Looking Fine and Dandy

Until recently, fine fescues have, to some extent, been the forgotten stepchild in the turfgrass picture. Bluegrasses, ryegrasses and turf-type tall fescues have generated the most excitement in regards to breeding advancements and new varieties. But these popular cool-season species are now having to share the spotlight with fine fescues, particularly in New England, the Northeast and the Midwest where the attractiveness of this fine-leafed, bunch-type grass, its cold tolerance and, especially, its environmental plusses are boosting its popularity.

“The idea of looking at alternative grasses that use less fertilize and water is what we’re looking at,”said Wayne Horman, at the recent Scotts Professional Seed/Pure-Seed Testing Field Day in Rolesville, N.C. “These are attributes of fine fescues, along with their ability to survive and look good in moderate shade.”

Horman, national accounts manager for Scotts Professional Seed, said that golf course superintendents especially are getting the message, often taking out five to eight acres of other species and replacing them with fine fescues because of the savings to their fertilizer and water budgets.

“We’re going to try to take these grasses a step farther,” said Horman in regards to the breeding and selection program at the North Carolina research farm. “We’re going to try everything with them.”

Kevin Turner, who heads Scotts Professional Seed Oregon program, seconded Horman’s comments regarding fine fescue’s usefulness. “Fine fescue is an under-utilized grass,” he said.

“This is a grass that really wants to be left alone and ignored, and generally don’t like a lot of fertilizer, water or even a lot of maintenance,” added one of the visitors to the field day. “They don’t like a lot of fuss or attention.”

As an interesting side note to the field day, Dr. David Huff, associate professor of turfgrass breeding and genetics at Penn State University, remarked about the confusion surrounding the identification and marketing of the various types of fine fescues, generally broken down into creeping red, chewings, sheep and hard fescues.

“The taxonomists have been confused about this a long time,” said Huff, especially the confusion surrounding sheep fescue and hard fescue, a project he worked on when he was at Rutgers University.

Huff suggested renaming the types as blue hard fescue and American sheep fescue to tell them apart and to aid architects and others when they specify a particular type of fine fescue for a golf course or other landscaped project.