncoated), and Legacy, raw seed, 4 to 5. The coating is part of that weight, so read the column as bags to carry home, not grass. For a 2,500 sq ft stretch of bare shade under trees, at the new lawn rate, that is 3 bags of Pennington (5 at the rate its page gives for the 3 lb bag), 2 of Legacy or Jonathan Green Dense Shade, one bag of Shady Nooks, or 13 of the 2.4 lb Scotts Dense Shade. For patches, one EZ Seed jug covers up to 85 sq ft, so a 100 sq ft bald area under a tree takes two.

What type of grass seed is best for a shady lawn?

It depends on where you live, and the extension services draw the lines clearly.

• The north: fine fescue. Minnesota says fine fescues "Tolerate shade better than other cool-season turfgrasses". Under tree shade, Minnesota's turfgrass program expects hard fescue "to lag behind both the Chewings fescues and the strong creeping red fescues", and Minnesota Extension's tree shade mix is 40 percent Chewings, 40 percent strong creeping red and only 20 percent hard. Legacy (pick 3) matches those percentages.
• The middle: tall fescue with some bluegrass. NC State says mixtures of tall fescue with shade-tolerant Kentucky bluegrass, 80 and 20 percent by weight, "are the best choices in most locations where cool-season grasses can be grown", and that adding a fine fescue "is beneficial in areas that will receive little maintenance". Pennington (pick 1) contains tall fescue, and Jonathan Green calls Dense Shade (pick 4) primarily tall fescue.
• A mix, not a single grass. NC State says a blend or mixture "rather than a single cultivar, can help reduce potential turfgrass loss from disease". Every pick here is a mix.
• The south: see the warm-season section below. None of our picks is a warm-season grass.

One more thing from Ohio State, because it explains why two bags of "fine fescue" can do differently in the same shade: "Some cultivars of the same species are very good under shade while others can be very bad." Only one of our six picks, Legacy, publishes its percentages, and none of them names its cultivars on the listing.

How much sun does shade grass seed need, and does dense shade seed really work?

The glance table has each maker's claim: 2 to 6 hours for Pennington, 3 or more for Shady Nooks, 4 or more for Jonathan Green Dense Shade, and "as little as 3 hours" for the Scotts Dense Shade Mix under Also considered. The extension line is 4 hours: NC State says less than that, or less than 50 percent open sunlight, "is much too shady for turfgrass to grow well".

So does it work? At 4 hours or more you are above NC State's line. The one hands-on result we have is Bob Vila's: Pennington's bag filled a spot its tester calls full shade, by a deck. That test does not give the spot's hours, and it ran for a month, so it shows the seed sprouting and growing, not the lawn lasting. Under 4 hours, the bags claim more than NC State supports: in very dense shade the food reserves of plants "are typically drained, resulting in weak plants." Bob Vila's own shade roundup sets its floor lower, at "at least 2 hours of direct sunlight or up to 6 hours of filtered light", and even it says that in a completely shaded area "even the best shade-tolerant grass seed will struggle to grow".

Count your hours in summer, not spring. NC State notes that bare deciduous trees "can block out nearly 50 percent of the sunlight in the winter, whereas the same trees in full leaf can block nearly 95 percent of summer sunlight". It also says trees differ: maples, oaks, magnolias and beeches have "dense canopies that intercept most of the light", while pines, poplars, ashes and birches "produce a more open shade". And shade is not only a light problem. NC State says shallow-rooted trees such as willows, maples and beeches "compete strongly with turfgrasses for nutrients and water", and that in clay soil most of a shade tree's feeder roots "grow in the upper 8 inches where turfgrass roots grow".

When the hours are not there, NC State's answer is not a better bag. It suggests ground covers such as "English ivy, ajuga, liriope, and pachysandra", or pine bark, needles or wood chips, because "These ground covers are more attractive than a thin, dead lawn."

How do I grow grass in heavy shade?

The seed is the start. NC State lists what changes the odds after that, and Minnesota adds the mowing detail.

• Let more light in. NC State suggests "Removing tree limbs to a height of at least 6 feet and cutting out unnecessary undergrowth" and selective pruning of the crown to "open the canopy", with the warning "Avoid severe pruning."
• Mow high. NC State says to mow shaded grass "at the top of their recommended mowing height": 3 to 4 inches for tall fescue in its table. Minnesota says to mow shaded fine fescue "1/2 to 1 inch higher" than the same grass in sun, within its 2.5 to 4 inch range.
• Feed lightly. NC State: same timing as sunny turf, "but at a lighter rate". Minnesota warns that more than 2 lb of nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft a year "can decrease fine fescue turfgrass quality and encourage turfgrass diseases and weeds".
• Water deep, not often. NC State says to "Irrigate the lawn deeply and infrequently", because "Wet foliage promotes disease development", and shade already keeps leaves wet longer.
• Keep leaves off new grass. NC State: "Do not permit leaves to accumulate on the new lawn." It says some seedlings "may be torn out by the rake; however, more seedlings will be lost if the leaves remain." That makes a leaf rake part of any fall shade seeding.
• Keep traffic off. NC State says shade-grown grass is "less able to withstand traffic than plants grown in full sunlight".

If moss is what grows there now, NC State is blunt that removing it "provides only temporary control unless growing conditions are improved". So fix the conditions first, then seed.

When should you plant grass seed in the shade?

For every seed on this page, late summer into early fall (the makers also allow spring). All six picks are cool-season mixes, and the extension windows are:

• Minnesota: "late summer (mid-August to mid-September)" on its seeding page; "early August to late September" for fine fescue.
• North Carolina, tall fescue: overseed thin, bare areas August 15 to September 1 in the western region, and September 1 to October 1 in the piedmont and coastal plain, at 6 lb of turf-type tall fescue per 1,000 sq ft.

The makers give temperature windows instead (Jonathan Green: soil at least 55°F; Scotts Sun and Shade: soil between 55°F and 70°F). Fall has one shade-specific catch: the leaves come down on your seedlings, which is why NC State's leaf rule above matters most in a fall seeding.

Can I just throw grass seed down on dirt?

You can, but Minnesota's steps are built around getting seed into contact with the soil, and they are short:

1. "Do a soil test", and make amendments as the test prescribes.
2. "Firm the soil slightly with a roller or cultipacker."
3. "Spread seed at a half rate in perpendicular directions across the site", which evens out the coverage.
4. "Lightly rake allowing about 10 to 15% of the seed to show."
5. Roll it again "to ensure good seed-soil contact".
6. "Water to a depth of 4 to 6 inches and then follow a light and frequent watering program", up to 3 to 4 times a day, then water less often once it germinates.

Jonathan Green gives the same idea for its shade mixes: rake the seed into "the top quarter-inch of soil" to "improve seed-to-soil contact and promote germination". The patch products shortcut some of this with mulch in the jug, but Scotts still starts its three steps with "prep the area".

What about warm-season lawns in the shade?

None of the six picks is for them, and that is on purpose. NC State says "St. Augustinegrass is the most shade-tolerant of the warm-season grasses, followed by zoysiagrass", that centipedegrass and bahiagrass "perform well under light pine-tree shade" but are less shade tolerant than those two, and that "Bermudagrass is the least shade tolerant of the turfgrasses and should not be used in shady areas." It also says warm-season grasses "often suffer more winter injury in shaded areas than in open, sunny locations".

The catch for seed shoppers: NC State lists St. Augustinegrass and centipedegrass as "Usually planted vegetatively (plugged, sprigged, or sodded)", and gives St. Augustinegrass no seeding rate at all. Clemson adds that of the improved centipedegrass cultivars, "only TifBlair is available as seed". So in a shady southern lawn, the shade answer is usually plugs or sod of St. Augustinegrass, not a bag of seed.

How to choose: match the bag to your hours and your lawn

• 4 to 6 hours of sun on a mixed cool-season lawn: Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade (pick 1), the one dense shade mix a tester grew. Pennington rates it from 2 hours; NC State's line is 4.
• The worst spot that still gets about 4 hours, right up to the trunk: Jonathan Green Shady Nooks (pick 2).
• Northern tree shade, low care: Outsidepride Legacy (pick 3), the Minnesota tree shade mix, kept off the paths.
• A tall fescue lawn that runs under trees: Jonathan Green Dense Shade (pick 4), raw seed that goes further per bag.
• One bag for the sunny and shady parts: Scotts Sun and Shade Mix (pick 5), for 4 hours or more.
• One bare patch: Scotts EZ Seed Sun and Shade (pick 6), or its Tall Fescue Lawns version on tall fescue.
• Under 4 hours of summer sun: more light first, or NC State's ground covers.

The tools for the job

For Minnesota's half rate in two directions, our fertilizer spreader guide covers push spreaders and a handheld for spot repairs, all rated for seed as well as fertilizer. Minnesota's first step is a soil test, and our soil test kit guide covers mail-in labs and pH testers. If the shady patch is also a low spot, our guide to leveling a yard by hand covers topdressing low spots before you seed. For the fall leaves, see our leaf rake guide, and for watering, our garden hose guide.

If the old turf in that shady spot is dead grass and weeds you would rather lift than seed over, our guide to removing sod by hand walks through cutting and rolling it out, and the Spear Head Spade SHFD3 is our 40 inch D-grip spade, with a spearhead blade that steady foot pressure slides through sod.

Common questions

What is the best grass seed for shade?

For most shady cool-season lawns, Pennington Smart Seed Dense Shade: a tall fescue, perennial ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass mix Pennington rates from 2 hours of sun (NC State's line is 4), and the one dense shade mix in Bob Vila's month-long test, where it germinated first and filled a full-shade strip. For deep northern tree shade, a fine fescue blend such as Outsidepride Legacy, which matches the University of Minnesota's tree shade mix.

What type of grass seed is best for a shady lawn?

In the north, fine fescue: the University of Minnesota recommends about 40 percent Chewings, 40 percent strong creeping red and 20 percent hard fescue for tree shade. In the middle of the country, NC State recommends tall fescue with shade-tolerant Kentucky bluegrass, with some fine fescue for low-maintenance areas. In the south, St. Augustinegrass is the most shade tolerant warm-season grass, usually planted as plugs or sod.

How many hours of sun does shade grass seed need?

The bags claim as little as 2 or 3 hours. NC State Extension says an area with less than four hours of sunlight a day, or less than 50 percent open sunlight, is much too shady for turfgrass to grow well. Count the hours in summer, when trees in full leaf can block nearly 95 percent of the sun.

Does dense shade grass seed really work?

With 4 or more hours of sun you are above NC State Extension's line. Bob Vila's month-long test saw Pennington Dense Shade sprout and fill a full-shade section by a deck, but it gives no hours and did not follow the lawn past a month. Under 4 hours, NC State's advice is to let in more light or plant a ground cover instead.

Can I just throw grass seed down on dirt?

Seed needs contact with soil. The University of Minnesota's steps are: firm the soil, spread half the seed in each of two directions, lightly rake so about 10 to 15 percent of the seed still shows, roll for seed-to-soil contact, then water deeply once and lightly several times a day until it germinates.

When should I plant grass seed in the shade?

Late summer into early fall for cool-season seed. The University of Minnesota gives mid-August to mid-September; NC State gives August 15 to September 1 in western North Carolina and September 1 to October 1 in the piedmont and coastal plain. Keep fallen leaves off the new grass until it is established.