Patch Perfect Seeds

Claims

• According to the Eagle Eye Marketing Group, Patch Perfect grass seed grows twice as fast as regular grass and can be planted in any kind of soil, in any conditions and during any season of the year. “A lawn in less than a week,” “spread it and forget it” and “grows on concrete” are three of its advertising slogans. They say the grass will grow thick and full in five days, whether in a high-traffic area or in the shade, and stay green all year long. It says it “neutralizes pet urine” and “grows in extreme heat and cold.”

Contents

• The grass seed in Patch Perfect contains a blend of several different grass seeds, including Evening Shade perennial ryegrass, a drought- and heat-tolerant grass that grows in poor soil, 12.33 percent; FA-155 tall fescue, a dense grass that tolerates part shade, 12.21 percent; Baron Kentucky bluegrass, a fine, dark green grass, 1.41 percent; and Boreal creeping red fescue, which tolerates shade and germinates quickly, 1.39 percent. It contains 42.87 percent mulch and 28.8 percent seed coating. Other crop seed is .87 percent. Each seed is coated with Zeba, a hydrogel with a cornstarch base that soaks up and retains water for faster germination and deeper root growth.

Method

• The mulch in the mix means no raking or additional soil is needed at planting time, according to the company. Remove dead grass from the spots to be patched and loosen and level the top 2 inches of soil. Apply the seed evenly in a single layer, not thickly. Water with a fine mist and keep the soil moist for two weeks. Fertilize one month after planting with lawn fertilizer. Mow when the grass reaches normal height. Patch Perfect isn’t meant for planting a whole lawn but for overseeding and filling in bare spots.

Results

• With the aid of a master gardener and a turf management student at Missouri State University, a columnist at KFVS-TV put Patch Perfect to the test for her weekly “Does It Work?” segment. Despite daily watering, the test patch at the university produced only a few sprouts in six days. To test the company's claim that it will even grow on concrete, the group planted some on a brick. Nothing grew. In a yard with dog-urine patches, the product didn’t cover the spot, but it did cause the existing grass around the rim of the spot to green up. The conclusion was that normal grass seed, watered regularly and fertilized, would grow just as well as Patch Perfect at much less cost.