Red Fescue, is a cool season, sod-forming grass introduced from Europe. Leaves of Red Fescue are bright green, wiry, and narrow.

USES: Red Fescue is an excellent soil binder and used extensively for stabilizing waterways, slopes, banks, cuts, and fills. This grass is used as a turf for lawns, athletic fields, golf courses, and playgrounds. It is used as a cover crop in orchards.

ADAPTATION & DISTRIBUTION: This grass is hardy, wear-resistant, and shade tolerant. It is drought resistant after establishment, and adapted to sandy and acid soils. It prefers well-drained soils, but requires ample moisture for establishment. Its prime area of use in the Northeast consists of New York, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the New England states. In the other states of the Northeast region, the grass is adapted to the cooler zones. In areas of high temperatures and humidity the grass may turn brown or deteriorate during the summer. It will generally recover in the fall when temperature and moisture conditions are more favorable.

ESTBLISHMENT: Creeping Red Fescue is rarely seeded in pure stands. Instead, it is used with grasses and legumes for specific purposes, such as lawns, erosion control, or recreational areas. Seedbed preparation, fertilizing, liming, rate and dates of seeding, and weed control requirements are generally governed by the companion grasses in the mixture. When Red Fescue is added to a mixture it usually constitutes 25 to 60% of the mixture by weight. In shaded areas, Red Fescue is often the key grass in the mixture.

MANAGEMENT: To maintain stand vigor and density on lawns and recreational areas, apply fertilizers at the recommended rate annually. For critical erosion areas, less frequent use of fertilizers may be satisfactory. When Red Fescue dominates a stand, mowing consistently below 1-1/2 inches can cause severe damage to the stand.

PLANTING RATE: 6-8 lbs per 1,000 sq. ft.