Fine Fescue Comparison: Creeping Red vs Hard, Chewings, & Sheep Grass Types

In this video I wanted to feature Creeping Red fescue and compare it to the other fine fescues because it is more different to them than the others are different from each other.
Creeping Red will be getting a small patch in my yard this fall, all to itself, so I wanted to introduce the concept of why.
The weather really altered my plans for this video so in future vids I'll cover some of the landscaping reasons for me wanting to plant this grass type and where in my lawn.
In the mean time make sure to see these previous videos all about fescue at different stages of it's lifecycle:
► Fescue In Winter: • What Fescue Grass Look...
► Fescue Root Systems: • Root System of Fescue ...
► All About Sheep Fescue : • Fine Sheep Fescue is a...
► Fine Fescue vs Tall Fescue: • Fine Fescue vs Tall Fe...
► Summer Lawn Prep: • Summer Lawn Prep Start...
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[@TurfMechanic]

►►► Want to fix your lawn for the long haul but don't know where to start? I can help! Click here right now and get started today: turfmech.link/dont-know-where-to-start ◄◄◄

[@jaymetheaccountant]

I've had really good looking with the creeping red fescue in a damp shaded area of my yard that flooded out last year due to an uncooperative neighbor. The color is brilliant and actually doing well in a drought - limited irrigation and less than 2 hours of sun each day. Thanks for the great content Brian!

[@Mark300win]

Creeping red fescue is so underrated! Its the best grass out there

[@growingwithgreg9321]

Fine fescues are super underrated. It's a perfect addition to KBG. The fine fescues will do great in shady and/or dry sites while the KBG will do better in sunny and moist sites. Where there is traffic, fine fescues will do poorly like you mentioned and the KBG will fill in those areas. I'm trying for a 75% KBG and 25% fine fescue turf stand. Fine fescues are also great at reducing weeds and are not susceptible to snow mold as much as TTTF and other species. Glad you are mentioned these grasses in your videos as no other youtuber is.

[@TurfMechanic]

I appreciate this comment a lot Greg! I try my best to stay as educated as possible and spread helpful info even if that info isn't sexy or common. Personally I'm looking forward to installing a 100% fine fescue section to my lawn this fall; just a small section but the spot is perfect for it. Hope a few people like yourself find it to be good fodder for the channel.

[@Ron_Boy]

@@TurfMechanic I really appreciate the info in this video, Brian. I really, really like the idea of blending KBG with the creeping red fescues , because they both spread with rhizomes, there is a nice fast/slow germination of the blend, and the ability of the KBG to handle high traffic, while the fescue will hold its color over the winter. I'm eager to see what I can do with my yard next season. I live south of Boston and near the coast, and the KBG/Red Fescue combo sounds like the perfect answer for my yard.

[@pc0086]

Very interesting to watch and learn from you, especially there are not a lot of videos on KZbin about grasses😂. We are building a new home, and don't wanna do tall fescue grasses anymore, simply don't wanna mow and do the maintenance. We are in zone 6a Ohio, will get the fine fescue for the backyard for sure, still thinking about the front, which it gets full sun. Thank you so much for three helpful information, appreciate your effort on the reviews of different grass types.

[@TurfMechanic]

great to hear your comment! consider buffalo for the front, perfect for full sun and low maintenance and should do fine in 6a but will have a shorter growing season. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gIfWgHylhbB6p7s

[@pc0086]

@TurfMechanic thank you for the information, will definitely check it out.

[@lakavathnaveen8133]

@turfMechanic can you please mention the type of fescue grass at time 3:22 minutes in this video you had shown [anyone please reply]

[@alexdardarbinks22]

This channel is awesome! Thank you for all the great detail on different grass types. Learning a lot, and different tidbits compared to the lawn care channels.

[@amit_dhami]

Please recommend good retailers to buy fine fescue seeds. These are hard to find. Great video.

[@Ron_Boy]

I live on the East Coast, south of Boston, and the local Ace Hardware stores all carry fescues. I will be overseeding with creeping red fescues next season. I like the fact they spread with rhizomes and are also shade and drought resistant. I think an ideal mix, if I can pull it off, would be KBG and the creeping red fescues. Looking forward to trying it next season.

[@Blue_Azure101]

I love how long they can grow- such that when the wind blows through it, they form ripples like running water

[@TurfMechanic]

If I had an expansive shady lawn I'd love to just have a fine fescue unmowed area; I love the look too!

[@Guatemaya1]

@@TurfMechanic do you know when is the best time to seed fescue on minnessota ? Please answer

[@TurfMechanic]

@@Guatemaya1 if I was seeding it I'd shoot for early August to seed fescue up there.

[@KamiKomplex504]

Hmmm well definitely checking out the sheep fescue video since that is what I went with for shade mixing with blue grama and buffalo grass, but it sounds like I missed out not considering creeping red. Will definitely try overseeding that in the future and maybe growing a few pots like you have. Also I wonder if anyone sells sample packs of grass seeds for testing purposes ...

[@kingly71]

I'm trying to grow creeping red in Atlanta! I actually already have a little interspersed that has seemingly done just fine (pun intended).. But i seeded two plots this past fall, both will be quite shady once the trees bloom. Couple questions for the fine fescue guys: how much do I fertilize? I know its supposed to be less, would 50% of my turf type tall fescue be about right? Also if you let it grow really tall do you notice added disease stress?

[@MixingGBP]

Question for you...When newly seeded, does creeping red fescue produce thick, round stems at the base of the plant that are reddish in color...kinda looking like crabgrass? I was told it does, but not to worry because it will go away when the weather turns cold and won't come back next season.

[@MrRerod]

The hard fescue is said to be one of the better No-Mow grasses.. Would I have luck with it in Iowa 5A?

[@SuperTA329]

Love all the educational stuff. 👍🏻

[@Jaker788]

Have you looked into Barenbrug Rhizomatous Tall Fescue? I was thinking of seeding my lawn with that this fall

[@TurfMechanic]

I've read a lot about it and I occasionally reference it as a boutique variety. So far I haven't tested it out but I see no reason to knock it either. TTTF with rhizomes would be great; IMO the speed and ability to spread side-to-side need to offset the cost of plain TTTF varieties that can be so easily reseeded in the fall. Eventually I'll publish a video on it spelling out a more educated and in-depth opinion. Thanks for the question Jake!

[@MostlySunny2010]

Brian, maybe in a future video, you could mention that there are hundreds of different cultivars of each species of grass. Different cultivars have different attributes and characteristics. For example, some cultivars might sustain better winter color and green-up quicker in the spring. Maybe you could mention the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program and what they do at land grant universities across the country. NTGP.org.

[@pandarush.]

Which creeping red fescue will tolerate the sun and heat the best?

[@mattsonfire3992]

Have you used Helena Diverse and Durable Mixture? We're in Michigan and that's what our landscaper will be using for our yard that is heavy on clay. It has 29.77% real strong creeping red fescue, 19.89% top gun II perennial ryegrass, 19.61% spyglass perennial ryegrass, 14.96% blu plu kentucky bluegrass, & 14.91% bluechip plus kentucky bluegrass. I would appreciate your expert opinion on the matter. Thanks!

[@vinicaka]

Thank you for your video. 👍hi to your lovely kids 😊

[@INFRNL1]

Interesting, I have some sort of super Fine grass; I'm guessing its Fine fescue of some sort. It lives in direct sunlight all day long, here in Colorado. I hate it because it is the majority of the grass that's been in the yard since i bough my house in 2006. It started this season off rough for some reason. I raked up all the dead matter a couple months ago during the hottest time of the summer. It was thinned out quite a bit but now it is thriving and filling in like crazy. I overseeded with zenith zoysia but not sure any of the zoysia germinated as I see no signs of it. I do have some sort of common Zoysia I planted plugs of a long time ago but it hasn't filled in or taken over as i would have liked. I on occasion transfer some of the more common zoysia. I would have different Zoysia but back then I only knew of what I bought. I don't think they had all the varieties we have today. Anyway, I hope to have all zoysia in my front yard at some point. It appears maybe I need Emerald zoysia, IDK. I'd like to really thin out this ultra fine grass, even if it was a more common cool season grass. I don't know if i seeded with KBG/perennial rye mix; if it would take over this fine grass until I can get the zoysia to take over most of the area or not. I just don't like having several types of grass in the yard and i've been fighting this since 06...just haven't given much effort until the past yr or so. I hoped the zoysia would have progressed better but not the case. Anyway, you have some good content, keep it up

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

What drought tolerant grasses are the best if you have traffic? Is Kentucky bluegrass only for moist climates?

[@SuperChalkster]

i live in southern UK, our temp range from -7 in extreme winter to 37C in extreme summer more likely its like -2 in winter to 30C in summer. I bought my home a few years ago, the back third of the lawn was a vegetable area which i dug up and turfed with a turf mostly made up of chewings fescue. its not performed too well in my garden and it also looks the worst of all your pots in this video. The rest of my lawn was pretty much infested with moss. it was like the previous owner maintained the lawn by cutting but never anything else so really after i scarified there wasnt a lot of grass left or so it seemed. i overseeded my lawn in a shaded drought mix as i have some shaded areas also some areas in full sun the seed was mostly made up of strong creeping and slender creeping red fescue but also had many other types like smooth meadow, rye, hard fescue and so on just a blend of all types. I think red fescue is the best grass type for my lawn even though many see it as a cheap type grass i dont see a downside with it for UK climate. as far as i can tell it works best in my lawn. But since i renovated my lawn ive become more and more ocd in wanting it to be perfect. Ive started something on it now and i wont quit until it looks like a show piece. So i had a close inspection the other day and i have a hell of a lot of grass types i dont want, common bermuda grass? its what the plant app said it was but looks horrible. i have AMG and all manner of weedy grass types that look kind of ugly. but not really any broad leaf weeds as i have been on top of those. I think i want to kill off my 100 sqm lawn and start over and have 100% creeping red fescue, but after reading up i am swayed to thinking having just one type of grass isnt practical. which is why most grass seed comes mixed. So i think it would perform best with another grass type alongside it. i can find red fescue and chewings 50-50 but strongly against chewings fescue as i said above. I think maybe a ryegrass with the red fescue so i found a grass seed blend of rye grass and creeping red but its 80-20 in favour of the rye. What i am after is like 70% red fescue 30% ryegrass or at the least a 50-50. but seems impossible to find such a blend and wonder why.... is it not a practical mix for some reason?

[@williamq5627]

Hi Brian👋🏼 First let me tell you how much educational your videos are!! You're doing excellent job, I got a question maybe you can guide me, what brand sells Creeping fine fescue seeds here in Ontario Canada? Thank you in advance and stay safe!

[@TurfMechanic]

thanks for the positive feedback william! I'm not an expert on sourcing product in Canada although I really want to start getting better at that side of this industry. Having said that though I know Foster's Seed & Feed out of BC sells a couple different creeping red fescues; you can check them out: shopfosterscanada.com/products/boreal-creeping-red-fescue-certified-1-25kg I have no experience with this company or their seed I just know they exist. :D

[@williamq5627]

@@TurfMechanic Thank you for you reply Brian!!

[@eyeswideopen627]

As usual good vlog Brian. Thank you. Question, I have lawn mix of tall and fine fescue. Bad poa anna problem. I plan on prediamine this fall. Seems logical I use the much lower fine fescue rate even though I have lot tall fescue as well? I'm surprised the rate is that much different. Thank you. Stay well..

[@TurfMechanic]

If you don't want to have a full TTTF lawn then definitely stick with the lower fine fescue rate. Even at a low rate you'll have a smaller Poa problem every year and as I've said in my channel a bunch of times before; lawn care is a long game; you have to be ok with and look forward to gradual improvement year after year.

[@melissamybubbles6139]

Does fescue grass do well with spring bulbs? Does creeping red fescue look good being over seeded into Kentucky bluegrass?

[@TurfMechanic]

I wouldn't hesitate to overseed creeping red into a kbg stand, it would look great and give good color in shade. Fine fescues don't need as much inputs either so it could give you a reason to go lighter on fert. Fines also can be more sensitive to herbicides so you'll want to keep that in mind beforehand. I don't use many herbicides so that wouldn't be an issue for me. As for your other question about bulbs, if you want to plant bulbs I'm fescue then I suppose you could but I'm not sure how you'd keep grass tidy around the bulb flowers...also you would probably have to be careful with what herbicides you use (if any) because product that is safe for grass might not be safe for bulbs. I'm sorry I'm not knowledgeable enough on bulbs to help much beyond that I'm afraid.

[@melissamybubbles6139]

@@TurfMechanic Thanks. I avoid herbicides whenever possible. I was planning to avoid mowing until all the bulb leaves are yellow to give them time to recharge the bulbs. Thanks.

[@LUXFlimandCinema]

I live in Phoenix Arizona and I over seed with perennial rye every fall in my yard. There are some spots that are thin due to shade. Would creeping red mix well with my perennial rye?

[@TurfMechanic]

Yes it would, many sun/shade seed mixes include rye and fine fescue. The fine will do much better in the shade. It would need less fert though and herbicide use changes once you start using more fine fescues too. I'd also be concerned with high Phoenix temps on creeping red, not sure what shady temps are in Phoenix and if the fine would hold up for the summer. As far as I know you'll get a ton of 100+ days per season as well as a good number of 110 days.

[@LUXFlimandCinema]

@@TurfMechanic yes we do get lost of 110-120 degree days. But I would expect it to go dormant and return every winter. Would it do that? My Bermuda usually takes over the rest of my yard for summer.

[@howardredder3582]

Very interesting for me. In west Michigan, my perrinisl rye, bluegrass, turf type fescue lawn does well, but when the leaves are fully grown, my 50% shaded lawn is healthy, but thin in the shady areas. Im look to overseed with Creeping Red Fescue. Do you know if it would mix well with the others? And not fall over at 3.5" ?

[@delinquense]

Good question. Good points. Same for me.

[@brightsmile8369]

HI 👋 where did you get seeds from !? what is the BRAND / brands name !? thank you

[@NWAH1]

very helpful/best of the web 👍

[@itsoktoberight4431]

I'm trying to find the difference between creeping red fescue and RTF (rhizomatous tall fescue) but can't find any info. Also why is red fescue called red? It's green

[@Mark300win]

Seeds are redish 😊 its the best grass

[@beerbeforebreakfast]

Blue grass is named this way due to seed head color also.

[@Manofsteel519]

Do they do good in all sun?

[@mattemond777]

Where do you buy your creeping red fescue seeds from? All the places I'm seeing online have pretty horrible reviews.

[@TurfMechanic]

The creeping red was bought locally at my Grange Co-Op, made by Rogue - I'm out now so I need to see if they have any more on the shelf for spring if not then I'm not sure where I'll get it at the moment.

[@Ron_Boy]

The Aubuchon Ace Hardware stores south of Boston carry the red fescues. Check them out wherever you are.

[@mushy_GLX]

Are them pots from a single seed?😮 Thanks

[@TurfMechanic]

ohh no, I put down a handful of seed in each pot, just like if I was putting grass seed down on a bare spot in a lawn.

[@mushy_GLX]

@@TurfMechanic thank you! I remember I saw one of your videos where you said its from a single seed and the grass was about a palm size. Perennial Rye was about 50mm in diameter.

[@vinicaka]

I’m at Canada. Wonder if there any supplier for Fine Fescue seeds in our area?

[@Mark300win]

UFA

[@andrewszabo1552]

My personal recommendation when seeding this: plant to where the sun is in the summer, not where it is in the fall. The previous owner must have applied "northern mix" across my back yard in the fall - when the sun is lower and tall pines in the south provide partial shade across my yard. The fine fescues mixed with kbg provide a thick dark fall lawn....but. By mid may the sun is stronger and that partial shade autumn lawn is now full sun. The fine fescue goes dormant rather quickly and all summer long there's a brown hue to my lawn that all the water in the world won't help. Creeping red can also out-compete kbg and tends to form colonies of thick mats. Doesnt always blend well. Be careful with this stuff. It's like poa triv philosophically.

[@blaiseducdaumont1280]

I agree, fine fescue in the Northeast summer is not an appropriate seed for a sunny location. My lawn service tells me that regardless of how much water is applied to the lawn it will be the first grass to go brown in the heat and will stay brown and looks terrible.

[@amuthanshan]

You mentioned in a reply below that you were trying to find stores that sell creeping fescue. If that is still the case, ebay have a few stores, if you consider them reputable. There are varieties such as 'strong' and 'slender' with varying degrees of rhizome growth. Hope your creeping red fescue project goes well, I am interested to see the results and your verdict on how it compares to KBG.

[@craigkoster322]

Where can I purchase these fine fescue grass seeds? I have shade issues! Thank you

[@HundreOblique]

Not sure where Turf Mechanic purchases his, but I got my fine fescue shady mix from seedsuperstore. It includes most of the fescues in this video: Radar chewings fescue, Cardinal II creeping red fescue, and Gladiator Hard Fescue. It also includes a mix of Mazama Kentucky bluegrass which is a great shade tolerant kentucky blue grass. I put this down last fall and it came up great in the shady area of my yard. It also came in good in the sunny part of my front yard. I did overseed a kentucky bluegrass mix in with it this spring and will add more in the fall because I realized I get more sun in the other parts of my yard. Here's the mix I bought: www.seedsuperstore.com/catalog/p-100004/ss6000-shady-mixture?zip=06517&type=shady

[@craigkoster322]

@@HundreOblique Thank you!

[@mattv5281]

Great Basin Seed has a good selection of individual varieties if that's what you're looking for (as opposed to blends).

[@HundreOblique]

@@craigkoster322 No problem! If your looking for individual varieties as Matt V brought out, seedsuperstore also has those too. I never used Great Basin Seed before but will check them out, it's always good to have more places to buy seed. I think this fall I will copy turf mechanic a bit and throw in some more creeping red fescue along with my KBG mix. Since the grass will have better repair abilities.

[@growingwithgreg9321]

@Craig Koster You can get Barenbrug Dune's Mix from Todd Valley Farms, Shade Savant (Barenbrug) from Ideal Turf, and Legacy Fine Fescue from outsidepride.com. All online distributors.

[@Arietje]

Did you end up using creeping red in a shady corner?

[@TurfMechanic]

I ended up seeding my front with it in Sept 2022. I kept putting it off. You can see the video on it here if you like kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnfVnaCFbZyNiJo

[@Arietje]

@@TurfMechanic Thank you I see you went with multiple grass types there like fine fescue, great rooting with little water needs. I have a shade area next to my shed which gets no sun at all and its wearing thin. I have a bag of 100% slender creeping red fescue. I was looking at shade mixes and saw one of them put this slender one for 50% and then with some other mixes that may not necessarily are good in shade at all. So I thought lets try 100%. I was looking for other peoples experience with this but I cannot find a lot. Anyway I'm just going to try to overseed with this one in that shade area and see what happens. Just waiting for some warmer temperatures in May since it may take 14 days to start growing, I don't want to add time to that because of low temperature. Anyways I appreciate you're looking into different grass types as well and just test with it, I like to do the same here in The Netherlands.

[@derekcaliman7690]

Thinking of doing my entire yard in creeping red. Thoughts anyone?

[@pandarush.]

I wish someone answered your question. I need to know too.

[@Mark300win]

I did my front lawn from scratch with a blend of 50% creeping 10% KBG 30% PR, the creeping is so awesome and have a vibrant green that is catching the attention of my entire neighborhood! It looks like a mini golf course however the only problem is it literally creeps! When i water it it creeps, when i walk over it to fertilize or pick some weed it creeps 😂 when i mow it it creeps for good 😂 i think the best mix would be 50% creeping and 50% KBG, the KBG will give the creeping red some lateral support not to creep easily. but aside from all this, it is really really popping green 😍 my neighbors and others that i dont know walk infront of the house on purpose just to have a look at it after it was the most ugly lawn infested with dandelions

[@Mark300win]

One thing to add is its indeed low maintenance, like I haven’t mowed it in 40 days, yet its so dense and looks nice as compared to my neighbors dying KBG sod lawn 😂 that he has to mow every week or two

[@pandarush.]

@@Mark300win Thanks for the reply! My father was always a KBG man. It took tons of watering and he and I would mow the yard (I HATE mowing). Had to mow weekly. Once in a while we mowed twice in a week. I'll never use KBG! I hope my creeping red fescue does as well as yours.

[@TurfMechanic]

Wish I hadn't missed these original comments from months ago but I'll chime in anyway now. CR likes shade so it'll do better if you have a heavy shade yard...I agree mixing it with something else gives it more structure. I've just seeded a 1200 sqft lawn with 50% cr and 50% tall fescue for a low maintenance tall cut grass that requires infrequent mowing and low water and fert inputs. Cr should hold a lot of color during off season too. Fine fescues are a bit more tricky for some kinds of herbicides so make sure to keep that in mind when you're considering weed kill down the road.

[@delinquense]

Is anyone even able to tell these apart? They sure look the same to me, at least on the video.

[@davidlaliberte3759]

A lot of chatting. Almost 7 minutes in jeez. Blah blah. Finally some thing worth checking out.