Tall Fescue
A versatile cool-season grass found throughout the US, including the challenging Transition Zone. Tall fescue has medium-to-coarse blades, forms a bunch-type grass, and stays green year-round in many climates. It is more heat and drought-tolerant than other cool-season grasses, making it a popular choice where summers are hot.
- Season
- Cool-season
- Mow height
- 3-4 inches
- Spreads by
- Bunch-forming
- Blade width
- Medium
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Shade tolerance
- Medium
- Regions
- Transition Zone, Northern US, Pacific Coast
Tall Fescue (Festuca arundinacea / Schedonorus arundinaceus) is the most adaptable cool-season turfgrass. It can survive summers that would kill Kentucky Bluegrass and winters that would kill Bermuda, making it the dominant grass in the Transition Zone (think Virginia, Tennessee, Kansas).
Best use: Home lawns in the Transition Zone and across the northern US. Good choice for areas with hot summers and mild winters.
Mowing: Keep at 3-4 inches, taller than most grasses. The extra leaf area helps it survive summer heat. Never cut below 2.5 inches.
Fertilizer: Moderate feeder, 2-3 lbs nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft per year. Fall is the most important feeding time.
Watering: Moderate need. More drought-tolerant than Kentucky Bluegrass but less than warm-season grasses.
Identification tip: Wide, ribbed blades. Newer "Turf Type Tall Fescue" (TTTF) varieties are finer-bladed and produce denser turf than older varieties.
More on Grass Types
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