Green Tractor Talk banner

Bulk grass seed?

8.9K views 40 replies 20 participants last post by  Pedals2Paddles  
#1 ·
Been looking online...can't find much in bulk purchase options.

Any suggestions? I want to overseed my 1.25 acres of grass.....depending on the overseeding info you want to adhere to, I'd be looking for 100-200lbs of seed. I'm far from picky about my lawn but it could use an overseeding and now that I have the equipment to handle it.

I've found few bags bigger than 40lbs, and many have a "mix" of fertilizer and other things....meant for smaller applications. I'm just looking for perennial seed in quantity and low filler/weed percentages.

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
Lesco and Barenbrug are two names that sell 50 pound bags of seed that is not coated or has other fillers. Landscaper bud always uses Lesco products.

My local place used to sell Agway/Southern States seed in 50 pound bags but they don't seem to be available this year.
 
#5 ·
Never heard seed in 50 pound bags referred to as a bulk purchase; I thought that was the normal way to buy seed for those of us with less than acreage measured in the hundreds. I overseed winter rye grass and use 50 pound bags of Attain seed. My local feed store orders 25 bags for me every fall. It was around $45 per bag until last year when it jumped to $80.
 
#7 ·
Everywhere I’ve looked for seed, it’s 5/10/20lbs bags presented as the norm. 50’s seem by far the exception.
 
#10 ·
The local greenhouse/nursery by me has signs up on their grass seed explaining the massive price increases. Apparently both Oregon and somewhere in Canada are sources of most grass seed and both had drought conditions last year reducing their crop. Add in all the other inflationary pressures affecting pricing on everything and you end up with really expensive seed.
 
#11 ·
Sounds like my local Lowes has prices in line with what’s being seen elsewhere. Guess I’ll save some drive time and just go there.
 
#13 ·
If you really want to do it right, I would suggest renting a vertical slit seeder for doing the job. The amount of seed that actually takes is MUCH HIGHER.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rule292
#14 ·
Well first don't randomly buy whatever is on a shelf or whatever is cheapest. And certainly don't buy a pasture blend or something made for a hay field to put in your lawn. Unless you want it to look like crap, you should get the same species of grass your lawn is now. If you're in PA, you most likely have a tall fescue lawn? On that assumption, look for a quality tall fescue blend. I wouldn't bother with anything that has KBG in the mix since it struggles in our hot, dry summers. There's no point. Just stick with plain old turf type tall fescue blends.

For overseeding, you want about 5-10lbs of grass seed per 1000sqft. So that's 300-600lbs of grass seed. Obviously more is better but more gets expensive. If the lawn is really thin, lean to the higher rate. Where it's already thick, lean lower.

Read the label. Read the label. Read the label. And also read the label. It will list the percentage of all products in the bag. The box store garbage is notorious for filling bags with junk and putting pretty flashy colorful pictures on the bag. Read the label. A lot of the big name brand seed at the box stores you'll find by weight is only about 20% useful grass seed!!! It's 50% pointless "protective coating". 10% inert matter (dust), 10% weeds, yes you're buying weeds. And what's actually left is real grass seed. Then you'll see it has an 80% germination rate. So in your 50lb bag of grass seed, you functionally have about 20lbs of useful grass seed.

Look for a grass seed where the label is 0% weeds, 0% noxious weeds, 0-2% inert matter, and 98% grass seed with a germination rate of 90-95%. This will cost more, but you're also getting more!
 
#19 ·
Try looking at co-ops in your area, or some of the larger garden centers. You can also try asking local landscapers where they buy their seed from.

Bulk seed up here starts at about 500 lbs, and can be in 1,000 lb sacks, 2,000 lb sacks, or truck delivery. You can pay slightly more for bulk seed in 50 lb bags by the pallet. I bought 1,200 lbs of rye grass seed last year for about 50% of the per bag cost, since I ordered so much. I did pay $2.00 per 50 lb bag for it to be bagged versus a sack.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gizmo2
#21 ·
I always overseed with white clover...
You have to overseed with that? :p Around here that's what will take over if you just sit back and do nothing. I have beat it back every year with 2-4D.
 
#22 ·
Just bought two of these today, $185.00 each. Comes highly recommended by a few people I know.

Image
 

Attachments

#24 ·
Just bought two of these today, $185.00 each. Comes highly recommended by a few people I know.

View attachment 835802
That blend is similar to the fifty pounder "Agway Sun and Shade Mix" my local place (who was not an AGWAY) sold for residential lawns. It seems to have worked for me in the one place of my property that gets enough sun for a tall fescue (versus red fescue for shade). I'll know more this fall how it lasts in the sun.
 
#31 ·
I forgot in my rant before. A bit of perennial rye in the mix will help get things started. Perennial Rye germinates very fast, within days. Where fescue takes weeks. So that 10% rye will help hold things together in the meantime.
 
#32 ·
Been looking online...can't find much in bulk purchase options.

Any suggestions? I want to overseed my 1.25 acres of grass.....depending on the overseeding info you want to adhere to, I'd be looking for 100-200lbs of seed. I'm far from picky about my lawn but it could use an overseeding and now that I have the equipment to handle it.

I've found few bags bigger than 40lbs, and many have a "mix" of fertilizer and other things....meant for smaller applications. I'm just looking for perennial seed in quantity and low filler/weed percentages.

Thanks!
I've bought online from Hancock Seed Company as well Outsidepride.com and SeedSuperStore. Preferredseed.com also sells online. They all sell in large quantity (50 lbs)
 
#33 · (Edited)
When I renovated part of my front lawn last fall, I used United Seeds, their Super Turf 1 LS tall fescue blend. They like many other online high quality seed vendors sell up to 50lb bags. The shipping is what hurts. If you can find a local retailer that sells similar high quality seed (0% weeds, 90-95% germination rate), you'd probably get better bang for your buck.
 
#34 ·
I picked up some DLF Premium K-31 50lb pure seed today on the cheap at TSC. Have never used this before. Date code runs out in 3 months. What do you guys think of this seed and the fast approaching date code. Three 50lb bags for 100.00, so I grabbed 9 bags for a total of 300.00. I figured at least I could way over seed, if seed is weak.


Let me know your thoughts. Did I waste my money?? Have you used this seed?? Is it any good?? Planting in N.E. PA.

Allen.
 
#36 ·
I picked up some DLF Premium K-31 50lb pure seed today on the cheap at TSC. Have never used this before. Date code runs out in 3 months. What do you guys think of this seed and the fast approaching date code.
Is your lawn already K31? If it isn't already a K31 lawn, you'll be making a huge mess putting K31 seed into it.

We have no clue how good that grass seed is since we can't see the label. What's the germination rate, seed%, and weed seed %?
 
#39 ·
So, I'll ask what feels like a dumb question...

I am not the original owner of my home. I haven't the foggiest idea of what was planted. Is there any way to know/determine what grass is growing currently?
 
#40 ·
My first stop is the "picture this" phone app. My master gardener spouse uses it a lot to ID plants (but she disagrees with a fair amount of their text info, so once ID'd, use other sources for info about a particular plant, or in your case, variety of grass).