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The grasses known as fescues are cool season grasses that grow
 from the transition zone, north into Canada as lawn and
pasture grass. Easy to establish from seed, the fescue species of grass
contains two sub-species Tall Fescue and Fine Fescue of which Seedland.com carries many different seed varieties.
Originally established for pasture usage, there are now many varieties of Fescue Grass Seed that have been developed for use in lawns which we discuss here. Please see our
Fescue Pasture
Grass page for information on using tall fescue grass for livestock grazing and hay. The
Tall Fescue grass species is a coarser bladed, dense clumping grass that grows well in shady areas. The Fine Fescues are fine, shorter fescue grass varieties named creeping red,
hard fescue, chewings fescue and sheep fescue. Click on the links or
scroll down to read about each fescue seed variety. All varieties of fescue grass have characteristics in common
with various seed and seed blends being developed that are more drought and disease resistant. Three of the most dominate common characteristics of all the fescues when properly
established are drought resistance, excellent shade tolerance, and they are green year round with the Fine Fescues being more cold tolerant than the Tall Fescues.
 Tall fescue varieties for lawns (turf type) have a finer texture than the traditional cultivars such as Kentucky 31 though not as fine textured as fine fescues.
Defiance XRE,
Summer Lawn,
Mowless,
Rebel Shady,
Greystone,
Pennington's Smart Seed are just a
few of the turf type Tall Fescue Seed sold by Seedland. Tall fescue seed are used
extensively in transition areas for the sowing of lawns, athletic fields such as baseball fields, play fields, polo fields, in commercial sites like hospitals, or any place a good, dense,
traffic resistant lawn is desired. Tall Fescue seed grow best in heavier soils with a lot of organic matter. This grass is more shade tolerant than most of the cool
season grasses of the north, grows well in the transition areas where cool season grasses won’t take the warmer climate and in the upper areas where the warm season grasses won’t tolerate
the cooler weather.
Red Fescue is a very fine bladed grass with a deep green color that
grows  and spreads by rhizomes
or creeping stems that grow sideways under ground. Red fescue seed (often called Creeping Red Fescue) is planted in cool, shaded areas as
this grass is very shade tolerant as opposed to other cool season grasses. Red fescue seed is often used in seed mixtures such as bluegrass to add shade tolerance to a lawn. Another desirable trait of creeping red fescue is that it requires low fertilization and low irrigation.
Seabreeze GT is a new creeping red cultivar called a slender creeping red fescue. When
compared to traditional creeping red fescues, 'Seabreeze GT' slender creeper features better overall turf quality that is less aggressive and less invasive. Seabreeze GT is also one of the
more salt tolerant varieties of slender creeping red fescue. McAlpin Red Fescue and
Lustrous Red Fescue are two of the improved variety creeping red fescue seeds
that Seedland sells in addition to common red fescue seed.
 Hard Fescue is indeed one of the "hardiest " of the fescue grass
species. This cool season fescue seed is often used in seed mixtures when shade tolerance and or low fertility soils are an issue. Hard Fescue grass grows best in the northern and higher
elevation areas of the USA, has a beautiful blue-green color and requires little if any mowing. Some of the more popular hard fescue grass seeds sold by Seedland are
Aurora Gold (good turf-grass),
Predator,
and Little
Bighorn.
Hard fescue grows in clumping formations and may not be mown as low as the other fescues, with optimum mowing occurring once a month at a height of 3 to 4 inches. If desired, hard fescue
can be left un-mown to form a 4 to 6 inch tall "carpet of grass" that is great for use on slopes, highway medians, and little used areas of parks. Hard fescue varieties are suitable for
use in lawns, golf course roughs and make an ideal conservation, erosion, and reclamation planting in areas not easily maintained. Hard Fescue grass is naturally salt tolerant.
Chewings Fescue is a bunch-type fescue
with an upright growth pattern that resembles
Tall Fescue grass while retaining the fine leaves of the fine fescues. Chewings Fescue seed sold by Seedland.com includes the
Shadow II and
Seven Seas varieties. Chewings Fescue is sometimes used to overseed shady lawns usually in lawn mixtures containing perennial ryegrass. Well adapted to sandy, acidic and infertile
soils, Chewings Fescue grows well in the cooler areas of the northern USA and Canada, the coastal regions of the Northeast, Pacific Northwest and other areas where summers are cool.
As all fescues do, chewings fescue grows well in the shade, is drought resistant, and blends well with almost any grass. Chewings fescue can be mown lower and prefers to grow on the more sandy soils of low fertility. Chewings fescue will germinate in about fourteen days. This fescue can be mown low at 1½
inches making it even more popular if grown alone or in mixtures. Chewings Fescue Grass Seed over-seeds well into other lawns for better diversity and problem solving.
Sheep's Fescue (Festuca ovina) grows as a bunch grass which is used for erosion control, meadow grass, soil improvement, drought tolerant lawns as well as ornamental uses
in landscaping and wildflower stands. Sheep Fescue is a a cool season perennial grass that has a blue-green color, grows to 16" tall and is densely tufted. Seedland.com sells
Sheep
Fescue Seed for the uses listed above, also sheep will use this variety of sheep's fescue to graze.
Sheep Fescue Grass is adapted to ND to WA and AK, south
to AZ and NM; introduced eastward to MI, ME, IL and SC.
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