tall fescue help

fescueman – posted 23 May 2001 10:05

I need to find a match for a fescue that for the life of me I cannot find. The Lawn was initially seeded with “Chesepeake Tall Fescue”.

Please help me!

seed – posted 24 May 2001 14:46

fescueman, the tall fescue variety Chesapeake (note the spelling) was released in 1985 by O. M. Scott & Sons Co. as a four-clone synthetic (three from Georgia, one from Ohio) claimed to have excellent heat and drought stress tolerance, and high endophyte level. There seems to be no data for this variety from the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) (51 KB incl. Java Applet). You might find a replacement for Chesapeake by calling Scotts in Marysville, Ohio.

Sources on grass varieties:Grass Varieties in the United States (look under “F” for Festuca arundinaceae) (25 KB)NTEP U. S. Turfgrass Variety List, 1997 (Fescues) (39 KB)

Endophytes are internal fungi that infest certain species of cool season grasses and their presence confers resistance to insects and other stresses, but endophytes also cause Tall Fescue Toxicosis when used in high concentrations as animal forage, and are commonly a problem for cattle, sheep, and horses (especially pregnant mares and foals). Because endophytes are carried in the seed, the infestation level is considered a characteristic of the variety, even though in some circumstances there are companion varieties representing the same genetic strain of grass, with and without endophyte.

Sources on endophytes:Tall Fescue and the Fungal Endophyte, Henry Fribourg, Univ. Tennessee (400 KB)Tall Fescue Toxicosis, Craig Roberts, Univ. Missour (40 KB)Tall Fescue Varieties and Their Endophyte Level – 1998, Gale Gingrich, Oregon State Univ. (22 KB)

[This message has been edited by seed (edited 24 May 2001).]

[Note: This message has been edited by seed]