Tall Fescue

Tall fescue is a cool season turf grass that is tolerant of a wide range of weather conditions. It's very resilient, making it a great choice for our changeable New Zealand climate.


About Tall Fescue Varieties

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) is very shade tolerant but is also happy in full sun. In fact, Tall Fescue has the best drought tolerance of all cool season lawn types. 

It has the widest leaf blade of the cool season varieties at 5-8mm. It's extremely frost tolerant and can grow in a range of pH’s, from 5-7.5 but grows best at 5.5-6.5.

It's tolerant to long and intense rain periods. Its method of spread is both by seed and rhizomes. The width of spread via rhizomes differs between cultivars, but it's not as aggressive as other spreading (stoloniferous) grasses. For that reason, if you have bare patches it's best to reseed as opposed to allowing tall fescue to fill in by itself.

It prefers mowing above 15mm. 


Related products

Yates Tall Fescue Lawn Seed

A rich dark green cool season turf grass with a medium, soft blade. It is tolerant to drought, heavy rainfall and suitable for a wide range of climates.

Yates Lawn Fertiliser for New Lawns

Gives your new lawn the right start to encourage fast establishment of new grass, while feeding for up to 12 weeks. Contains the ideal blend of slow-release nutrients to gently kickstart your lawn.

Yates Lawn Fertiliser Quarterly - Hose On

This innovative, fully-featured hose-on fertiliser delivers thicker, greener and healthier lawns, powered by 5 potent ingredients to feed your lawn gradually, for up to 12 weeks.

More Lawn Tips & Advice

Summer lawn care tips

Whether it’s preparing your lawn for the festive season and holidays or helping it recover from backyard games and parties, here are some summer lawn care tips to help create a beautiful lush green lawn.