Optimal Germination Temperature for Fine Fescue

Fine Fescue Types

• Creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra rubra) spreads by underground stems called rhizomes. You can sow it in shady areas that receive only two to four hours of sun each day. You can also mix it with perennial ryegrass, creeping bentgrass or bluegrass.

  Chewings fescue grass (F. rubra commutate) is a bunch grass that forms dense turf that you can mix with Kentucky bluegrass or perennial ryegrass for a lawns. It grows well in northern states, especially the coastal Northeast and Pacific Northwest where summers are cool.

  Hard fescue (F. trachyphylla) is the hardiest fine fescue and grows best in colder northern states and at high elevations. It grows in clumps, so it is slow to establish, but you can mix it with other fine fescues. Hard fescue is used for golf course roughs and lawns as well as to prevent soil erosion.

  Sheep's fescue (F. ovina) is fine fescue that grows in bunches up to 16 inches tall. Plant it to control erosion or as a meadow grass and for drought-tolerant lawns.

Best Germination Temperature

• You should plant fine fescue in the fall when the temperatures are 75 degrees Fahrenheit and dropping. Fine fescue germinates best in soil that has a temperature between 50 and 65 degrees F, a range that usually is found when the daytime air temperature is between 60 and 75 degrees F.

  If you plant your fine fescue in the spring, sow the seed when the temperature is 60 degrees F and rising.

  Planting fine fescue in the summer is not recommended because high temperatures can cause fescue to go dormant. Do not plant fine fescue when the temperature at night is above 70 degrees F.

Seeding Rates

• Sow 100 lbs. of Chewings fescue seed per acre in areas that you will not be mowing regularly. It should germinate in 14 days. Sow 225 lbs. of creeping red fescue per acre or 5 lbs. per 1,000 square feet. In areas that you will not be mowing regularly, sow 100 lbs. per acre or 1 to 3 lbs. per square foot. Sow hard fescue at the same rate as creeping red fescue.

Germination Rate

• Creeping red fescue should germinate in about 14 days. Chewings fescue, hard fescue and sheep's fescue should germinate in five to 15 days.