The following are expert tips on how to create and then maintain a beautiful, healthy fescue lawn. It’s right for you if your lawn is within about 50 miles of Interstate-85. I guess some of the methods are relevant to other areas. My experience, however, is based in the Greenville-Spartanburg, SC area. I85, from Montgomery, AL to Virginia, has similar climate and soil to my specific area, and therefore my specific advice will apply. Why listen to me? I started mowing lawns for a living 38 years ago (I was 13). Since then I have received “a lot of education” regarding fescue. This education includes college (Clemson), first-hand experience (over 2,000 lawns), tips from greenskeepers on golf courses, tips from quality fescue turf farms, and tips from other professionals in the lawn care industry. .

First, realize that you need to do WHAT you need to do WHEN you need to do it. Garden centers and the like will sell you seeds, fertilizers, herbicides, etc. At any time of year. That does NOT mean that you can apply these things or perform these tasks at any time of the year. Imagine if a farmer planted his crop or harvested his crop at his whim. does not work Know the season or time of year, in which you must perform certain tasks. Your next step is to measure the area in which you want to have your lawn. The QUANTITY of seed, fertilizer, etc. What you use is almost as important as when. I will give you quantities to use for 10,000 square feet.

THE BEGINNING: Installation of your new fescue turf should be done around September 15. Never before September 1 or after October 31. If your soil needs lime to correct the PH (they usually do), this is not the time. Lime can inhibit the germination of your new seed. We like to apply lime in July. Another “pre-seeding” task is to eliminate competition for your fescue. August is a good time for this. If your lawn is over 50% bermuda grass and weeds, you may want to use Roundup and kill it all. If you have a reasonable amount of fescue, you can treat the weeds with 2-4-D or another type of lawn herbicide. 2-4-D should not be used after mid-August as it may inhibit fescue germination.

The next step is soil preparation. The best method is to thoroughly till the soil and then gently rake. A close second is to use a core aerator. You can rent a self-propelled type (5 HP gasoline engine) at your local rental equipment store or perhaps your local hardware store. I realize that most homeowners (and many landscaping companies) do not aerate enough. You need your lawn to look like it has millions of holes. As a guide, we ran an aerator for a full 3 hours on about 10,000 square feet of lawn.

Seed and fertilizer application is next. Seed is inexpensive relative to the total cost of your lawn and its maintenance. Buy the best you can find. An Oregon “blue label” seed is a safe bet. You will need to apply 5 pounds of seed per 1000 square feet for new lawns or 3 pounds for existing lawns. You will want to make sure you have even coverage. We like to spread half our seed from north to south and the other half from east to west (relative direction). Your fertilizer will need to be about 8 pounds of nitrogen per 10,000 square feet. We like 16-4-8. A 50 pound bag of 16% nitrogen has 8 pounds of nitrogen. There are many types of “starter fertilizers” available. We have found them to be more expensive than 16-4-8 and no more effective. As with the seed, extra care must be taken to ensure that the fertilizer is distributed evenly. It’s a good idea to “roll” the sod with a lawn roller after spreading the seeds. This ensures good contact of the seed with the soil.

Water. Let me go back a step and explain why you need to plant very close to September 15. Fescue thrives in temperate climates. It doesn’t like it if it’s above 85 or below freezing. That gives us two good growing seasons: fall and spring. Winter slows down fescue growth, but doesn’t actually harm it. The long, hot days of summer can be brutal on the fescue. Before summer begins, you want your fescue to be just as mature and healthy with long roots. The way to accomplish this is to get the fescue to grow as long as possible in the fall and then grow back as much as possible in the spring. Now when the 100 degree days of July hit you, your fescue can survive. So plant the seed as soon as it’s cool enough (Sept 15) and now you need to water it to germinate as soon as possible. Ideally, you should have a properly installed irrigation system. We like to run our irrigation system for a very short time (3 – 5 minutes per zone) 3 times a day. We do this until we see that the seed has germinated. Normally this takes 10-15 days. For the next 2-4 weeks, or until the grass is about 3-4 inches tall, we water once a day. If at any time you can walk on your lawn and your feet sink as if the ground is too muddy, turn off the water for a couple of days. If it rains well, turn off the water for 2-3 days. When your new grass gets closer to 4″, it’s time to mow it. You want to not have watered in the last 36 hours. You will need to set your mower to the HIGH setting. 3.5 to 4 inches is a good height. You can then water your lawn afterwards For the remainder of the fall and then again in the spring, we recommend watering your lawn liberally, but only 1-2 times per week About 1 inch of rain equivalent per week is a good guide.

Here’s a good schedule (amounts are per 10,000 square feet):

• September 15: 50 pounds of seed, 50 pounds of 16-4-8 fertilizer
• October 30 – 25 lbs of fertilizer (with something close to 30% nitrogen)
• February 15: Apply a pre-emergence weed control (prevent crabgrass). Quantity varies, read instructions
• Mar 15 – 50lbs 4-16-8
• May 1 – 25 lbs 4-16-8, apply before emergency
• july 200 lbs lime

I will write more in a future article on general care, weed control, and insect control for your beautiful new fescue lawn.