Creeping red fescue

What is creeping red fescue?

Creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra) is one of the fine fescues, a group of cool-season grasses with very thin blades. Purdue splits it into two types: strong creeping red, with thick, long rhizomes, and slender creeping red, with short, thin and fewer rhizomes.

It is a low-input grass. Creeping red fescue grass needs little nitrogen, takes shade and acidic or poor soil, and stays green in cool weather. Its rhizomes let it knit together and heal better than the bunch-type fine fescues such as Chewings, hard and sheep fescue.

It is not built for heat, humidity, wet soil or heavy play. Too much fertilizer hurts it more than it helps. Purdue says rates over 2 lb of nitrogen a year can lower quality, add thatch and invite weeds.

How to identify creeping red fescue

Pull up a few shoots and look closely where the leaf blade meets the stem. Here is what to check on creeping red fescue:

• Vernation: Folded in the bud.
• Ligule: Thin membrane, rounded, about 0.3 mm (0.01 in.) long.
• Auricles: None.
• Collar: Hard to see (indistinct).
• Leaf tip: Sharp and bristle-like, often with a whitish cast.
• Leaf blade: Very narrow and folded; veins usually not visible; dull underside; deep ridges on the inner surface.
• Sheath: Fused on young shoots (Purdue). Hard and sheep fescue have overlapping sheaths instead.
• Seedhead: Closed, coarse panicle (NC State, for the fine fescues).
• Growth habit: Spreads by rhizomes; the only fine fescue group with real rhizomes.

Where creeping red fescue is grown in the US

Creeping red fescue is the most common fine fescue in northern lawn seed. Purdue's 2018 survey of 232 retail lawn seed products in Indiana and Minnesota put the odds of finding strong creeping red fescue in a bag at 64 percent, the highest of any fine fescue. It is used in home lawns, shaded yards, business grounds, parks, golf roughs, roadsides and no-mow areas.

It shines where other lawn grasses struggle: shade, low fertility, acidic soil and dry ground. Penn State lists the fine fescues for low-care lawns and uses them in shade mixes with Kentucky bluegrass. The University of Minnesota names strong creeping red and Chewings as the fine fescues most tolerant of tree shade. UC IPM says red fescue does well at cool, shady mountain sites in California.

It does poorly in hot, humid weather and on wet soil. NC State says fine fescues belong in the North Carolina mountains, not the coastal plain. See our Pennsylvania grass seed guide for shade mixes.

Creeping red fescue pros and cons

Pros

• Excellent shade tolerance for a lawn grass
• Low nitrogen needs
• Handles drought, low pH and poor soil
• Rhizomes help it fill in and form sod
• Mixes well with Kentucky bluegrass
• Can be left unmowed in natural areas

Cons

• Weak in hot, humid weather
• Poor to fair traffic tolerance (strong creeping type)
• Can build thatch
• Dislikes poorly drained soil and high fertilizer
• Gets red thread, summer patch and dollar spot

Grasses that look like creeping red fescue

How and when to plant creeping red fescue

Ways to plant: Seed or sod. Purdue says its rhizomes give a sod that holds together much like Kentucky bluegrass.

Seeding rate: 4 to 6 lb per 1,000 sq ft (Purdue). For no-mow natural areas Purdue uses only 0.25 to 1 lb.

Germination: 5 to 12 days (Purdue).

When to plant: Late July to late September is best; mid-March to mid-April is second best (Purdue).

Seeding dates change from state to state. See when to plant grass seed by state, or our Pennsylvania grass seed guide if you are in PA.

How to care for creeping red fescue

Mowing: Keep it at 2.5 to 4 in. and never under 2 in. Raise it 0.5 to 1 in. more in shade. Never cut off more than one-third of the blade, and do not mow when the lawn is drought-stressed (Purdue).

Watering: Established lawns seldom need water in spring or fall. If you water in summer, give about 1 in. a week in deep, spaced-out soakings that wet the top 4 to 6 in. of soil (Purdue).

Fertilizing: Use 0.5 to 2 lb of nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft per year in one or two feedings. Fall (September to October) is best, spring second. Skip June through August (Purdue).

Nitrogen per year: Under 2 lb N per 1,000 sq ft per year (Purdue); Penn State says 1 to 2 lb.

Overseeding: Seed late July to late September. Penn State shade mixes use 40 to 50 percent fine fescues with Kentucky bluegrass and some perennial ryegrass at 4 lb per 1,000 sq ft, or fine fescues alone at 4 to 5 lb.

Thatch: Its rhizomes can build thatch; Purdue says thatch removal may be needed every 2 to 4 years.

Common creeping red fescue problems

If a pesticide is needed, use only products labeled for that use; the label is the law. If you hire someone to treat a lawn, make sure they hold your state’s pesticide applicator license; see our pesticide applicator license guide. To put a name to a lawn weed, use our weed identification guide.

Questions we get about creeping red fescue

Similar lawn grasses

Tall fescueLolium arundinaceumChewings fescueFestuca rubra subsp. commutataHard fescueFestuca brevipila