Tall Fescue

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) is very shade tolerant but will also tolerate full sun. In fact, Tall Fescue has the best drought tolerance of all Cool season lawn types. 

It has the widest leaf blade of the cool season varieties at 5-8mm. It is extremely frost tolerant and can grow in a range of pH’s, from 5-7.5 but grows best at 5.5-6.5.

It is tolerant to long rain periods. It’s method of spread is both by seed and rhizomes. I’s width of spread via rhizomes differs between cultivars but should not be compared to other spreading (stoloniferous) grasses. If bare areas exist it is best to reseed as opposed to allowing it to cover over.

It prefers mowing above 15mm.