Tall fescue is a cool-season grass, native to Europe and introduced to the U.S. in the 1800’s. It is used widely in Europe, North Africa, and North America for pasture forage. In the transitional zone of our service areas (6b-7b,) it is best known as a “shade” grass and is grown in shady areas under trees. Farther north in cooler climates, fescue can be easily grown in full sun. In the transition zone, growing fescue in full sun takes a lot of maintenance and a lot of frequent watering – we do not recommend it to our customers for full sun areas. If you don’t know your hardiness zone, you can click here to enter your zip code and find out, courtesy of the National Gardening Association.
Fescue is shade tolerant but needs some sun to be healthy. Just like any other grass, fescue cannot grow in total shade. Very heavily shaded areas, such as small areas between houses or heavily wooded areas will need alternative solutions like ground cover. See our Shade Solutions for some ideas.
Fescue grass is a different color than bermuda grass. If you have a bermuda lawn that has thinned out in shade areas and you seed fescue in those shady areas, you will have brown, dormant bermuda in the winter and green fescue. When the bermuda greens up, the fescue will still be a slightly different color than the bermuda, usually a darker green, depending on the variety.
Fescue must be mowed higher than bermuda grass. While bermuda should be mowed at ½” to 2.5”, fescue should be mowed at 2.5” to 4”. (See our mowing page for further info.) If you have a mixed lawn of bermuda in the sun and fescue in the shade, you will need a lawn mower that is easily adjustable.
Fescue may need more water in the summer than bermuda. Fescue is a cool season grass and doesn’t like the hot summers in our transition zone. On days over 90 degrees, you may need to water it lightly every day, just to cool it down, in addition to a once or twice-weekly deep watering. See our watering page for more info.
Fescue must be overseeded each fall to keep it thick and healthy. Since we are in a transition zone, some of your fescue may die out in the heat of summer. Seeding it each fall, in conjunction with core aeration, will keep it looking its best. See our step-by-step seeding instructions.
Fescue should not be seeded in the spring. Fall is the beginning of fescue’s growing season. Seeding in the spring will not give it enough time to form a good root system before the heat of the summer, and you will lose a lot of it. Also, if you seed in the spring, you will not be able to put pre-emergents on your lawn to keep the weeds out, because it will prevent the fescue seed from germinating. If you have bare areas you just can’t live with until fall, go ahead and seed, but don’t put down pre-emergents.
Always advise your lawn care company if you are going to seed, (if you have a lawn care company) so they can treat those areas appropriately. If you plan on seeding in the spring for some reason, let them know in January, so they don’t put down a pre-emergent in those areas. A pre-emergent will prevent the seed from germinating.
Fescue does not turn brown in the winter. Fescue doesn’t really go dormant – it will stop growing in the cold winter weather, but will perk up easily when it warms up just a little.
In the fall and winter, it is imperative to keep the leaves up off of the fescue. During the fall and winter months, the fescue is in direct sunlight because the leaves are off the trees (and falling on the fescue…) The fescue needs this sunlight in order to make food for itself and store carbohydrates for the following summer when it will be in the shade again. The direct sun won’t hurt it, because it’s cool outside. But if leaves are covering it, it won’t be able to get sunlight and make food, and it will be weakened and unhealthy next year, if not dead.
Fescue may be vulnerable to several fungal diseases in certain weather conditions. Brown patch disease (also called Large patch,) pythium blight, rust, and grey leaf spot are a few diseases that may invade your fescue. Most of these diseases occur under wet, humid, cloudy conditions. NC State University has a good fact sheet on the diseases of tall fescue with good, identifying pictures (NC is also in the transition zone.) Prevention usually involves good air circulation and good drainage. Some varieties are more resistant to certain diseases than others.
Fescue may be vulnerable to several insects, including armyworms, white grubs, and cutworms.
There are many different cultivars of fescue grass, some coarse, some very fine. When buying grass seed, you want “tall fescue,” preferably a blend. Blends of different types of fescue provide you with some varieties that are resistant to diseases, others that are resistant to drought, etc. That way, if you have a problem with your fescue, all of it may not be adversely affected. Older varieties of tall fescue (like Kentucky 31 which is good pasture forage,) are very coarse, but the new, turf-type fescue is finer-bladed. However, don’t confuse tall fescue with “fine fescue.” Fine fescue (like creeping red fescue and hard fescue) will not take the wear and tear and traffic that tall fescue will. Recently introduced is a new cultivar that produces rhizomes (underground runners) and it actually spreads, although not in the aggressive way that bermuda spreads.
Good things about fescue (in the transition zones):
- Grows in shady areas
- Good solution for bermuda lawns that have thinned out under trees
- Stays green into the winter
- Will be green and beautiful before bermuda even starts to green up
- Full fescue lawns (in the shade, in the transition zones) are gorgeous
- Most heat tolerant of the cool season grasses and somewhat drought resistant.
Bad things about fescue (in the transition zones):
- Requires overseeding each fall
- Needs more water than bermuda needs
- May need daily watering in temperatures over 90 degrees
- If you have a mixed lawn, the fescue will be a different color than your bermuda
- When you overseed your fescue, stray fescue seeds will get into your bermuda lawn and look like weeds.
- When you overseed your fescue, stray fescue seeds will get into your neighbor’s bermuda lawn and look like weeds.
- Must be mowed higher than bermuda.
- Can be vulnerable to insects and diseases, but not any more so than warm season grass lawns, like bermuda.
Tall fescue trivia:
Although fescue is not native to the United States, it is estimated that tall fescue covers at least 35,000,000 acres in the U.S. transitional zones.
Tall fescue is the grass on the South Lawn at the White House.
Tall fescue grass is a phytoremediation plant – a plant that can lessen the severity of environmental problems from contamination in soil, water or air without actually removing the contaminant. Over time, phytoremediation plants can dilute or degrade crude oil, solvents, coal mine discharges, and much more. It is also possible to recover (back from the plants) and re-use valuable metals. (The Sunflower is another phytoremediation plant.)
Additional resource:
Tall Fescue - AgriLIFE Extension, Texas A & M
Managing Diseases of Tall Fescue - NC State University