Blue fescue
Festuca glauca · Poaceae Popular
A compact ornamental grass that forms neat tufts of striking blue-silver blades. It adds fine texture and cool colour at the front of sunny, dry beds.
- Size
- 10 in tall, 10 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves; flowers mid June to late June
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Edging
A bed built around blue fescue
The planner designed this bed around blue fescue when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why blue fescue stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Blue fescue × 8, blue-green leaves
- 2 Sedum 'Lidakense' × 26, pink
- 3 Purple milkweed × 5, purple
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 Sea kale × 1, white
- 6 Eastern bee balm × 4, pink
- 7 Hardy gladiolus × 4, pink
- 8 Hyacinth × 7, blue
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
- Part of the matrix. The low fabric of grasses and groundcovers that the taller plants come up through.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 10 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 53% of the edge.
- 8 plants in 2 runs (5 and 3). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
- Beside sedum 'Lidakense'. A recognised partner: the planner puts such plants together where it can.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, into winter. They cover the 14 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- Stands through winter. Left uncut, it holds its shape until March, when the perennials have gone.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 42% of the planted ground. Sedum 'Lidakense' is planted in four places along the bed, which gives it rhythm. The front edge is finished with blue fescue and sedum 'Lidakense'.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where blue fescue goes in a border
At 10 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: edging. A low, neat plant used in short runs of three or five along the front to finish the edge (or, in a formal bed, in one even row).
A neat blue tuft that looks best repeated in a loose row or scatter, with gravel or low sedum between. It is short-lived and needs dividing every few years, and wet soil kills it.
- Blue tufts as edging in dry, sunny beds
- Gravel gardens
- Colour contrast with burgundy or silver foliage
What to plant with blue fescue
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Sedum 'Dragon's Blood': adds the flowers, late June to early August; low enough (4 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same dry soil.
- English lavender 'Hidcote': adds the flowers, late June to late July; spires rising out of its mound; tall enough (18 in) to stand behind it.
- Creeping thyme: adds the flowers, early June to mid July; low enough (3 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same dry soil.
Choosing between it and a look-alike? Blue fescue vs Blue oat grass.
Questions about blue fescue
Does blue fescue need sun or shade?
Blue fescue grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does blue fescue grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should blue fescue be planted?
10 in (25 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is about its full width, so each plant keeps its own outline.
It grows 10 in (25 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many blue fescue plants do I need?
At 10 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 17 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 13 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 55 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as runs of three or five along the front (or one even row, in a formal bed).
In the bed above, the planner used eight in two groups.
Is blue fescue poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat blue fescue?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What does blue fescue look like in winter?
Blue fescue holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
Is blue fescue good for bees and butterflies?
Blue fescue is visited by butterflies.
More Festuca
- Atlas fescue Festuca mairei
- Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Grass
- Size
- 10 in (25 cm) tall, 10 in (25 cm) wide
- Plant
- 10 in (25 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid June to late June; feathery plumes; tan
- Leaves
- Fine texture, semi-evergreen; blue-green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Poaceae
- Comes from
- Northeast Spain to Northwest Italy
- Attracts
- Butterflies
- Stands up to
- Drought, poor soil, black walnut
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.