FESCUE GRASS
The grass is green, the sun is shining, and the neighbor’s mowing his lawn at 7:00 am on a Saturday morning: lawn care season is upon us! Everyone would love for their lawn to be the envy of the whole neighborhood, but anyone who’s ever tried to beautify their yard knows it’s more difficult than it seems. The name “Fescue” refers to a group of grasses from the bluegrass family. Here we’re using the term to describe the most common varieties used in lawns. We’ve prepared a primer to help first timers understand their turf type. Based on our years of experience treating thousands of lawns, we’ve evaluated how different grasses perform in multiple ways: weather, water, wear, weeds, soil, and disease. This week we’re on to the most common cool-season grass in our area– Fescue.
Fescue grass is a cool-season grass that can manage in warmer environments. It’s a common turf type to see in the “transitional zone,” a term for the middle of the US. Northwest Arkansas is on the southern border of this climate zone, which means Fescue is a viable option, if one that’s more high maintenance than Bermudagrass. About 15% of the lawns in Northwest Arkansas are Fescue grass, and that’s never an accident. This grass is far more delicate than the dominant Bermudagrass, and Fescue lawns require care and attention to flourish. However, homeowners who are willing to put in the work will be rewarded with a lawn of lush, long bluegrass that looks spectacular.
Weather: 6/10
Fescue grows best in soil temperatures between 60-65 degrees Fahrenheit, but is moderately comfortable up to 75 degrees. This means that during the peak of the Arkansas heat, Fescue struggles and is unlikely to grow successfully. Fescue cannot manage full sunlight like Bermuda, and may brown if overexposed. However, the grass thrives in the shade, so it’s an easy choice for people whose lawns don’t receive hours of direct sunlight each day.
One distinctive trait of this grass is its lack of a winter dormancy period. In Arkansas, adequately cared for fescue lawns will usually stay green during the cooler months. It should be noted, however, that fescue lawns can enter a dormancy period in the middle of the summer if overtaxed by the environment. This is why watering is so crucial.
Water 5/10
Compared to other cool-season grasses, Fescue is relatively drought resistant. Established Fescue lawns will sport root systems 2-3 feet deep, meaning they make the most of the water they receive. This shouldn’t be taken to mean that it doesn’t require watering, though. Most Fescue lawns will require 1.25 or more inches of water a week, especially in the heat of the summer. You’ll want to water deeply each time, but ensure that you’re not overwatering. Nearly all varieties of fescue grass are disease-prone if they’re too wet for too long. This doesn’t just apply to your sprinkler system, either– springtime rains can easily oversaturate a Fescue lawn.
Wear 8/10
One of the great things about Fescue lawns is their toughness. Relative to other cool-season grasses, most Fescue varieties are tough enough to withstand everyday wear. Tall fescue varieties are especially tough, and are often used on sports fields and golf courses. Unlike bermudagrass, Fescue does not reproduce through stolons (“grass runners”), but instead through self-seeding. When lawns are being mowed in the summertime, Fescue isn’t able to grow tall enough to re-seed. Homeowners will have to take care to avoid thinning in the lawn, a problem fescue lawns are prone to. Because of this inability to spread into gouges or bare spots, damaged areas of the lawn will continue to look damaged until the homeowner seeds again in the fall. The good news is seeding in the fall (combined with a well-timed aeration treatment) will help a Fescue lawn recover from any damage it sustained during the summer. These services also contribute to the density necessary to buff up weed resistance throughout the year.
Weeds: 6/10
Fescue is fairly good at keeping weeds at bay. A well-maintained lawn creates a thick carpet of grass that’s extremely dense. This denseness makes Fescue a good competitor in your turf, and a sufficiently thick bluegrass lawn will naturally smother most threats from invading weeds. The difficulty comes in getting your fescue lawn thick enough to naturally force weeds out. Due to the summer heat we experience in Arkansas, it’s not unusual for some thinning to occur in most Fescue lawns. This gives weeds the opening they’re looking for. Treating lawns throughout the year with several rounds of pre-emergent is the best way to ensure most weeds never make it to the surface to compete with your grass. This is why we recommend that homeowners keep a year-round lawn service (like our 4-3 Weed n’ Feed program) that treats lawns for weeds in the cooler months as well as the summertime.
Soil 8/10
Most modern varieties of Fescue are remarkably tolerant of different soil types. If you read our piece on bermudagrass, another common variety of grass, you’re already up to speed on Residuum. Northwest Arkansas has pockets of soil that are very high in mineral content due to erosion of bedrock generations ago. This results in topsoil that’s more acidic than other areas with similar soil types. Fescue can tolerate acidic soil better than most bermudagrass, and is usually comfortable with a soil pH between 5.5 and and 7.
For Fescue grasses, soil drainage is a much more important factor than pH. If your yard holds water for a few days after it rains, it’s likely that Fescue will struggle to stay healthy due to its vulnerability to disease.
Disease 3/10
If there’s one serious flaw with a Fescue lawn, it’s that they’re very delicate. Fescue is susceptible to almost all of the common fungal diseases found in lawns and a few diseases specific to cool-season grasses. Brownpatch, dollar spot, leaf spot, pythium, and rust are just a few diseases that can affect the bluegrass family. A well maintained Fescue lawn will be more disease resistant than a lawn that’s struggling, but sometimes fungicide treatments are necessary to restore the health of an ailing lawn. If a fungal issue is found, we recommend homeowners bag their grass clippings to prevent issues in one area of the lawn from spreading to unaffected areas.
Quirks of Fescue Lawns:
- A nice perk of Fescue lawns is that they’re unlikely to develop thatch issues. Thatch is a mix of living and dead plant material that accumulates around the base of the blades of grass. Unlike bermudagrass, which may need to be dethatched regularly, Fescue might only need to be dethatched once every few years.
- For Fescue lawns, a Core Aeration service is best utilized along with overseeding in the fall. In fact, aerating Fescue lawns in the springtime damages the turf just as it’s about to enter its most taxing season. Since Fescue is unable to reproduce while it’s hot outside, aerating and overseeding in the fall allows the turf to make the most of its best growing season, repairing damaged areas and thickening the grass overall. Aerations are especially beneficial in areas with heavy soils like Arkansas’s red clay. Extremely compacted soil can make it difficult for your grass to thrive. To ensure your Fescue lawn is getting the water and nutrients it needs to recover from the heat, book a Fescue Overseeding service with us here.
- A feature of some Fescue varieties is a clumping growth pattern. In mixed-type lawns, (lawns that are half Bermudagrass or Zoysia and half Fescue) sometimes this clumping pattern can create obvious seams where the two types of grass meet. It can take a lot of work to smooth out these transitional areas.
Our Final Thoughts:
Fescue is capable of producing lawns that are beautiful and lush year-round, but not without careful cultivation and maintenance. In Northwest Arkansas, Fescue lawns require disease control, fertilization, and overseeding in order to thrive. For help getting your Fescue lawn to be as beautiful and lush as possible, contact Natural State to obtain a free lawn care estimate for your home.