Tall fesuce clumps?

[Stocker Steve]

Do tall fesuce stands usually end up with a mix of grass clumps with some open area around them, or is this just a function of winterkill?

 

[western]

Tall fescue is "clumpy" by nature but in Minn. you may have winter kill last year. I know that in a trial conduct at NDSU 70% of the tall fescue was winter killed last year.

 

[dun]

MN being outside of the tradtional fescue belt I suppose it's possible for winter kill. Or it could be that another type of grass was around it and that died.

 

[MrBilly]

Tall fescue is a bunch grass so it tends to be a clump. But, many of the clumps are in areas where manure was previously - more nutrition - more clump size.

Billy :banana:

 

[JRGidaho`]

In continuously grazed pastures used only in the summer time, cattle may graze everything else and leave the fescue in the spring. The clumps get bigger over the summer as the other forage gets grazed harder and harder. It is very common to see fields with clumps of tall fescue and very short grazed bluegrass-white clover between the clumps.

On the winter kill issue, the more southern types of fescue might winter kill in MN, but a lot of the improved varieties persist well up into Canada. We see double digit (F) lows here every winter and frequently without snow cover and I've not seen any tall fescue winter kill in ID.

JR