Hard fescue

What is hard fescue?

Hard fescue (Festuca brevipila, sold for years as Festuca longifolia) is one of the five fine fescues used for turf. It is a bunch grass with very thin blades, heavy roots and a semi-upright habit (UC IPM).

Hard fescue grass is built for low input. Purdue rates its drought resistance excellent and asks for less than 1 lb of nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft a year. It resists dollar spot and red thread better than most fine fescues and has good snow mold resistance.

The catch is patience. Seed takes 7 to 14 days to sprout and the stand fills in slowly. Once hurt badly, it recovers poorly, and it fades in hot summers.

How to identify hard fescue

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

• Vernation: Folded in the bud.
• Ligule: Thin membrane, very short, about 0.3 mm (0.01 in.) for fine fescues.
• Auricles: None.
• Leaf tip: Sharp and bristle-like.
• Leaf blade: Very fine, narrow and folded; veins usually not visible.
• Sheath: Overlapping on young shoots, not fused (Purdue). Creeping red and Chewings fescue have fused sheaths.
• Seedhead: Closed, coarse panicle (NC State, for the fine fescues).
• Growth habit: Bunch-type with a semi-upright habit and heavy roots (UC IPM).

Where hard fescue is grown in the US

Hard fescue is a low-input grass for lawns and rough areas that get little care. Purdue lists home lawns, shaded sites, golf course tall rough, parks, roadsides and no-mow areas. Purdue's 2018 survey of 232 retail lawn seed products in Indiana and Minnesota put the odds of finding it in a bag at 7 percent.

It fits dry, sandy, well-drained ground with very little fertilizer. UC IPM says it is often added to seed mixes where shade is expected and is used unmowed on slopes, median strips and unused park areas. Penn State notes it tolerates low fertility and drought and is dark green and dense once it fills in. The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science calls it one of the best species for low-care areas and roadsides and notes that PennDOT uses a roadside mix of 60 percent red fescue and 40 percent hard fescue on roadsides that are mowed only once or not at all.

Its weak spot is the start. Penn State calls slow germination and establishment its main drawback. It also does not like high summer heat (UC IPM). See our Pennsylvania grass seed guide for low-care mixes.

Hard fescue pros and cons

Pros

• Excellent drought resistance
• Very low nitrogen needs
• Good dollar spot, red thread and snow mold resistance (Purdue)
• Good shade tolerance
• Works as an unmowed cover on slopes and rough areas

Cons

• Slow to germinate and fill in
• Poor recovery from severe injury
• Fades in high summer heat
• Only fair tolerance of close mowing
• Poor sod; does not spread
• Poor to fair summer patch resistance (Purdue)
• Poor leaf spot resistance in some varieties (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science)

Grasses that look like hard fescue

How and when to plant hard fescue

Ways to plant: Seed. Purdue rates its sod potential poor because bunch-type growth makes weak sod.

Seeding rate: 3 to 6 lb per 1,000 sq ft (Purdue). For no-mow natural areas Purdue uses only 0.25 to 1 lb.

Germination: 7 to 14 days (Purdue). Slow to establish (Penn State, Purdue).

When to plant: Late July to early 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 hard fescue

Mowing: Keep lawns at 2.5 to 4 in., 0.5 to 1 in. higher in shade, and never take more than one-third of the blade. Do not mow when drought-stressed (Purdue). On low-care roadside-type areas, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science says about two mowings a year (late spring and fall) can be enough, and to avoid mowing it while it is dormant in summer.

Watering: Established lawns seldom need water in spring or fall. In summer, if you water, give about 1 in. a week in deep, spaced-out soakings (Purdue). Purdue says hard fescue prefers well-drained, droughty, sandy soil.

Fertilizing: Keep nitrogen under 1 lb per 1,000 sq ft per year (Purdue). During establishment, Purdue says hard and sheep fescue gain the most from 0.5 to 1 lb of nitrogen in the first 30 to 90 days.

Nitrogen per year: Under 1 lb N per 1,000 sq ft per year (Purdue).

Overseeding: Seed late July to early September at 3 to 6 lb per 1,000 sq ft (Purdue). Expect slow fill-in.

Thatch: Lower thatch potential than the creeping red fescues because it is a bunch grass (Purdue). Penn State notes fine fescues as a group can build thatch.

Common hard 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 hard fescue

Similar lawn grasses

Chewings fescueFestuca rubra subsp. commutataCreeping red fescueFestuca rubraTall fescueLolium arundinaceum