- This weedy grass is not to be confused with turf-type tall fescue that is a fine-bladed grass used for lawns.
- Coarse tall fescue is a perennial grass that is a dark green colored grass type that grows in the lawn all year long.
- It is a thick-bladed, fast-growing, perennial grass that usually grows in clumps in the middle of a lawn.
Ideal Conditions for Weed Growth
This is a cool-season grass that is found throughout the year. It’s a very hardy grass that will stick around even through a drought. This grass will move in if there is a bare spot in the lawn. So having a dense, lush lawn will help avoid this weedy grass from taking over.How to Control Coarse Tall Fescue
Coarse tall fescue cannot be selectively controlled. So, it cannot be sprayed without killing the desirable turfgrass. The only way to kill coarse tall fescue is to kill it with a product like glyphosate and then reseed the damaged areas. You can try to manually remove the coarse tall fescue by digging it out to avoid the use of chemicals. This is very labor-intensive. If any part of the root is left behind the grass can reappear.
Results with Weed Control
Because this grass cannot be selectively controlled you must be very careful where your spray glyphosate to avoid major damage to the turf grasses. Glyphosate will usually take about 14 days to kill off the undesirable grass. Once the grass is dead you will want to use a heavy metal rake to rake out the dead grass, then you can reseed or resod the damaged areas.
Is this Coarse Tall Fescue?
Often when people see this grass they think crabgrass. Crabgrass is a light-colored grass found starting in June. Crabgrass can be selectively controlled with a product called Drive XLR8. Below is a photo of Crabgrass.
