Lawn Care

Out of all the grass seed companies in the country, we choose to carry Jonathan Green grass seed because it is the best, hands down the best. We can buy grass seed that’s cheaper, we can buy gimmicky grass seed like coated grass seed, but we choose to go with the quality of Jonathan Green. After sitting down with Barry Green years ago at a trade show, I realized I was not talking to a salesman… but a bona fide grass guru.

Mike Mahoney: Mahoney’s Turfgrass Specialist

This man amazed me, his knowledge of his grass seed and his competitors as well. He taught me how competitors use older varieties of turf seed that may only be a couple of years old but are completely out of date. As new varieties come to market the old ones get cheap this is why some of the seeds in a mix today will not be there in a couple of years. I often see people come in to our stores trying to get rid of turf in their lawn I know came from a poor grass seed mix, so like I always say to people, when it comes to weeds and grass seed you get what you pay for!

So anyone can talk about or promote what they are trying to sell right? I thought I would invite the seedsman himself, Barry Green to talk about turf and like anyone who really loves and believes in what he does he agreed, so here is Barry Green, 4th generation seedsman. I hope you will find him as interesting and informative as I did, and remember never give up quality for a cheap price.

Reply: from Barry K. Green II
President Jonathan Green, Inc.

Let me start by thanking Mike Mahoney for such a nice introduction. I don’t think I’ve ever been described as a “bona fide grass guru” before but I guess that if this description is meant to illustrate my commitment and passion for breeding and selling the very best grass seed varieties, then it is accurate!

My father and grandfather both instilled into me the strongly held belief that quality grass seed will sell and that react lawn seeding results will help to spread a positive word-of-mouth from one homeowner to the next regarding the good seeding results that were achieved when Jonathan Green grass seed was planted on their lawn.

Barry Green with Black Beauty Turf: Black Beauty turf seeds produce deeply rooted, drought- and disease-resistant lawns.Our business was founded generations ago by Jonathan Green to supply professional grass seed customers such as sod growers. We knew that if we hoped to be successful that we would have to provide grass seed varieties and seeding results that met and exceeded our customer’s expectations. To accomplish this goal we knew that we would have to get into the turfgrass breeding business and in 1986 we did, when we established a turfgrass research farm near Salem, Oregon in the heart of the grass seed production region in the United States.

Soon after we planted turfgrass evaluations plots at leading universities and on sod farms throughout the north east and Mid-Atlantic States in order to make sure that our grasses would perform as expected under the stressful growing conditions we face in our marketing areas, where we have very hot and humid summers and icy- cold winters. A few years later we learned of a new research breakthrough called “beneficial endophytes” which could be bred into perennial ryegrasses, fines fescues and turf-type tall fescues making these grasses distasteful to surface feeding insects such as chinch bugs and sod webworms and soon after we introduced endophytes into our entire grass seed retail program. These beneficial endophytes also help the grass plant to be more drought tolerant and disease resistant. At this time, Jonathan Green, Inc. is the only grass seed company selling grass seed mixtures with beneficial endophytes to the general public.

Barry Green with Dr. Xunzhong Zhang of Virginia Tech University: Barry Green with Dr. Xunzhong Zhang of Virginia Tech University inspecting grass samples that were being evaluated for disease resistance.

In 1993 we discovered another important break through in turfgrass breeding. In a desert oasis on the edge of the Sahara Desert on the border between Morocco and Algeria a new cool season grass was discovered that was surviving under the hot and dry desert growing conditions because of an invisible waxy-cuticle coating, which we discovered, with a microscope, on the outer leaf surface. This coating much like the natural wax on an apple, which makes it shine when you polish it on your sleeve, protected the moisture inside the grass plant leaf and guarded it against the hot dry desert winds; not unlike the natural defensive measures that a cactus uses to survive. This new grass plant and a second grass from the same turf grass family, with the same waxy coating, was discovered a few years later in a park in Marquette, Michigan.

On the Upper Peninsula of Michigan the winters are very harsh but once again the waxy coating helped this newly discovered grass plant to survive. After many years of evaluation and turfgrass breeding work we were able to cross these two grasses to create what we now call the “Black Beauty Breakthrough in Turfgrass Breeding”. The Black Beauty Turf-Type Tall Fescues look very similar to Kentucky Bluegrass but are more deeply rooted, drought tolerant and disease resistant than any other grass seed variety which has previously been available. The Black Beauty Tall Fescues will grow in full sun and partial shade and in sandy or heavy clay soils. They will thrive under the adverse growing conditions of Eastern New England and will look great doing so! The Black Beauty grasses can be found in our original Black Beauty and Black Beauty Ultra Grass Seed Mixtures and as a key component in many of our other great grass seed mixtures.

Grass Seed Comparison: A pound of Jonathan Green Turf Seeds (right) contain significantly more seed that the “gimmicky” coated seeds (left)In Mike Mahoney’s introduction to this article he mentioned that he could buy grass seed that’s cheaper, or gimmicky grass seed mixtures such as coated grass seed, but he chooses to go with the quality of Jonathan Green. We understand and applaud Mike’s passion and we share his belief that you get what you pay for! Jonathan Green will always strive to offer its customers the very best that turfgrass research has to offer. We are committed to the long term success of our customers and this is why you will never find any outdated grasses, fillers, high weed or crop content in our seed mixtures. We have our name on the package and are proud of what we put in it.

This is also why Jonathan Green products are only offered for sale at fine independent garden centers such as Mahoney’s. Long ago we made the important decision that our products would only be sold by the independent lawn and garden, because this is where homeowners must go to get the advice and instructions that they need to achieve success on their lawns.

The Mahoney’s Garden Center Group has been one of our very best independent garden center customers right from the beginning. I am a big admirer of how the Mahoney family gets personally involved in helping their customers to grow and maintain beautiful, lawns, gardens and home landscapes. We appreciate the Mahoney Family’s commitment to Jonathan Green Inc. and look forward to being a partner with the finest garden centers in New England for many years to come!

Very truly yours,
Barry K. Green II
President
Jonathan Green, Inc.

Closing thought from Mike Mahoney

Jonathan Green’s commitment to excellence applies to all their other products as well. That’s we carry their lawn fertilizer which is not only of the highest quality, but also formulated specifically for new England’s cool season turf grasses. Like Mahoney’s, Jonathan Green was early to see the demand for organics, and they have really stepped up to the market with a large selection of excellent organic lawn fertilizers.

In Lawn Care, as with most things there is so much marketing fog out there, that people often lose sight of quality, or just don’t know what quality really is. I really believe in Jonathan Green and wanted to write it down and share it. Why settle for mediocre?

-Mike Mahoney