Melinda Myers

Creeping Red Fecue

Botanical Name

Festuca rubra

Min Zone

3

Max Zone

6

Height

Maintain at 2.5 to 4 inches

Light

Full sun to shade

Soil

Well-drained

Planting & Care

This is one of several fine fescues used in shade and low-maintenence grass seed mixes.  It has long been mixed with bluegrass to create more shade-tolerant and drought-tolerant seed mixes.  Creeping red fescue dominates shade areas while bluegrass populates sun areas. 

This fescue is often used in no-mow mixes.  It can be allowed to grow throughout the season with minimal or no mowing.  If allowed to grow, the grass will bend over, providing a meadow-like appearance.  If you mow, cut it just as the grass starts to bloom.  Mow once a month to 4 inches to maintain a more lawn-like appearance.

Seeding Rate - 3.5 to 4 pounds per 1,000 ft² for new lawns

Overseeding Rate - 3 pounds per 1,000 ft² for thinning lawns

Germination Time - 7 to 10 days

Sod - Most sod is bluegrass.  Occasionally, you can find "shade" sod with some fescue in the mix.

Optimum Planting Time - Late August- mid September (mid October in South) is best or early spring before soil reaches 50°F

• Red fescue is shade and drought tolerant
• Suitable for no-mow and low maintence lawns
• Blends well with Kentucky bluegrass
• Suited for Northern climates
• Good color and fine texture
• Creeping growth habit helps in establishment and in filling bare spots
• Raise the mowing height of your lawn mower if you haven’t already done so. Taller grass shades out some weeds and forms deeper roots, making it better able to compete with weeds and more drought and pest tolerant.
• Make sure the blade is sharp for healthier and better-looking grass.
• Remove no more than ¹/₃ the total height of the grass at one time to reduce the stress on the lawn.
• Leave clippings on the lawn. Short clippings DO NOT cause thatch and break down quickly, adding moisture, organic matter, and nutrients to the soil. A season’s worth of clippings equals one fertilizer application.
• The amount of fertilizer your lawn needs should be based on the quality of lawn desired and the time you want to spend managing your lawn. High quality heavily used lawns require the maximum amount of fertilizer, while low maintenance lawns need the least.
• Start with a soil test so you apply the proper amount of fertilizer for your lawn.
• Fertilize on Memorial Day, Labor Day and Halloween. Eliminate the first two if you are following a low maintenance plan and add a light summer feeding if you are watering and going for a high quality lawn.
• Increase success and decrease the risk of damage by using Milorganite fertilizer. It’s an organic-nitrogen slow release fertilizer that won't burn the lawn and the iron is an added bonus. Plus, the phosphorous is non-leaching. And when the microorganisms work on the Milorganite it releases phosphorous and potassium bound in the soil, making it available to the grass.
• Proper watering helps keep your lawn healthy and enables it to out-compete the weeds. Water early in the morning, if possible, and thoroughly when footprints are left behind. This encourages deeply rooted drought and pest tolerant grass.
• Recent droughts and efforts to conserve water may mean a change of habit. If you allow your lawn to go dormant during drought, minimize foot traffic and play on dormant lawns.
• Don’t apply herbicides or quick release fertilizer to dormant lawns. The fertilizer will feed the weeds and both can damage the dormant grass.
• Once you let your lawn go dormant, leave it dormant until the weather cools and rains return.
• A healthy lawn is your best defense against weeds. When weeds occur it usually means the growing conditions are better for the weeds than your grass.
• Aerate lawns growing on compacted soil or with a half an inch of thatch or more.
• Hand dig small populations of weeds. There are some new tools on the market that make this easier.
• Spot treat weeds using the most eco-friendly products available.
• Always sweep grass clippings and fertilizer residue off the walks and drives. This simple step keeps unwanted nutrients out of our waterways and eventually drinking water.
• Never fertilize lawns when the ground is frozen.
• Consider using a push or electric mower. It’s good for the waistline and the environment.

Problems

Not as heat tolerant as other fine fescues, does not fill in as quickly as bluegrass, poor salt tolerance, grubs, sod webworm, leaf spot, ring spot, rust, voles (winter), moles (summer), skunks and racoons digging for grubs

Varieties

• Aruba
• Dawson - good for low maintenance lawns
• Jasper II - low maintenance, seed contains endophytic fungus that increase the plant's vigor as well as drought and stress tolerance.
• Seabreeze - low maintenance, resistance to or tolerant of Helminthosporium Leaf Spot