Jonathan Green (10322) Black Beauty Ultra Grass Seed - Cool Season Lawn Seed (7 lb)

Marvelous grass seed. My large lawn needed a spring refresh and a bit of patch repair after the winter weather. In my research for grass seed, finding quality uncoated seed at an acceptable price was a bit of a challenge. Black Beauty Ultra has the right mix of grasses, it is not coated, it has a high germination rate, and a very low weed percentage. Although a bit spendy, the 25lb. bag is the best value. From my results, I found this product to be an absolute winner! As a cost-cutting measure, most major brand grass seeds available from the big box stores are coated with a green spray-on clay coating. This is marketed as an aid to germination, but frankly it is not nearly as effective as advertised. The industry is well aware that clay coating is far cheaper than grass seed per pound. The clay adds lots of weight to the bag... but does little to retain moisture. In my experience with patching and reseeding lawns, doing this during moderate spring weather is ideal and avoids the intense heat of summer and poor germination rates. The best results have come from first checking the soil pH and adjusting accordingly. Then, rake up the thatch on bare spots and lay down enough seed to fully cover the patch. Thoroughly cover the reseeded bare spots with a quality potting soil or topsoil. This is important... and works much better than a spray-on clay coating on the grass seed. Keep the area frequently watered throughout the day for at least two weeks until growth is established. While germinating, do not let the seeded area dry out and do not walk on or mow while the new seedlings are beginning to grow. Wait about four weeks after reseeding before mowing. Once mowed, fertilize with a low to moderate nitrogen lawn fertilizer. Newly planted grass is a bit sensitive for the first 3-4 months and can burn easily if stressed by high nitrogen fertilizers. It is now eight weeks since patching and reseeding my lawn with Black Beauty Ultra. The patches are completely filled in and the entire yard is evenly green, vibrant, and very attractive. Check out this excellent grass seed for yourself. You'll be glad you did.

I never have good luck with growing anything in my yard, so I wasn’t sure how this would turn out. Things that I plant usually don't grow well, if at all. But this product was a home run. It makes me look like a lawncare professional. I started by using a scarifier to remove all the weeds and moss from my neglected lawn, then applied a 3-inch layer of topsoil before planting Jonathan Green Black Beauty Ultra Grass Seed. Honestly, I couldn't be happier with the results! Disclaimer: the right prep work + frequent watering is essential to bring out the best this grass seed can offer. If you don't plan to invest the time to do those things, don't bother buying this high quality, expensive grass seed (or any grass seed at all for that matter). Check out Youtube videos for instructions for the prep. I followed the Silver Cymbal Youtube channel's guidance and that worked great. A couple years ago, I bought this same grass seed and spread it across my yard with no prep or watering/maintenance, and that just didn't work at all. First Impressions: The packaging was solid, and the seeds looked high-quality. The instructions were clear and easy to follow, which was a great start. Planting Process: I spread the seeds using a broadcast spreader. The seeds have this special coating that helps them absorb water and nutrients better. Within a couple weeks, I started seeing little green shoots, and by the second week, my lawn was looking fuller and greener. I planted the grass seed in early April, which was a bit too early for my location, but it still turned out great. Applying peat moss on top was key to retaining moisture for the seeds to germinate. Peat moss is expensive but totally worth it. It's like a wet carpet after you water it. Lush, Deep Green Color: The standout feature? The lush, deep green color of the grass. It looks like a thick, green carpet, and the uniform consistency is incredible. The grass blades are fine-textured and dense, making my lawn look like a professionally maintained golf course. The thick consistency of the grass keeps weeds out without me having to do much of anything in terms of weed treatment or removal. I did spray mesotrione + surfactant when i planted the seed, which I believe was crucial to prevent weeds while the grass seed was germinating and growing. Drought and Disease Resistance: This grass is tough! Despite some dry spells, it stayed vibrant and healthy with less frequent watering. I haven't seen any signs of common lawn diseases either, which is a huge plus. Easy Maintenance: Maintaining my new lawn is a breeze. The grass grows evenly, so I don’t have to mow or edge constantly. It responds well to regular fertilization, and it’s stayed lush through different seasons. The downside: Now I have to mow my lawn more often, because the deep roots that these grass seeds have grown have caused the grass to grow faster than substandard grass seed might grow. Value for Money: Sure, it’s a bit pricier than some other brands, but it’s worth every penny. The transformation in my lawn’s appearance and health is amazing, and it’s super low-maintenance. Conclusion: Jonathan Green Black Beauty Ultra Grass Seed has completely transformed my lawn. The lush, deep green color and thick, uniform consistency make it look stunning. It’s easy to maintain and tough against drought and disease. Adding a layer of peat moss to retain moisture really helped it grow fast. Highly recommend this grass seed to anyone wanting a beautiful, hassle-free lawn. Five stars! Pro tip: save a bit of the grass seed in case you have bare spots that you need to fill in later.

This is a great quality grass with a deep green color. It seems to retreat significantly in the winter, and also seems like it's slower to come alive in the Spring, but it's a great quality grass. Very nice underfoot, and the kids tell me it feels nice in barefoot. Once alive in the summer, it fills in nicely. This is a lower-growing grass compared to others, but neighbors constantly tell me how nice it looks. I was using Pennington Sun and Shade, which I liked a lot, but this is better. Recommended. UPDATE October 2019: Here in Virginia, we have a problem with Buttonweed, which left to its own devices, will grow in thick, heavy matts, crowding out even zoysia (and I didn't think anything crowded out zoysia). I tried various weed killers with 2-4-D, but they only annoyed the buttonweed and didn't kill it off. I finally decided I had enough of this menace, after trying unsuccessfully to hand-pull it (complete waste of time). So I picked up a weed killer called Celsius, which was known to kill off buttonweed for good. It was expensive, and the Celsius certainly worked - however..... There was warning that Celsius will kill off "warm weather grasses". I had no idea if Black Beauty was warm weather grass or otherwise, given it was a mix of different seed type. But it wasn't long before I found out. After my Spring fertilizing, I told a neighbor that after 15 years, I had finally gotten my lawn where I wanted it. The BB seed created a beautiful, lush, thick green lawn - as good as high quality sod, perhaps even better. But then my new seed started to slowly die off. By mid-summer, my lawn had large patches of dead grass almost as if insects had attacked it. It was obvious Celsius was the culprit. As a consolation, the Celsius definitely killed off the buttonweed. By the end of the summer, I saw only a handful of lonely buttonweed plants in a few spots in my lawn, and these were easily hand-pulled. However, I had to rebuild my lawn as a result. So I ordered more BB, and seeded right after our Summer 2019 7-week drought started in Virginia. The chips seemed to be stacked against me, but I watered regularly, and the seed came in nicely. The fact that the lawn died back is not the fault of the BB seed, but of the treatment I applied. Given a choice, I would absolutely do it again. Anyone with buttonweed in their lawn knows what I'm talking about. You need to get rid of it completely, but you should do it one season first, THEN re-seed with this seed the following season. The fact that I bought more BB seed demonstrates that I'm extremely happy with the quality of this seed, its appearance, and its desirability, and still highly recommend it. I wouldn't consider putting anything else in my lawn at this point.

Excellent germination rate and very nice looking turfgrass once established. My only displeasure was the amount of weed germination, including Spotted Spurge and Nimblewill, something I've never experienced using local sod farm seed with past lawn renovations .

I watched Youtube videos on different grass seeds and the results. I also read the reviews here. I didn't believe everyone with the negative reviews so I purchased based on my eyes and the Youtube videos I watched. My neighbor/friend, across the street also watched some reviews and decided to go with GCI rather than the Jonathan Green. I chose the Jonathan green because it was clearly a nicer looking grass once it was established. First, I ordered the 50lb bag by accident. The order came and it was 2 25lb bags which I was okay with. I roughed up my soil then laid down 4 yards of grade A topsoil from our local place. I've used them before and it was excellent. I used a spreader to lay the seed and waited. It was like watching grass grow. :) I ordered this on Aug. 28, 2025. It's now Sept 26, 2025. Some grass grew and some didn't. The photo on the left is GCI Grass. This was planted 1 month ago on a bare lawn. The photo on the right is, Johnathan Green grass planted 3 days later. My back yard which received most of the new dirt is even worse than the front yard! Take a look at the 3rd picture. Hardly any of it grew. You can see where I laid the new dirt vs where I ran out. I was going to order more dirt but I wanted to see how this turned out first. I have a few other gripes. I was going to return the Jonathan Green grass (Purchased off of Amazon) and they wanted $50.00! THEN, I looked around and found that I could have gotten the 25lb bag for $80. shipped had I not ordered directly from the vendor on Amazon. This was overall a very expensiive ($243.00 +tx) purchase and it's garbage. I'm going to see if I can return as defective because it's clearly defective. ***I'd also point out a few more things. I do my lawn twice a year at the same time. The sun beats down hard on it which is why I chose this particular seed. My lawn typically looks amazing by now. The final picture is what it looks like in November (and it will look like this in 3-4 weeks again but I'll be using a different seed). UPDATE: 9/29/2025 - The photos below may be out of sync with my message because when they are posted, they are re-arranged. Also, Amazon did refund me for this stuff. I guess you pay a little more for the Amazon order but in the end, they take care of you.

Got this seed last year, put it on my lawn. Didn't water. Of course it didn't work. Before getting upset I asked a few experts, and they recommended specific watering plans. Turns out that's exactly what Jonathan Green has on their package for these seeds. I tried again this year and started with 3 times a day watering for a week, then twice a day for another week, then daily for a few weeks, then once or twice a week. The difference was night and day. Started seeing growth by day 5, and 2 months down the road It's tall and healthy. The grass looks great and is growing very nicely. Not too thick yet, but I don't think I put enough seed down initially. Will over-seed next year and see what happens. Also, fertilize, this seed needs food so you must fertilize, any good "lawn" fertilizer will work. Put it down the same time you seed. Then fertilize again a few weeks later. Timing... I experimented with planting some mid-summer, it worked initially but the grass died off. Now I'm trying in the fall, as per the instructions on the bag, and getting much better results. Easy if you just follow directions it seems. The grass color also seems to be a dark green, I guess that's why they call it Black Beauty, right? A bit different in color from the rest of my lawn but doesn't look too bad. I'm mainly just trying to re-grass areas where the old grass died, mostly near trees.

This is some of the best seed i have ever used! Filled in my bare spots and they are now super thick and lush green.

great product