HOW LOW WILL FESCUE GROW

[HOMER]

I was talking with Kirby the other day and the discussion came up about Fescue. He has it in North Carolina and I suppose it grows all summer. I asked him how similar our weather conditions were and he told me they had 95 degree weather and 95% humidity. My question is if it grows in those conditions there then why will it not grow here in south Alabama. I know it will grow in TN. and north Alabama. I never see any here and it is only sold, I guess, for overseeding in the fall. I have some seed and will prepare a spot in my yard, I want to find out how it will do this far south.

The question is, how many have it year round that live further south and what do you do that keeps it growing? Who lives the farthest south that has it?

[Ssouth]

Homer, I'm in Decatur, AL and have several fescue lawns. This past summer put a real hurt on most of them. After seeding in the fall all of them are once again looking lush and thick. ( I should say all of these lawns are densely shaded.)

[HOMER]

Ssouth,

What variety of seed do you use? Do you seed it per the bag or guesstimate coverage. Our centipede went through the same thing down here, when it's hot it's hot! I see no reason for it not to grow here if it grows in Decatur. Maybe I can start something down here!!!!!!!!!!

[TJLC]

No fescue here, bahalia and flortran.(Probally both spelled wrong.) Spelling is not one of my stronger features.

[jay]

I live in a area in C.A. were it gets up to 110 degrees but not real humid like it is there. They plant tall fescue here which is a little more heat tolerant than the others. It looks nice in the cool part of the year, but it sucks in the heat. All the new homes here have it installed in there yards because they like that it stays green all year around. Maintences people like me hate it though in the summer. If you water it to little it dies out, if you water it too much it gets phythium blight. None of the new homes have any shade to provide for it, the grass just bakes in the sun here. They don't prep the soil its all hard pan underneath water just runs of. It's terrible. I just started a new house with a fescue big fescue lawn and the landscaper didn't plant one tree in it, I know it will be fun this year. Some varities of tall fescue are Bonsai, shenandoah, sr 8200, phoneix, Meza, And Tribute.

[awm]

I have wondered the same thing.ALL FESCUE
comes from pasture grass specifically
developed for diverse conditions.Ijust assumed
that folks in ala. had found other grasses do better.
There has been much change in fescue in that
there is shade fescue ,drought fescue etc.
REBEL 2 IS AN EXCELLENT CHOICE.Some prefer
amix of varities to cover all condition.
It is bestplanted in fall unless you have
irrigation.

[KindGardener]

Jay - where do you buy your seed (and why there - and why a particular brand)? Also, what do you do to treat blight?

[geogunn]

HOMER--everyone here has a variety of fescue with very rare exception. you can sew it and 30 years late you still have fescue.

the predominant variety is KY-31. it's common in pastures as well as lawns. it it a very thick-blade, "clumpy root" grass that is quite drought tolerant. it's not a very "pretty" grass.

well, you know me...I had to kill out the KY-31 and go in eith a "fine" turf style fescue. lesco "transition blend" to be exact. absolutely beautiful. you wouldn't believe this grass my yard looked so good.

and then we had our first week of 95 degree weather. that stuff went south, pardon the pun, well...you get the picture.

drought and heat tolerance will be what you are looking for on your test plot. let me know if you have trouble getting the seeds.

GEO

[HOMER]

Geogunn,

I can buy K-31 down here but somebody told me the same thing. It was clumpy and ugly. Now my question is, when it grows out/fills out, is it still clumpy or does it eventually smooth out and fill in. I can play around with my back yard, I drive over it anyway. I bought another brand, Southern Pride is the name and Emerald Green #1 is the type of seed. I planted some of this at a small commercial location along with Rye and I couldn't tell you which is which but the grass looks real good right now. I guess when it heats up I'll find out if it stays around. It's going to be mixed with Bermuda so it should be interesting. That seed was almost $10.00 for 5 lbs, is there any cheaper other than K-31? If K-31 will hold up better I'll plant that in my back yard. Anything will look better than bahai! My back yard gets all the morning sun then it is partially shaded in the afternoon until 3 or so then it's all shaded. Give me some more info on K-31, I might still be able to buy that now.

[Evan528]

K-31 mixed in with other thin bladed turf grass look like crap. I have a few lawns that are completly k-31 and they actually look very nice. they are the only lawns to stay green during drought but also the only lawns that grow 8 inches a week during spring! They dont need much fertilizing~

[Ssouth]

Homer I used a blend of Five Star, Creeping Red 3, Falcon 2, and Enviroblend. Creeping red for shade, Falcon for full sun and the other two mixed in for transition. Seemed to work well.

[Ground Pounder]

Here in Central Ohio, most lawns are a combination of Fescue, Rye, and Kentucky Blue. The accepted mowing season here is April 15 to November 15.

Usually after the first heavy frost, you're done mowing.

[Mueller Landscape Inc]

Friends,

In So California tall fescue grass is very popular. It grows well in the summer and slows down in the winter. It is a cool season grass. In the colder regions of the states it is a short lived grass that will die out after a few or several years as a result of low temperatures. In the summer it requires lots of water, preferably, deep watering. It does not tolorate close mowing. It needs to be cut higher than 2 inches. It grows in clumps or bunches by tillering. High humidity could be a real problem because of disease.

Sod companies grow mixtures of fescue with many varieties. This way if one particular species dies out it is not noticeable.

[Mscotrid]

The secret to growing Fescue or any cool season turf is irrigation. When choosing a variety of Fescue your only decision should be "color." All cool seaon will go dormant during the hot months without irrigation. Tell your customers to water heavier and less frequently and the turf should do fine. Quite a few homeowners will cringe at the thought of increased water bills, but compared to $100.00 a thousand renovation cost and added water for the grow in period they will save in the long run.

One more thing all fescues grow in clumps, it's the nature of the beast. Recent studies in our area show mixing in 10% Bluegrass will not only give a complete fill-in look but will help increase the disease resistance of the Fescue.

[T-Bone]

Homer

The majority of the lawns in this area KS. are fescue.
The only durable one for this area is the K31 although it dos,nt look as nice as the rebal or blends. The blends are more of a single blade grass were the K31 is in a clump the blends also stand were the K31 lays down more. You have to watch watering schedule close in high humidity or expect the fungus witch also thrives on nitrogen. If you don,t use the K31 then I would try the rebal with a five step application program (lower nitrogen time release) and water short periods of time after 5 AM. I have the blend in my front lawn and K31 in the back the first year I got the fungus in the front but not the back . The second year I verti-cut and overseeded the K31 with the blend and it seems to work good for me.

Just my opinion.

[GroundKprs]

Tall fescue was historically used as a pasture grass. It was so chosen for the lush blades, but mostly for the deep (up to 2') rooting; the deep rooting helped survival in long term drought situations. Recent experimenting with tall fescue has resulted in dwarf tall fescues to be used in athletic and ornamental turf. The pasture variety has been an obnoxious turf weed in most cool season lawns, and even some warm season areas. The heavy, dark green leaves and semi-prostrate growth lead some to call it crabgrass. Most common pasture variety is KY-31, and there are many cultivars of the turf-type tall fescues. For cost of KY-31, $2/# is not that bad for small purchase of any seed, but would expect to pay more like $50 for a 50# bag.

Extensive use of and research with turf-type tall fescue in the last decade has taught us that the maintenance of finer blades requires good turf density. Planting almost any turf-type variety at 3#-5#/K will result in just a heavy bladed, semi-prostrate plant. Success with dwarf types depends on seeding densely and maintaining density. In IN, our recommendation is 10#-12#/K, even though labels usually state 6#. In southern climates, some of the tall fescue will die out each year from the heat, so having a finer, upright bladed lawn there requires annual reseeding in the fall.

But what about Homer's situation? First understand two types of grasses. C3 (cool season) grasses make food efficiently in cooler temperatures. Their life cycle is (on average) Labor Day to Memorial Day. Cool fall days causes good growth, growth only stops if ground freezes, spring growth prepares plant for reproduction and survival of summer heat. C3 grasses actually start to die when temps get into 90s, because they cannot make enough food to survive. If food reserves are used up, or sudden heat hits, C3's can easily die en masse.

C4 (warm season) grasses have a different system of fixing carbon. C4 grasses just start to function efficiently as the temps increase. So their life cycle is at its' peak in the heat of summer, when the C3 grasses are barely surviving. You cannot keep C4 grasses going in winter in most areas of country, because they just cannot make food in cool temps.

In some areas, people grow turf with both C3 and C4 grasses, because the temperature varies over the range of both types. Some warmer areas will overseed every fall to have C3 green when C4 goes dormant; but the C3 will die every summer. We are working with nature, so nothing can be gauranteed. But the further south (the higher the average daily summer temp) that you plant any C3 grass, the less chance you have of long term survival. If you wanted bluegrass in Mexico, you could plant it - probably every year :(.

[paul]

GroundKprs; Just to let you know, prices are now comming in on grass seed and Fescues are running around $1.31-$1.75. It seems they didn't have as good a crop as expected. This is for the Chicago area.

Your Prices May vary :)

[Mueller Landscape Inc]

Jim,

Great post! Thanks.

[awm]

31 fescue can look good, just dont let it bunch up to make seed and reseed ,so that it is thick.

[HOMER]

I'm learnin'!

Thanks for the response. I'm gonna try something even if it's a little plot. I wish I knew where I coulb buy seed around here for the prices ya'll are talking about.

[Ssouth]

Homer up here I can get fescue between $1-$1.25/lb. Seems like you should be able to get a better price if you buy in bulk. Maybe this fall you should load up the DC take a trip up here, buy some seed and let me demo you chopper. Just kidding about the chopper, but I would like to try one out.

[geogunn]

HOMER--the KY-31 might look pretty good if you really take care of it. you really need something that can take the heat. my lesco transition blend didn't cut it in the summer heat.

try a test plot and take pictures for us.

GEO

[jay]

Jay - where do you buy your seed (and why there - and why a particular brand)? Also, what do you do to treat blight?


From our local distributor here which is Ewing. Why , because thats were I get most of my products from there reliable and convenient.

Sr82,sr83,sr85 a misture of all these. Why because I know its what is commonly used here and will blend in good with existing lawn.

Blight, treat it with a fungicide as soon as its detected and try not to water or fertilize lawn until its killed if possible, because it will just feed the fire and it spreads rapidly so treat it as fast as you are able to.

Good practices of using slow realease fertilizers, aeration, and the right irrigation practices will help in prevention.