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Fescue Festuca - Reliable Lawn Grass - Most Common
Fescue Festuca - Reliable Lawn Grass - Most Common

Video: Fescue Festuca - Reliable Lawn Grass - Most Common

Video: Fescue Festuca - Reliable Lawn Grass - Most Common
Video: Is Tall Fescue The Best Cool Season Grass Type? 2024, March
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Robust, trample-resistant lawn grass

Many articles and even books have been written about lawn grasses. The art of their selection and caring for them is not so complicated as it might seem at first glance, but there are still some subtleties here. Let's talk about this. Imagine a typical suburban landscape: summer, bright sun and no less bright flowers, the smell of herbs, flavored with the aromas of a warm and gentle river … And here is the city landscape: heat, dust and stuffiness, crowded cars and trampled lawns. Lonely yellowed blades of grass hid in the cracks … This picture is common for June, but summer has just begun …

fescue
fescue

The infrastructure of the city, which is so radically different from the rural one, is replete with a lot of asphalt, which covers most of the land area, but a child who grew up among asphalt simply needs to walk on the grass - silk and soft, blue from the morning dew or warmed by the midday sun, inhale the smell of blooming ears … But usually in parks, even with areas of live grass, walking on it is strictly prohibited. But you can avoid these prohibitions by choosing an assortment of plants that will suffer the least from walking on them.

The most suitable for these purposes are perennial turf grains - fescue, bent grass, chaff, etc. They form a fairly dense cover, resistant to trampling and soil compaction, drought, and atmospheric pollution. Among this small set of tenacious herbs, fescue stands alone, on the features of which we will dwell in more detail:

The name - fescue (Festuca) - is ancient Roman and reflects the name of the species of this genus.

Fescue is a perennial plant growing to a height of 140 centimeters, with or without creeping rhizomes. The leaf blades range from rather wide and linear to very narrow, folded lengthwise. Panicles are usually slightly spreading, reaching a length of twenty centimeters.

This genus has more than 150 species, they differ in both distribution and adaptability to growing conditions. This plant is widespread in almost all extratropical zones of the globe, it grows even in the highlands of the tropical zone.

The genus Festuca encompasses many species of different appearance, some of which are used as lawn plants. These species form cushions that are very resistant to trampling, dust and burning in cities and to a lack of moisture. Here is a description of these types:

Amethyst fescue- grows in natural conditions in the mountains of Central Europe and in the Caucasus. This is a large blue fescue, forming a nice rounded bump, together with flowers, it reaches a height of 60 centimeters. This fescue is very interesting for its round, needle-like leaves of a very pleasant texture. It is an evergreen plant with blue-green leaves. Flowers that bloom in June and rise on thin stems high above the leaves also look very impressive. Its flower panicles are greenish-purple. Fescue is quite resistant to negative temperatures, in cold winters the leaves can freeze out, but they recover quickly enough. Amethyst fescue is quite demanding and grows best in well-drained and well-lit soils for most of the day. In addition to lawn purpose, it is also good as an accent in the foreground of the composition. Reproduces surprisingly well by seed.

Valissian fescue or fescue
Valissian fescue or fescue

Valissian fescue or fescue … One of the most characteristic plants of the Russian steppes. It is ubiquitous in chernozem regions and to the north - on dry manes of flooded meadows. It is a densely soddy perennial with gray-green leaves covered with a waxy bloom. The stems are very thin, much shorter than the stem, they are rough on the outside and stick up vertically. It usually blooms in May-June. Valissian fescue loves sunny dry places and humus-sandy soils, is more relaxed about excess moisture than most lawn grasses. This is a fairly durable plant, in one place it can grow up to five years. Propagated either by dividing the bush or by seeds. It can be successfully used in the garden as a lawn plant, besides, the advantage of this fescue is its good compatibility with many plants, especially roses, it emphasizes their beauty.

Prickly fescue
Prickly fescue

Prickly fescue is a beautiful silvery-green lawn perennial herb with thin, graceful, but resilient and thorny leaves, reaching 15 centimeters in height. It blooms in June-July. Thorny fescue is extremely decorative and, in addition to being used as a lawn grass, is suitable even for small rock gardens.

Glacial fescue originates from the Pyrenees and is a small plant reaching a height of 30 centimeters and forming bluish hemispherical cushions at the borders of glaciers. It is well suited for both lawns and rock gardens. Glacial fescue occasionally freezes in snowless winters, but quickly recovers. It multiplies by dividing bushes and sowing seeds.

Panicled fescue
Panicled fescue

Panicle fescue, like glacial fescue, is native to the Pyrenees. It is a very short perennial plant with light green graceful leaves reaching a height of eight centimeters. Blooms in June. With prolonged cultivation in one place, over time forms large cushion thickets. Sunny places are suitable for panicle fescue, although this species tolerates shading well.

Sheep fescue- natural habitat - Western Europe, the north of the European part of Russia, Ukraine, the Volga region, Western Siberia. It is a friable plant with thin, triangular stems on top. The leaves are long, bristly, thin, often sinuous. The panicle is rather loose, oblong with deflected branches, often drooping. Spikelets are light green. This type of fescue is indispensable as a lawn plant for dry and nutrient-poor soils, as well as for sandy areas, when fertilized, it forms a powerful dense lawn. In addition, sheep fescue can be used for curbs in large flower beds, paths and near water, where, thanks to its powerful root system, it penetrates deep into the soil. This is a very good view, as it tolerates strong trampling and mowing up to a height of 3.5 centimeters. Sheep fescue tolerates partial shade and grows well under tall trees, such as pines. As for dry sandy soils, it must be grown in a mixture with red fescue.

So, we have described the properties and the most suitable types of fescue, but when arranging a lawn, it must be remembered that adult plants have all the wonderful properties described on a bag of lawn grass seeds. And young seedlings and seedlings simply need good care. Seeds should be sown in good, freshly dug soil with added humus or peat. And then provide them with mandatory watering and shelter from the sun for several days.

Plants that have to live in the most difficult conditions of the site must at first be sure to provide regular watering and more intensive feeding. As for fertilizers, this problem can be solved by burying the fallen tree leaves in the fall on the site. It is also possible to solve the problem of watering, for this you can take old, outdated water pipes and connect them into a single whole. One end of the resulting "system" is connected to the water supply network, and the other is tightly plugged. In this case, cracks cannot be avoided, and in places where moisture leaks will be quite enough to ensure watering for the grass. And, most importantly, in the first weeks of life, it is very desirable to rid young plants of mechanical stress, and then the green lawn will adorn your garden for many years.

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