Fescues 101

One of the major components of many cool season grass mixtures are the fescue species. Broadly classified into tall, chewings, and creeping - the fescues are shade tolerant, drought tolerant, and stay green all year. (http://www.fescue.com)

But what do they each look like? One might initially think, as I did, that because they are all fescues, they would all look very similar. However, their appearance is quite different from one another. It has only been recently, after the thinning of the lawn over winter and before filling out during the spring growing season (and before the weed season of summer has come), that I've been able to look out over my lawn and distinctly tell one type of grass from another.

At this point I should mention that all information in this post is based on my observations. I am not a grass expert (yet), so I may be slightly off in a detail here or there. However, my research has led me to some conclusions that I'm pretty confident in.

First off, lets take a look at tall and chewings fescue. Both are bunch-type grasses - that is, a grass whose leaves grow from tillers that eminate from a central crown. This growth habit is slow to spread, and often requires overseeding on a regular basis to fill in the spaces between bunches.

Chewings fescue tends to have relatively slow vertical growth, and therefore looks like the embodiment of a bunch type grass. Tall fescue is also a bunch type grass, however, as its name implies, it is taller then chewings fescue, and more resembles a ryegrass or bluegrass in that regard.

This is a picture of chewings fescue, with some strands of tall fescue in the background to show height difference (neither has been mowed yet this year)


In a well interspersed lawn, these two kinds of grass can look good together. One of the reasons for mixing various types of grasses is that tolerances for things such as heat, drought, insects, and foot traffic vary. The idea is that if you plant a mixture of seed, then any factor that causes damage or wilting in one species will not effect the lawn in such a way that it becomes unsightly.

The other goal of even mixing is simply aesthetics, even if no adverse factors are negatively affecting a particular species. A homogeneous lawn looks better then one that has large areas dominated by one type of grass. While all the grasses may be green - the different shades and heights of the various species prevent the lawn from looking its best.

Ahh, the joys of the ideal world - and sod.

Here is another picture of chewings and tall fescue. Unfortunately, in this case, the mixture of germinated grass was not so good. The tall fescue is readily apparent by the taller tufts of grass in an area dominated by chewings fescue.


Finally, we come to creeping (red) fescue. This type of fescue is similar to tall fescue in its height, however the leaf blades are much narrower. This is the kind of fescue that can be a pain in the ass to mow because the leaves are so fine that they are wispy, especially where coverage is thinner. I find that areas with poor shade (directly under trees, for example), and/or areas with low soil fertility, tend to have this type of fescue. Grass seed mixes designed for shade tend to have a relatively high percentage of creeping fescue for this reason.

Another major differentiator of creeping fescue is that its growth habit is rhizomatous. As opposed to growth by new tillers formed out of the same ever-expanding crown, rhizomes are underground stems that grow horizontally and pop back up above the soil elsewhere.

Here is a picture of creeping red fescue - not quite as tall as tall fescue, but not as 'bunchy' as chewings fescue, thanks to the rhizomatic growth.


Turf-grass technology is always evolving, and there are dozens of sub-species in each variety, all with slightly different characteristics. Annual reports from places like Penn State's Center for Turfgrass Sciences evaluate new strains of grasses, and grade them on a myriad of characteristics.

As with anything, genetic modification allows the combination of favorable traits from multiple sources. Research is being done into improving Rhizomatous Tall Fescue (RTF), and some varieties of commercially available seed already contain RTF.