Grasses - Fescue

Plant family

Grass family (Poaceae)

Cultivation Break

Season Overview

Details

Light requirement

Sunny

Water requirement

Dry

Soil

Light (sandy)

Nutrient requirement

Low

Light germinator

Germination temperature

15 - 20 °C (Degrees Celsius)

Plant distance

20 cm

Row spacing

30 cm

Seeding depth

0.2 cm

Instructions

Description

Fescue (bot. Festuca) belongs to the sweet grass family, which also includes all cereals, sugar cane and bamboo. Like most members of this plant family, they are herbaceous and have a round, hollow stem (culm). So-called nodes (nodes) divide it into sections. Fescue grasses are panicle grasses. The genus is represented worldwide with a total of around 650 species. The typical border planting grasses take hold even on rocky ground and are a decorative eye-catcher in any garden. They thrive reliably, are ground cover, solitary plants and container dwellers. They thrive in normal garden soil or poor sandy soil. Distribution This extremely hardy species is found all over the world. It is native to various mountain regions. Endemic to rocky ground, the undemanding genus Festuca is found in many mountains in Europe, Turkey, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Siberia. Growth Grass plants of the genus Festuca grow into dense, cushion-like tufts or a dense, lush green carpet of individual grasses. The respective growth heights of Festuca plants range from a few centimetres to half a meter. Some tufted specimens grow up to one meter in width. The plants are small, medium green, blue-green to steel blue and are ideal for creating interesting color contrasts in the garden. Leaves The leaves of this genus from the true grass family are arranged in two parts. Each of the elongated, parallel-veined leaves of the fescue encloses the stem in the form of a leaf sheath. This grows from the base upwards from the so-called grass node. The surface of the leaf is lanceolate and smooth-edged. Leaf colors range from green to blue-green to steel blue. At the front, the leaf margins are lanceolate. The leaf sheath is mostly open. Flowering Festuca plants produce loosely branched, pale inflorescences in summer in the form of so-called panicles. These flowers hang from their own tall stems. They are oval and pointed. The spikelet panicle is a cluster of several individual flowers, called spikelets, which form a bushy overall flower when standing together. Each individual spikelet is roundish and pointed, hermaphrodite and covered with glumes: From the inside to the outside there are glumes, lemmas and pronotum. There are awns at the tip of the spike. The cavernous bodies (lodiculae) at the base cause the glumes to open for fertilization. Pollination is carried out by the wind (anemophily), a typical characteristic of the monocotyledonous family. Fruit The fruit of fescue plants is called a caryopsis. It develops from an ovule after fertilization. The seed coat fuses with the pericarp during the ripening process. The result is a closed fruit. The seedling clings to the ground with a special shield-shaped suction organ after leaving the fruit stand. Location Fescue is a typical plant in heath and rock garden communities. They are hardy. Some varieties grow together on poor soil to form a perennial ground cover. Plants of this genus have low demands on the soil. It is recommended to place them in a full sun location. Airy stony, sandy or chalky soils offer ideal conditions for these representatives of the grass family. Use Whether in the heather garden, rock garden, as cemetery greenery, roof plant or ground cover: the robust grass plants of the fescue family make an impression as a decorative element. Due to their robust nature, Festuca species are popular in rock gardens, as ground cover and for planting on slopes. They are suitable as joint fillers next to and on stone, gravel and park paths in green spaces. They are also a popular component of lawn seed mixtures. With their dense growth, they ensure a gapless, resistant turf. Another use is to create a moss-like, grass-green and continuous green carpet in the rock garden. When planted in a tub, this popular ornamental grass is best overwintered indoors. This is particularly advantageous in cooler regions where ground frost persists for a long time in spring. Most grasses of this genus do not require any winter protection. Due to its low water and nutrient requirements, it is easy to care for in a large pot.

Growing tips

🌞 Location & soil - Full sun, warm, airy locations - Fescue grows on rocky, open regions - Ideal for rock gardens, gravel beds, dry stone walls, roof gardens or sunny slopes - Wind-tolerant - Mineral, loose, gravelly, sandy, stony, well-drained - Low in nutrients, sparse, low in humus - Dry to fresh, never permanently moist - Usually slightly acidic to slightly alkaline (pH 5.5-7.5), lime-tolerant 🌱 Sowing & planting - Direct sowing: April-May / September - Substrate: lean, loose, fine, sandy, slightly moist - Germination temperature: 15-20 °C - Germination period: 10-20 days - Sowing depth: 0.2 cm (light germinator) - Planting distance: 20-30 cm - Propagation: Division in spring or fall 💧 Care - Watering: very little, only in case of prolonged drought or new planting, no waterlogging - Fertilization: not necessary, rather harmful - In spring (February-March) comb out old foliage, remove brown parts, no radical pruning 🌿 Good neighbors - Sedum, sempervivum, lavender, thyme, mugwort, coneflower, gaura - Heather, broom, cinquefoil, grass clove, yarrow, woolly cicely, rosemary - Limb herbs, catmint, steppe sage, bellflower, lady's mantle 🚫 Bad neighbors - Ivy, goutweed, periwinkle, Waldsteinia - Bamboo, Japanese knotweed, mint - Dahlias, delphiniums, sunflowers, pipe grass, horsetail - Ferns, funkia, Caucasian forget-me-not, foam flower, fairy flower - Lungwort, geraniums, purple bellflower, bergenia, marsh marigold - Astilbe, hellebore, forest grasses, ostrich fern, honeysuckle, saxifrage, ligularia - Roses, peonies, hydrangeas, rhododendrons, blueberries 🍂 Diseases - Fungal infections - Helminthosporium leaf spot - Rust - Root rot 🐌 Pests - Aphids - Voles, field mice - Caterpillars