Slender creeping fescue grasses often tolerate heat badly

Red fescue suffered the most. And that happened despite the fact that red fescue is actually drought tolerant! Unfortunately, drought tolerance does not automatically mean the grass is tolerant to heat. That was precisely the crux of the problem last summer: the combination of drought and heat. Red fescue is drought tolerant but cannot handle heat so well.

Hard fescue is the ultra-low input plant

Hard fescue is a striking species among the slender creeping fescue grasses. Hard fescue is the ultra-low input plant. This plant can do well with very little nutrition, and even with very little water. In addition, this plant has the best heat tolerance of all the slender creeping fescue grasses. Note, however, that the variation is enormous within varieties of hard fescues. Most hard fescue varieties cannot cope with short mowing and certainly cannot handle heavy wear.

 

Red fescue seals its own fate during heat

Red fescue is also one of the most difficult varieties of grass in drought, because it forms a thatch layer and protects itself against dehydration by secreting fatty substances. The combination of these two factors makes the ground water repellent. Water cannot infiltrate into the soil and the plant cannot recover. In addition, water cannot reach new grass seed and it will never germinate. So your money is wasted! The turf dies off and new plants have no chance. This is a vicious circle that can only be broken if the water repellency is neutralised.

 

Living ground cover fine fescues in dry and warm climate

Neutralise water repellency with Yellow Jacket Water Manager

A special seed treatment can prevent the stress caused by water repellency. Yellow Jacket Water Manager spreads through the substrate and eliminates the water repellency. Water is once again made available and the young vulnerable plants experience less stress during drought and heat (see photo and graph). This treatment is currently available in golf and sports mixtures. In a while, Yellow Jacket Water Manager will also be available in the lawn mixtures.

 

I really wish I could have overseeded all our grass with Yellow Jacket Water Manager during the trials at our golf course. What a difference with respect to untreated seed!

Jeroen Brouwer de Koning
Head greenkeeper at Golfbaan Heelsum

Guaranteed establishment!

Would you like to re-establish a dense, green turf as soon as possible without any problems for both germination and grass establishment? Choose grass seed with Yellow Jacket Water Manager! Click on the button below for more information.

For over 100 years

The Royal Barenbrug Group is a family-owned business, the core activities of which are plant breeding, grass seed production and the international marketing of seed for turf and forage grasses and legumes. Barenbrug has been the leading grass seed business in the world for over 100 years.

The Royal Barenbrug Group is a family-owned business, the core activities of which are plant breeding, grass seed production and the international marketing of seed for turf and forage grasses and legumes. Barenbrug has been the leading grass seed business in the world for over...

The Royal Barenbrug Group is a family-owned business, the core activities of which are plant breeding, grass seed production and the international marketing of seed for turf and forage grasses and legumes. Barenbrug has been the leading grass seed business in the world for over 100 years.

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