Red Fescue / Chewings Fescue

Also known as chewings fescue, this is a fine leaved, tufted grass. It is distinguished from creeping red fescue by its absence of creeping rhizomes. It remains dark green throughout most of the season.

Uses

This is generally used in the amenity sector for lawn and landscape projects.

Persistence

A perennial species

Strengths

It forms a dense turf and is one of the main species used with bentgrass to form lawns but offers little forage benefits. Unlike other similar species, red fescue does not have the aggressive creeping habit of creeping red fescue. This means that it has less of a smothering effect in delicate mixtures.

Frost Tolerance

Good frost tolerance.

Yield

Not often sown as a pure stand

Sowing Rate Advice

80kg per acre / 200kg per ha

Mixture Sowing Rate Advice

Include at 1-3 kgs per acre / 2.5 - 7.5kgs per ha

Helps to fill in the base of the sward, especially in and around wild flowers, without taking over.

Ideal Sowing Time

Sow in warm soils, with adequate moisture.

Management

Occasional grazing or cutting will keep the plant leafy, a lack of management may cause it to become wiry and coarse, potentially being rejected by grazing livestock.

Distinguishing characteristics

Seed
A thin, narrow seed, with blunt points at either end. It is beige in colour, with a smooth texture. It is 5mm in length.

Flowering Plant
The culms form tufts, one of the most definitive characteristics is the young shoots growing upwards within the leaf sheaths The ligule is extremely short. Much less obvious creeping rhizomes, occasionally some surface runners. It grows from 15 - 80 cm tall.

Additional Info

Flowering from May - July. Average seeds per kg - 1,000,000. In traditional meadows red fescue can keep its green cover well when being cut and dried for hay.

Works well with

Other traditional, reasonably non aggressive grasses, like bentgrass, smaller cats tail and smooth meadow grass.

Buy Red Fescue / Chewings Fescue Straight

You can find Red Fescue / Chewings Fescue in the following mixtures

• Shady Lawn without ryegrass
• Low Maintenance without ryegrass
• Verge Mixture with ryegrass
• Golf Fairway & Cricket Outfield
• Golf Greens without ryegrass
• Golf Course Roughs Mixture
• Grass Tennis Court & Cricket Wicket
• Species Rich Parkland Grassland Low Maintenance
• Orchard Mixture
• Woodland Edge and Shady Area Mixture
• Acid & Clay Soil Mixture
• Damp Meadow
• Chalk & Limestone Soil Mixture
• Cotswold Wild Flora
• Pollen & Nectar Mix Grass & Legume Margin
• Buffer Strip Grass Margin (AHL3 & AHL4)
• Beetle Bank Tussocky Grass Margin 70% ORGANIC
• Beetle Bank & Tussocky Grass Margin (AHL3 & AHL4)
• Recreating Grassland