Festuca ovina (Sheep Fescue)

Festuca ovina (Sheep Fescue) is a low-growing, cool-season grass forming a densely tufted mound of narrow, stiff, semi-erect, green or gray-green leaves. In late spring to early summer, narrow and dense flowering panicles emerge on stiff, naked stalks well above the tuft of leaves. Sheep Fescue is slow-growing; most of its growth is produced in the spring and again in the fall if moisture is available. Summer growth is minimal and dependent on precipitation or irrigation. Native to the Northern Hemisphere, this perennial grass has excellent cold tolerance, good drought tolerance, and moderate shade tolerance. It can withstand fire in the autumn but requires 2 -3 years to recover fully. Long-lived, it does not spread vegetatively by runners but primarily via seed. It is excellent for the stabilization of disturbed soils, erosion, and weed control thanks to its extensive root system. Easy to grow and low maintenance, Sheep Fescue performs well as a groundcover and is useful in informal grassland on poor soils.

• Grows up to 12 in. tall (30 cm).
• Performs best in full sun or light shade in sand, loam, dry, or moist, well-drained soils. This grass is drought tolerant.
• Resistant to common turf diseases. Keep an eye out for grasshoppers.
• Tolerate both regular and close mowing.
• Native range: Circumboreal in the Northern Hemisphere, primarily native to Europe and widely across temperate to boreal Asia, with native or long‑naturalized occurrences in boreal and montane regions of North America (from Alaska and western Canada south in the mountains to Arizona and New Mexico), and introduced and naturalized in many additional parts of North America