Festuca rubra
Agronomic Grass
Bulkley - Nechako
Cariboo - Fraser Fort George
Kootenay
Northeast - Peace Liard
Thompson - Okanagan
Boreal White and Black Spruce
Engelmann Spruce-Subalpine Fir
Interior Douglas-fir
Montane Spruce
Spruce-Willow-Birch
Sub-Boreal Pine-Spruce
400
600
Medium
826.000
Erosion control
Forage enhancement
Grazing season extension
Invasive plant suppression
Vegetation control
Creeping red fescue is well suited to the Peace region and is an important forage seed crop in the area.
It is adapted to a wide variety of soil types and conditions. It should be carefully managed in pasture situations when it is seeded with other species, because it tends to increase. Although it has been rated low for invasive plant suppression, it provides weed resistance once established. It might be combined with species that are quicker to establish in a mixture if invasive plant suppression is an objective.
Creeping red fescue is a long-lived, hardy, creeping rooted, cool season perennial grass, important for its use in stabilizing soil, as stockpiled forage, as blending for the turf industry, and as a seed crop in the Peace Region. Root systems are fibrous with short rhizomes. Roots form a thick sod that is resilient to traffic, but they are less dense than smooth bromegrass or Kentucky bluegrass. Stems are up to 90 cm (35 in.) tall and are often reclining at the base. Mostly basal leaves are produced and are 5 to15 cm (2 to 6 in.) long. Seed heads are up to 15 cm (6 in.) and branch mostly upright. Spikelets are up to 15 mm long and 4-8 are flowered, producing purple-tinged flowers.
Native to Europe and North America. The early seed in Canada came from Czechoslovakia.
Creamy peavine is found as far north as Northwest Territories, east to Quebec, south to Ohio, and west in British Columbia.
Turf grass, pasture, reclamation, as stockpiled forage.
Creeping red fescue is adapted to early spring or fall grazing.
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Recovery is usually good as growing points are often below grazing level, especially if not continuously grazed.
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Forage yields are moderate with yields up to about 5,400 kg/ha (4,800 lb/acre) in the Black soil zone.
Creeping red fescue is not only palatable in the fall but also over winter into the spring. It has average total digestible nutrients of 61% and 12% crude protein in the vegetative state. When stockpiled, this species has adequate nutrition for a dry pregnant cow.
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Creeping red fescue is competitive in moist areas.
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Creeping red fescue has low weed resistance until it is established.
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A very good species for controlling erosion and often used for revegetation of waterways and canals since it forms a thick, soil-binding sod, but does not impede water movement.
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Creeping red fescue has fair to moderate drought tolerance.
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Winter hardiness is good when adequate snow cover is present.
Creeping red fescue can be grown on a wide range of soil textures. It is most suited to moist, sandy, loamy, and clay soils in the Black and Gray soil zones.
Creeping red fescue can tolerate up to 2 weeks of spring flooding or waterlogged soils.
Soil pH as low as 4.5 is tolerated.
Good shade tolerance so it can grow under taller species when seeded in mixtures.
Pests can include sod webworms, thrips, cutworms, and cereal leaf beetles. The most common diseases of creeping red fescue are stem eyespot and silvertop.
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Seedlings are vigorous, and creeping red fescue is relatively easy to establish.
Manage cover crops and perennial weeds to ensure good establishment.
Can be seeded with legumes such as alfalfa and cicer milkvetch.
Use appropriate stocking rates and allow rest following grazing. Creeping red fescue may increase in abundance if seeded with other species in a pasture mix. It also increases in overgrazed pasture situations.