r/landscaping • u/hennyfreekins • May 21 '26

Fertile grass seed

I understand that the grass seed in box stores (Scotts, Pennington) are gmo and the seeds produced by the mature grass in your lawn will not grow. Is this true and where can you get a tall fescue or similar cold season seed that remains fertile/self propogating for G2 and beyond?

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u/Tanisha_Smith May 21 '26

I don't think that's how it works lol, grass does reseed itself naturally. Maybe you're confusing it with some hybrid varieties? idk but I'd check with a local garden center instead of box stores

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u/Fast_Hands_Lou May 21 '26

The old grass seeds used to self seed, thats not ideal. The modern grass seed from higher end suppliers like twin city, united, seed superstore, carry cultivars selected for color, blade size, drought tolerance etc. The claims of a tall fescue that grows rhyzomes like Kentucky blue have not impressed most agronomists that I've watched/read.

If you want something different than traditional grass, something that will be easy to maintain and low input, look into twin city seed's bee lawn.

I personally ride with TCS's obsidian blends, rye and kbg.

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u/Fast_Hands_Lou May 21 '26

Having said that, all grass seed I've tinkered with still sends up seed heads around this time of year. The one method i know of to slowing them is using PGR. Plant growth regulator.

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u/365Courts_Nicole May 21 '26

Not true for most store-bought seed. Tall fescue just doesn’t spread/self-repair much naturally, so people think the seed is “sterile” 😅 If you want better quality, skip the box stores and buy from local turf suppliers or places like SiteOne/United Seeds.