What
is Eco-Lawn?
Eco-Lawn is a
proprietary blend of fine fescue grasses that
produce a healthy thick green lawn with minimal
care. The varieties of fine fescue selected for
Eco-Lawn have specific qualities that make them
ideal for a low maintenance turf: they have
excellent green color, they do not form uneven
clumps (clumping is a common problem with other
shade grasses), they show extreme tolerance of
both sun and shade, they have fine blades that
reduce water loss in hot weather, they grow deep
roots that allow them to access ground source
water naturally and thus handle drought, they
resist lawn grubs much better than shallow rooted
conventional lawns, they do not require
fertilizing, and they are slow growing - reducing
mowing by 50%. No other lawn seed blend on the
market has the same carefully selected seed mix.
Wildflower Farm introduced Eco-Lawn to the market
in 1998 and since then tens of thousands of
homeowners, businesses and municipalities have
enjoyed the benefits of reduced mowing and
reduced watering, while at the same time
eliminating the use of dangerous lawn
chemicals.
What species are in
Eco-Lawn?
Eco-Lawn is
comprised of the following fine fescue grasses:
Sheeps Fescue
Shoreline Slender Fescue
Navigator II Creeping Red Fescue
Jasper II Creeping Red Fescue
SR5130 Chewings Fescue
SR3210 Blue Fescue
SR3150 Hard Fescue
What makes Eco-Lawn
different from all the other seed on the market?
Unlike almost all the other grass seed available
to the homewowner which contains only
"common" seed, Eco-Lawn is comprised of
100% pure golf course quality
"Certified" seed.
What is seed "Certified" seed?
Certified seed is:
1) Field inspected by an accredited certifying agency
2) Must be clean and free of noxious weeds
3) Has been bred and selected for improved performance
4) Has been blended and packaged in an accredited facility
5) Must be tested for purity and germination by an independent accredited seed analyst
6) Must not contain "other" crops
7) Must have a minimum germination rate of between 85 - 90%
Certified seed is your assurance of Quality. Eco-Lawn is Certified Seed.
What is the germination
rate for Eco-Lawn?
As is required to meet the rigorous certification standards, Eco-Lawn seed
is independently tested for germination, seed
purity and weed seed content. Each year Eco-Lawn
passes these tests with flying colors. Our 2013
test results show that Eco-Lawn is comprised of
98.0% Pure Seed, with a Germination rate of
93.5%. The test results also show 0.0% weed seed
content so you can be assured that Eco-Lawn seed
is weed free and highly viable.
Will Eco-Lawn do
well in southern climates? We just purchased a
new home and we are interested in planting grass
in our backyard and thought Eco-Lawn
sounded just like what we are looking for!
Eco-Lawn grows
well in southern climates, however since you do
receive some very hot and dry conditions at
times, you will need to water it once or twice a
week depending on the weather. This is still a
lot less watering than traditional turfs require!
What makes Eco-Lawn drought tolerant?
Eco-Lawn is drought tolerant for two reasons. First, it produces
grass blades that are very thin. Typical lawn grass varieties have
thick, succulent blades that require a great deal of water to maintain
structure and health. The thin blades of Eco-Lawn
are less susceptible to extreme dryness.
Eco-Lawn also creates an exceptionally
deep root system. Most lawns create root systems that are
only a few inches in length which, in turn, require
frequent watering. The roots of an
established Eco-Lawn will penetrate up to 9
inches in hard pan clay and 14 inches deep in sandy
soils, and can naturally siphon up ground source moisture
throughout the growing season.
How many gallons of water a
year will I need to water my Eco-Lawn
compared to traditional lawn seed such as
Kentucky bluegrass?
A standard Kentucky bluegrass or
perennial rye lawn requires one to two inches of
water a week. For a 1,000 square foot lawn,
that amounts to between 32,448 and 64,896
thousand gallons a year! Eco-Lawn
however, requires minimal watering. In
central and southern California for example, no more than
12,400 gallons of water are necessary for a 1,000
square foot Eco-Lawn for the whole year. To
compare how much water you are now using vs.
Eco-Lawn please try using our online Water
Savings Calculator
When is the best time to sow Eco-Lawn?
Like all turf blended grass seed,
Eco-Lawn is germinates best in cool, moist
conditions (approximately 65 degrees Fahrenheit
or 18 Celsius). For most of North America, the
best time to sow Eco-Lawn is in
early autumn or early spring. In California and
other warm climate areas, November – January
is the ideal time to sow Eco-Lawn s this gives it some time to establish
before it has to face the heat of your southern summers.
Why doesn’t Eco-Lawn need a lot of fertilizing?
Eco-Lawn unlike traditional
turf grasses, creates a deep root system. It will
make roots up to 9 inches deep in hard-pan clay
soils and up to 14 inches deep in sandy soils!
These deep root systems enable Eco-Lawn to
naturally source the nutrients it requires from
the soil so you don't need to add much in the way of
fertilizers!
Why doesn’t Eco-Lawn
need pesticides?
Eco-Lawn is naturaly less vulnerable to
many insects that love to destroy shallow rooted
sod lawns. One common predator are grubs.
Grubs are the larvae of June Bugs and non-native
Japanese Beetles. These creatures live as grubs
in moist soils for two years and then emerge as
adults in early summer. The adults only live for
about 6 weeks, so their number one goal is to
reproduce! In nature the female beetles, once
pregnant, lay their eggs in the moist soils of
pond edges and stream banks. Today, grubs are
most often found in well-watered lawns.
Traditional lawns have no real root systems and
demand that you water them, making the soil
surface of your lawn soft and damp - the exact
conditions that the female beetles want to lay
their eggs in! Since Eco-Lawn requires
very little, watering once established, the
surface of the soil is hard and thus it is less
attractive to the adult beetles looking to lay
their eggs. They simply go somewhere else to lay
their eggs!
Eco-Lawn is also less vulnerable to many other
lawn insect pests because its deep and dense root
system makes an inhospitable environment for many
insects that like to live just below the surface
of a shallow rooted sod lawn. Many insect
pests like to eat the exotic grasses such as
Bermuda and Kentucky Blue but are not attracted
to the Eco-Lawn fine fescue grasses.
Furthermore, a study conducted by Cornell
University in 2007 has determined that fine
fescues, of which Eco-Lawn is comprised,
are actually allelopathic. This means that the
grass itself exudes a natural, broad-spectrum
herbicide, which is an amino acid called
meta-tyrosine, in large amounts. This natural
herbicide inhibits other plants (weeds) from
growing in Eco-Lawn naturally and
this allelopathic quality is, at the same time,
non-harmful to humans or pets.
Pesticides are therefore not generally required for
Eco-Lawn care – an incalculable value
to any family with children and pets.
Is Eco-Lawn genetically
modified (GMO)?
No! None of the species in
Eco-Lawn are genetically modified.
When will my Eco-Lawn be
fully established?
Any newly seeded lawn including
Eco-Lawn will take a full growing season to become
established and mature. It might
give you some perspective to bear in mind that a
roll of high maintenance sod needs one to two years of growth
before it is available for sale! A bit of
patience with your new Eco-Lawn will
result in a beautiful, low maintenance, lawn!
Can I overseed my existing lawn?
Yes. Simply overseeding an existing lawn
will not result in an instant conversion to a low
maintenance Eco-Lawn as your existing lawn
and Eco-Lawn will compete with one
another. However, if you overseed
your old lawn every spring and fall year for a few
years it will, in time, become a true
Eco-Lawn. In the meantime, you will still
need to regularly mow the existing lawn. So
while this method will work, it does take time,
patience and regular overseeding.
What is the overall cost of
installing and maintaining an Eco-Lawn?<
Typical installation and maintenance
costs for a 1,000 sq. foot Eco-Lawn over a
ten-year period is just $1,500.00. This
includes seeding, watering and mowing once a
month. By
comparison, a 1,000 square foot lawn planted with
sod costs over $8,000.00 to
install and maintain over a ten-year period. This
includes, seeding, watering, fertilizers,
pesticides and herbicides and mowing-once a week.
So Eco-Lawn will save you over $6,500.00 over a
ten-year period!
Will Eco-Lawn grow in clay soil?
Yes, Eco-Lawn has no trouble
growing in clay soils! The key to success with
clay soils is to ensure that the soil is kept
moist during the critical germination phase as
clay soils tend to dry out quickly. Mulching the
area with a light covering of straw or peat moss after sowing the seeds will help
hold soil moisture very well.
Will Eco-Lawn grow in
completely sandy soil?
Eco-Lawn will grow in very
sandy soils, but if you are seeding at a
beach-type property with pure beach sand, you will
need to add about 2 inches of quality
top soil. Adding topsoil inevitably introduces
weeds, so lay the soil a couple of weeks before
you seed, so that you can eliminate the newly
sprouted weeds before sowing your
Eco-Lawn.
Do I need to add topsoil?
Eco-Lawn will thrive in any
soil ranging from sandy soil to compacted clay
soil. You won’t need to add topsoil unless
you are attempting to grow an Eco-Lawn in
pure beach sand. Pure sand or very sandy soil
will require a 3” layer of topsoil. Please
be aware that all topsoil is full of weed seeds!
Before seeding your Eco-Lawn water the
topsoil regularly as if you had seeded a lawn.
This will encourage the weed seeds in the topsoil
to germinate and grow. Once the weeds are about 2
inches tall, eradicate the weeds. This can be
done with rototilling or hoeing or by an
application of an organic herbicide.
What if the topsoil is already
there? I didn’t realize until too late not
to add topsoil and now I have thousands of weeds
growing in my newly seeded Eco-Lawn! What
can I do!
First of all don’t panic!
Second, be sure to mow your Eco-Lawn
regularly. Mowing regularly will ensure that none
of the weeds produce seed that will, in turn, make MORE
weeds. Secondly, be sure to overseed generously
during your next cool/moist time slot. Remember,
as your Eco-Lawn matures, it will crowd
out a majority of the weeds.
Is Eco-Lawn available in sod rolls?
Since Eco-Lawn creates a deep
root system it cannot be sold as a sod. When
Eco-Lawn is cut like sod, its roots are
severed and it dies. Since it is the deep roots
that enable Eco-Lawn to be drought
tolerant, we can only offer it in seed form. That
said, Eco-Lawn germinates quickly and
will form a dense turf over a full growing
season.
Will Eco-Lawn grow under
large trees?
Yes, Eco-Lawn is one of the
only things that will grow under large trees.
This includes both evergreen and deciduous trees.
However, we strongly recommend that during the
first season of growth, that you treat these
areas as if you were in extreme drought
conditions and water it deeply at least once a
week. Large trees absorb a lot of water and they
dry out the soils underneath of them. Once your
Eco-Lawn has had a chance to get itself
fully established,(and like any newly seeded
turf grass this does take a full year of growth) its deep
root system will enable it to compete with the
trees and you won't need to water except in
extreme droughts.
Is Eco-Lawn salt tolerant?
I am interested in using Eco-Lawn,
the concern I have is that I live at the seaside.
Is your product salt water compatible to this
type of situation?<
Most traditional turf grasses such as
Kentucky Bluegrass are not salt tolerant,
however studies conducted by the USDA and the
University of Wyoming, have shown that fine
fescue grasses (of which Eco-Lawn is
comprised) are more salt tolerant to the road
salt used by many municipalities, so you should
be fine.
Does Eco-Lawn go dormant in
winter?
The answer depends upon where your
location. If you live where you'll get snow
coverage, then yes, Eco-Lawn will, in the
winter months, go dormant and be brown once the
snow melts. It will then green up quickly in
spring. If you live in an area that does not get
much in the way of snow, it will stay green all
year.
Will Eco-Lawn take over my
neighbor’s lawn?
Eco-Lawn is not aggressive so
it won't take over your neighbor's lawns. Nor is
it passive, so it won't be taken over either.
How well does the
Eco-Lawn hold up to traffic? I have two
large dogs that run like crazy in the back yard
and I want to make sure this will survive.
Eco-Lawn is designed for
moderate, normal household traffic usage including dogs. however, if your
two dogs run in constant circles in your back
yard, no lawn grass will be able to withstand
this! If they simply run around on it but do not
wear paths into your current lawn, then
Eco-Lawn will be fine.
Is Eco-Lawn difficult to
plant?
No! Spreading the Eco-Lawn
seed is quick, easy, and does not require any
special equipment (although many people use a
spreader, hand spreading is fine). Covering 1,000
square feet takes only minutes! We provide detailed instructions printed right on the bag. As with all grass
seedings, preparing your site and ensuring that you
follow watering guidelines during the
establishment phase are critical to the success
of your new lawn.
How much seed do I need?
Each 5 lb bag covers 1,000 square
feet - enough for many residential lots yards in
the city. 50 lb bags are also available, which
cover 10,000 square feet. If you are doing a
larger installation, plan for 220 lbs of
Eco-Lawn seed per acre of lawn.
How quickly does
Eco-Lawn germinate?
Eco-Lawntypically takes 7-14
days to germinate, but germination time can vary
significantly depending on temperature and
moisture levels. Seed planted when night time
temperatures are regularly above 15 degrees
Celsius (50 F) will not germinate without daily
watering and may wait until cooler days to
germinate. Seed planted in late fall may wait
happily under snow cover until early spring to
germinate.
Can I keep left over
Eco-Lawn seed for next year?
Yes! We guarantee the viability of Eco-Lawn for one year from teh date of purchase. Simply store unused seed in
in a well sealed container in a cool, dry place.
Eco-Lawn sounds too good to
be true; why haven't I seen it in my local garden
supply store?
Since Eco-Lawn requires very little
fertilizers or pesticides, (which make up a large
percent of many garden stores profits), until
recently many have been reluctant to carry
Eco-Lawn. Eco-Lawn is now carried
by an increasing number of forward thinking
garden specialty suppliers and hardware stores. You’ll find
these suppliers on our website at: “Find a
Retailer Near You”
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