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Blue Fescue as ground cover
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Posted by jenn 9/19 (My Page) on Fri, Nov 6, 09 at 21:30
| We're entertaining the idea of using Blue Fescue as a ground cover on a sunny south-facing slope (clay soil). We have hot dry summers (upper-90s). As a cool-season plant, how does it do in summer with regular water? Does it need occasional mowing or other maintenance to keep it neat?
Any comments would be appreciated. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Blue Fescue as ground cover
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I had it in as a border but tore it out cuz wasn't getting enough water. Trim it back in later winter for fresh new growth in spring. It does flower if you consider the yellowish spikes flowers. I don't think you could really mow it, but very careful use of a string trimmer might work. You also would have to clean up the cuttings or mess.
But its not really a ground cover, its grows more in clumps. I have seen it where it appeared never trimmed and wasn't that nice looking when huge. |
RE: Blue Fescue as ground cover
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| Yes, it really is more of a clumper. It doesn't run and looks nicer (IMO) as accents around boulders/other plantings/etc. Carex pansa, although not blue, is a native runner that makes a nice "meadow effect". |
RE: Blue Fescue as ground cover
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| I am gradually filling a spot with blue fescue and so far am happy with the look. I am interspersing it with other grasses and grass like plants. The space is shaped to avoid treading on the plants and any needed trimming will be easy. This is part of a larger area that has been taken out of lawn. My goal is to remove the major part of my lawn areas, devoting more area to paths and shrub plantings. Al |
RE: Blue Fescue as ground cover
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| Our downtown post office used it in mass 5 years ago and now it's looking unkempt. Mine did the same with age. Lots of dead foliage underneath. |
RE: Blue Fescue as ground cover
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| I am pulling the dead foliage out from underneath to avoid the scruffy look. It only takes a couple of pulls per clump. Al |
RE: Blue Fescue as ground cover
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| I like blue fescue as a "ground cover", even though it really doesn't spread per se. Planted tightly, it looks pretty darn good. But you need to know that there are a few species and cultivars of "blue fescue". The most common one available is Festuca ovinca glauca, a European species and THE blue fescue. It's short lived and gets to looking pretty sad in a couple of years. But in California, we do best with Festuca californica and Festuca idahoensis. My two favorites are Festuca idahoensis 'Siskyou Blue' and Festuca californica 'Serpentine Blue'. Both MUCH better than glauca. Joe |
RE: Blue Fescue as ground cover
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| Festuca idahoensis 'Siskiyou Blue' is actually a three-way hybrid between the native Festuca idahoensis and the hybrid Festuca ovina x glauca (two non-native species). The resulting 'Siskiyou Blue' is very, very blue. In the Central Valley, it tends to turn brown and sickly by the end of summer (where it is well over 100 degrees regularly), at least when it doesn't get much water. But it should do much better in areas with summers in the upper 90s, especially with regular water. |
RE: Blue Fescue as ground cover
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| qbc: I'm curious. I've read a lot about Festuca 'Siskiyou Blue' and it does seem possible that it's a hybrid at some level. But that's what I read: "possible", "perhaps" and the like. Supposedly it's from the Berkeley Botanical Garden and they theorize that it MIGHT be a hybrid of F. idahoensis and F. ovina/glauca. They did not intentionally create it. Nor, evidently, did anyone else. As far as F. ovina and/or glauca go, I have yet to read anything that states they are DEFINITELY two species. Where did you get your "actually"? I need to change some papers if there's providence. Joe |
RE: Blue Fescue as ground cover
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- Posted by jenn 9/19 (My Page) on
Mon, Nov 9, 09 at 22:07
| Thanks everyone, I appreciate the input. Hmmm... I love the look of F. california and F. idahoensis, but I think they are too tall to be planted en mass in this area. Perhaps I am just not familiar with it grown that way and I need to see some pictures. Also, I still see them recommended for partial shade, and one site recommends just sprinking the leaves in summer but not irrigating the soil. |
RE: Blue Fescue as ground cover
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| Joe: You're right. Thank you for correcting me; I learned a lot from searching for more information about it just now. The parentage of Festuca 'Siskiyou Blue' seems to be much more up in the air than I had realized. I have seen F. 'Siskiyou Blue' listed as a cultivar of F. glauca nearly as often as I've seen it listed as a cultivar of F. idahoensis, and I've certainly seen people assert that it's a hybrid of the two plenty of times, but I have no proof that it actually is. I had never heard of Festuca ovina var. glauca before, and had only seen F. ovina and F. glauca referred to as separate, seemingly not closely related species (e.g., Wikipedia treats them as separate species and does not mention them on each other's pages), so I thought they had been hybridized. But it is now clear to me that if F. 'Siskiyou Blue' is of the hybrid parentage it is commonly asserted to be, then the parent other than F. idahoensis would be the single, non-hybrid species F. ovina var. glauca. |
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