• Fine Fescue in the Landscape
• Beautiful Fine Fescue, Season by Season
• Vigoro^® Ultra TurfT Step-by-Step Annual Lawn Care Program
• Vigoro Ultra Turf Tips for Better Fine Fescue
• Working With Fine Fescue

Features

• Adaptable to wide variety of soil and climatic conditions
• Quick germination, rapid establishment
• Good wear resistance
• Moderately shade tolerant
• Often used in seed mixes and blends
• Includes creeping red, chewings, and hard fescues
• Ideal pH 5.5 to 6.5

Area Suitable for Fine Fescue ?

Type

Cool season

When to Fertilize

Spring, Fall

Light

Full sun to partial shade

Mowing Height

2  to 3  inches

Planting Method

Seed, sod

FINE FESCUE IN THE LANDSCAPE Back to Top

Three grasses go under the common name of fine fescue: chewing fescue, creeping red fescue, and hard fescue. All three can survive extreme cold and they combine well with other cool-season grasses.

None of the fine fescues tolerate a lot of wear and tear, but they have the unusual talent of being able to grow in dry shade beneath trees. Hard fescue has a strong bunching habit that makes it appear less refined than other lawn grasses, but it will persist in difficult sites that are unusually cold, windy, and dry.

Three grasses go under the common name of fine fescue: chewing fescue, creeping red fescue, and hard fescue.

Fine fescues grow well in partial shade. When added to cool-season mixtures, they strengthen the turf beneath trees.

Fine fescues will survive periodic droughts, but they are weakened by very hot temperatures. Provide extra water when heat waves last longer than a week.

Well fed fine fescue can survive the worst winter weather, and will thrive in spots where other cool-season grasses struggle to grow.

BEAUTIFUL FINE FESCUE, SEASON BY SEASON  Back to Top

You can have a beautiful fine fescue lawn by following an easy Vigoro Ultra Turf Step-by-Step Annual Lawn Care Program. Together with proper mowing and watering, these measures will help fine fescue grow strong and healthy.

In many sites, fine fescue is mixed with other cool-season grasses such as bluegrass (which has great color and "knits" the lawn together with its spreading habit) and perennial ryegrass (which wears well). The same Vigoro Ultra Turf Step-by-Step Annual Lawn Care program used to maintain fine fescue works well with these grasses, too.

VIGORO ULTRA TURF STEP-BY-STEP ANNUAL LAWN CARE PROGRAM  Back to Top

To get weed problems under control, follow the Vigoro Ultra Turf Step-by-Step Annual Lawn Care Program shaded in purple.  If your lawn is already in good condition, follow the Vigoro Ultra Turf Step-by-Step Annual Lawn Care Program shaded in blue. You can start either program during any season, but the key is to complete a full year.   After a year you will see marked improvements in your lawn.  When applying any lawn care product, always read the entire label first and follow directions.   Some selections of fine fescue are especially sensitive to weed control products.

Restoring Fine Fescue

Maintaining Fine Fescue

Step 1: Apply in late winter or early spring

• Vigoro Ultra Turf Crabgrass Preventer Plus Fertilizer
• Vigoro Ultra Turf Moss Control plus Fertilizer (Pacific Northwest)

Step 1: Apply in late winter or early spring

• Vigoro Ultra Turf Turf Fertilizer (in mild winter areas)
• Vigoro Ultra Turf Moss Control plus Fertilizer (Pacific Northwest)

Step 2: Apply in late spring or early summer

• Vigoro Ultra Turf Weed and Feed

Step 2: Apply in late spring or early summer

• Vigoro Ultra Turf Turf Fertilizer (in cold winter areas)
• Insect Control, if needed

Step 3: Apply in late summer

• Vigoro Ultra Turf Turf Fertilizer OR
  Vigoro Ultra Turf Starter Fertilizer (if overseeding)
• Insect Control, if needed

Step 3: Apply in late summer

• Vigoro  Ultra Turf Turf Fertilizer (in all areas)

Step 4: Apply in fall

• Vigoro Ultra Turf Turf  Fertilizer

Step 4: Apply in fall

• Vigoro Ultra Turf Turf Fertilizer

PRODUCT

DESCRIPTION

Vigoro Ultra Turf Crabgrass Preventer Plus Fertilizer

Keeps crabgrass seeds and other grassy weeds from germinating and feeds the lawn at the same time. Crabgrass Preventer with Dimension® keeps on killing crabgrass up to 4 weeks after it sprouts.  Dimension® also prevents the sprouting of many broadleaf weeds, such as spurge, chickweed, and henbit.

Vigoro Ultra Turf Moss Control plus Fertilizer

Will rid your lawn of moss. Although listed as an early spring application, you can use this product at any step.

Vigoro Ultra Turf Weed and Feed

Kills broadleaf weeds that are actively growing and feeds the lawn at the same time. For best results apply it when weeds are still young and vigorously growing. Don't wait. Mowing a couple of days before applying will help stimulate new growth of older weeds.

Vigoro Ultra Turf Turf Fertilizer

Should contain a combination of fast-release nitrogen to green the lawn quickly and timed-release nitrogen to feed grass for up to 2 or 3 months.

Vigoro Ultra Turf Starter Fertilizer

Contains nitrogen and plenty of phosphorus to promote fast growth and strong root development of new seedlings.

Insect Control

Is important for the control of white grubs, fleas, cutworms, and other major lawn pests. If these have been a problem in your lawn, apply Insect Control early, while the pests are still young. You can also apply Vigoro Ultra Turf Summer Fertilizer with Insect Control to combine feeding and control in one easy application.

VIGORO ULTRA TURF TIPS FOR BETTER FINE FESCUE  Back to Top

• Always use a fertilizer spreader to spread lawn care products evenly. If you apply Weed and Feed, use a drop-type spreader for accurate application at the edge of flower and shrub beds. A broadcast spreader can throw weed killer into the planting area where it may cause damage.
• Never mow too close. Close cutting weakens the grass and invites weeds. At the peak of summer, raise the mowing height to 3 inches. Avoid mowing altogether when the lawn is stressed by drought.
• Since fine fescue is often planted in light-textured soil that does not hold moisture well. Recycle the organic matter in grass clippings by letting them decay back into the lawn.
• If more than a 1/2-inch layer of thatch is present (thatch is dead stems and debris that accumulate at the soil's surface), thin and clean your lawn with a power rake in either early spring or fall. You can have this done professionally or do it yourself with rented equipment.

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION  Back to Top

Working with Fine Fescue

Depending on your soil and climate, it may be wise to diversify a fine fescue lawn by including other cool-season grasses. Bluegrass gives the lawn vibrant green color and helps hold soil in place with its spreading habit, and perennial ryegrass helps the lawn recover quickly from wear and tear. In some sites, it is a good idea to emphasize these species and use fine fescue mostly to improve the lawn's appearance in shade or to improve its ability to withstand extreme cold. Reliable mixtures are available as both seed and sod. Plant fine fescue seed or sod in early spring or early fall so it can grow vigorously during cool weather.

Look at the contents label on bags of grass seed to identify the varieties of fine fescue and companion species. Avoid fine fescue seed that shows some annual bluegrass on its contents label under "weed seed content". Annual bluegrass is a weed.

Recommendations for the best selections of fine fescue are constantly changing. New selections undergo extensive evaluation at numerous sites in different climates, and the grass seed industry is quick to make use of new selections that show superior overall quality or outstanding resistance to common diseases. When buying hard fescue seed to plant in low maintenance areas, the species name to look for is Fesutca ovina, which translates literally as sheep fescue.