DeLange Seed

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Varieties:

General Information:

     Tall fescue is a cool-season perennial grass with very good tolerance to heat.  Of all the cool-season grasses, tall fescue is the best adapted to Kansas conditions.  While tall fescue grows and performs best on good, moist soils that are heavy to medium in texture, it exists and performs relatively well on soils that vary from strongly acid (pH 4.7) to alkaline (pH 9.5).  It thrives and conserves soil on thin, droughty slopes, and forms dense sods on poorly drained soils where few other cool-season grasses survive.  The massive root structure of tall fescue is generally credited for its adaptation to many varied soil types and its excellent tolerance to heat and drought.

    Tall fescue has a bunch-type growth habit.  Therefore, when utilized for turf, seeding rates and seed distribution must be carefully monitored.  Six to 10 lbs. per 1,000 sq. feet are generally adequate to achieve uniform, dense stands of turf.  Tall fescue may be planted in late summer/early fall or late winter/early spring.  In Kansas, late summer/early fall planting dates are generally preferred as this allows the grass the luxury of two cool seasons in which to become established, prior to the onset of the hot and dry conditions associated with Kansas summers.

    In recent years, much effort has been expended by grass breeders to improve tall fescue cultivars for turf applications.  This effort has resulted in hundreds of new varieties being released.  These new varieties are collectively termed �turf-type� tall fescue.  In general, the new turf-type tall fescue varieties are finer-bladed and darker green in color when compared to the common or forage type tall fescues.  Many of these new turf-types have a slower growth pattern and a greater propensity to tiller than the older varieties.  This results in a denser, finer textured turf that is more tolerant to lower mowing heights.

    When compared to other cool-season grass species utilized for turf in Kansas, tall fescue has better heat tolerance, requires less nitrogen and irrigation and has fewer disease problems.  It is the only grass that will remain green year around as long as there is adequate soil moisture to keep it actively growing.