Festuca mairei, also known as Atlas Fescue or Moroccan Fescue, is a long-lived evergreen clumping grass that forms fountain-like mounds up to 24-36 inches tall and wide. It is cold hardy to below 0° F and can be used as a large scale groundcover, lawn substitute, and for erosion control. The Atlas fescue is a clumping species with bright green foliage that grows into 24-30 inch diameter mounds. Inflorescences develop in late spring and persist into fall, and its long and flexible leaf blades are resistant to heat and verticillium wilt.
Ideal conditions for Festuca mairei include full sun or part shade, moist, well-drained soil, and occasional watering. It is not fussy about soils and is heat tolerant. The grass grows up to three feet high and wide, with white flowers blooming in the summer. It thrives in full sun or part shade and is drought-tolerant once established.
Plant care for Festuca mairei includes cutting untidy foliage and spent flower stalks (optional), dividing and replanting in spring, and planting early in spring in sun on poor, well-drained soil. This grass is best used in small groups or in areas with limited sunlight.
To help select the right plant for your garden, Growing Zones are assigned to indicate where a plant can be successfully grown. Festuca mairei thrives in full sun or part shade in a well-drained soil with occasional to regular irrigation. It is fairly drought-tolerant when established but looks best with regular water.
In summary, Festuca mairei is a durable, long-lived grass that forms graceful arched mounds and provides good erosion control when planted on steep banks and rough terrain. It is suitable for massing, meadows, slopes, and adding texture to borders.
📹 How to maintain – Festuca
Keep updated : http://www.gardenonaroll.com https://www.instagram.com/gardenonaroll https://twitter.com/gardenonaroll …
What is a companion plant to blue fescue?
This autumnal grass combination evokes a beach-like ambience when combined with fresh white heliotrope and sweet alyssum, with the nearby pea gravel punctuated by blue sea glass. The blue fescue (Festuca glauca ‘Elijah Blue’, Zones 4–8) and the sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima ‘New Carpet of Snow’) provide a subtle yet distinctive contrast, evoking the hue of the fescue through their subtle variations in hue and texture.
Does Festuca like sun or shade?
Festuca glauca is a plant that thrives in full sun in well-drained, dry to medium soil. It can tolerate light shade but its best color is in full sun. The clumps tend to die out, requiring replanting or replacement. Foliage should be cut back to 4 inches in spring or after hot summers for new growth. Planting specimens close together is recommended as weeds may grow in between, requiring more maintenance.
How long does it take for fescue to establish?
Post-planting care for tall fescue grass requires consistent moisture for germination and establishment. Irrigate newly seeded areas frequently, ensuring the top 1 inch of soil remains moist. As seedlings grow, water deeper and less often until the lawn reaches its norm. Let new tall fescue grow about 4 1/2 inches tall before mowing, removing one-third of the leaf blade at a time. Mow as needed to maintain a recommended height of 3 to 4 inches.
Avoid weed control products until mowing at least three times. Protect new fescue lawns against heavy foot traffic, including children and pets, as the seed becomes fully established during its first growing season.
Does blue fescue grass come back every year?
Blue Fescue Grass is a semi-evergreen perennial that returns annually in zones 4 through 8, but it is short-lived and requires clump division every few years for attractive coloration and shape. It is suitable for perennial beds, borders, ground cover, moist rain gardens, and drought-prone rock gardens. Blue fescue grows up to 12 inches tall and has a unique color and fine feathery foliage that shines in the spring and fall. In summer, it turns deeper blue-green, providing a verdant backdrop for other plants.
Even in snow, its upright foliage and fluffy inflorescences add winter interest to your landscape with minimal maintenance. It is an easygoing ornamental grass that can complement your perennial landscape.
Where is the best place to plant blue fescue?
Blue fescue is a clumping grass that grows best in full sun, preferring moist, well-drained soil. It is tolerant of a wide range of conditions, but its blue color will not develop as well in partial shade. It can be short-lived in wet soils and areas with high humidity and temperatures. To ensure new growth emerges, plants should be sheared back in early spring to 3-4 inches. As the clumps age, the center tends to become crowded and may die, so plants should be dug and divided every 2-3 years.
Blue fescue does not have significant insect or disease problems and is tolerant of salt spray in the winter. Deer and rabbits may graze the foliage. It can be grown from seed or clump divisions taken in early spring. There are several cultivars of this species, including ‘Elijah Blue’, ‘Sea Urchin’, and ‘Boulder Blue’. ‘Elijah Blue’ is the most common, with silvery or sky-blue foliage in spring and longer persistence of the blue color. Sea Urchin is a compact selection with bright steel blue foliage, while ‘Boulder Blue’ is more stiff and upright with slate blue leaves and more tolerant of heat and humidity.
How to keep blue fescue looking good?
In order to maintain an aesthetically pleasing appearance, it is recommended that foliage be trimmed in March or April. It is recommended that the plant be planted in full sun to partial shade in well-drained soil, as it is drought-tolerant and is capable of growing in hardiness zones 4 and above.
How do you maintain Festuca grass?
To maintain a healthy fescue lawn, mowing it at a height of 2. 5-3. 5 inches during the fall is recommended. Watering it with 1-1. 25 inches of water weekly, including rainfall and supplemental irrigation, is crucial. Fertilization, weed control, insect control, and fungus control are also essential. If fescue has experienced past diseases or has a lot of shade, a systemic fungicide can be applied to prevent future outbreaks.
How often should I water blue fescue?
Blue Fescue plants need 0. 8 cups of water every 9 days when they don’t get direct sunlight and are potted in a 5. 0″ pot. They need 0. 5 cups of water every 9 days when they don’t get direct sunlight and are potted in a 5″ pot. To personalize watering recommendations, use our water calculator or download Greg for advanced recommendations. Blue Fescue thrive near bright, sunny windows.
Should blue fescue be cut back in summer?
Blue fescue grass, a semi-evergreen deciduous/evergreen plant, turns brown in colder climates and is often left standing to protect its roots. It can be comb-through in late winter to remove last year’s foliage, and if cut back, remove it within a few inches from the ground in early spring. The icy blue blades of this clumping ornamental grass are a must-have for any landscape, and its buff-colored flowers in summer make it a perfect contrasting piece for any space. It is an excellent choice for mass planting or edging out a border. Arbor Valley Nursery can help secure this ornamental grass for your landscape.
The plant has special features such as clumping, dense habit, dramatic foliage color, easy care, extreme cold hardiness, tolerance for poor soils, waterwise growth, and tolerance for urban pollution. It is often planted near rock gardens, around landscape boulders, and in dry streambeds. It can be used as a formal edging plant or in a mass for groundcover effect. Companion plants include Echinacea, Santolina, Alchemilla, Pennisetum, Stachys byzantina, and Stipa tenuissima.
What’s the best month to plant fescue?
The optimal period for planting fall fescues is between mid-August and mid-October, when the mean outdoor temperature is between 70° and 75°F. This timing allows for the reduction of heat, stress, and disease exposure for young seeds.
Where is the best place to plant blue grass?
Festuca glauca is a drought-resistant, true blue dwarf grass with stiff thread-like foliage. In the summer months, the plant produces dense tussocks with steel-blue flower heads. This species is well-suited for cultivation in rock gardens and container displays. It exhibits optimal growth when planted in well-drained soil in full sun. It is recommended that any dead foliage be removed during the winter months. Festuca has no documented value to wildlife in the United Kingdom.
📹 PETITTI A Guide to Perennial Ornamental Grasses | 10 Types to Grow
Planting Ornamental Grasses is a fantastic way to add color and texture to the perennial landscape. They’re low-maintenance, …
Thanks for sharing! Your article was very helpful! I’m in the states (NY) and I’ve just planted some Blue Fescue out in our new landscaping (It’s currently mid – October). The plants I have are not full grown yet, maybe 8 or 9 inches round, and I don’t expect anything new from them until the spring, but I was wondering if you ever cut them back to a couple of inches in anticipation of spring’s new growth? Does the new growth just mix in with the old growth with all of it turning the same color, or can you still differentiate old growth from new growth in the summer months? Thanks for any feedback, and thanks again for the article!
Ohhh, I need that panicum ‘Hot Rod’ !! … lovely form and colors! Panicum ‘Prairie Fire’ is very good, blueish foliage that gets nicely painted in reds and purples, it’s much better than the similarly named ‘Prairie Flame’. ‘Blackhawks’ is stunning, I keep dividing and placing more and more around the place, the divisions I set in August had turned lovely reddish purple! Miscanthus ‘Fire Dragon’ is new to me this year, has nice cascading foliage of thin fine blades. I NEED ‘Morning Light’ been considering that one!
Good article to learn about the different types of grasses. She gave the height on all of them but didn’t give the width. That would have been something we should know, so we could know if they fit in the space we want to plant it. I looked at a plant tag for Octoberfest, and it said up to five feet wide which is huge and up to 7 feet tall.
I have two kinds. Chinese fountain grass. As tall as my 2nd story window. I have left it up through winter and the sparrows look so cute landing on the tops and bouncing up and down. They look gorgeous with the sun shining on them. I have tried to cut them in the spring but this type is SO stiff. I get leg scars every year. I have used hedge trimmers but that is difficult too on this type. 2nd type is red head. It gets long fuzzy purple bottle brush plumes, but spreads and pops up all over my yard. My flower garden is constantly being covered by the long leaf blades. Anything new I plant gets shaded by the long grass blades and I have to cut it back.
😊First of all thank you so much for explaining these grasses will they get in my St Augustine grass my Daddy plugged the yard with St Augustine and it really loves it here. It’s absolutely gorgeous and no I’m not bragging I’m thankful. I want to naturalize some areas but I do not want it jumping into my St Augustine so far so good but it’s going all over the place in the front yard and the backyard it’s very beautiful one has a pink purple color to it in the fall and the others are like a corkscrew grass. And the blue Grass some I don’t know what they are so I really appreciate the information I greatly appreciate it and yes ma’am I did subscribe😊