Turf Type Tall Fescue

Fine fescue lawn grass seeds often come in bags mixed with Kentucky bluegrass...

Fine fescue lawn grass seeds often come in bags mixed with Kentucky bluegrass. Buy any lawn-seed mixture labeled "for shade," which will include fine fescues, such as hard, chewing, and creeping red fescue. At least 80 percent should be fine fescue grasses. This shade-tolerant lawn grass grows in zones 3 through 8. An alternative is the new and improved class of tall fescue grasses known as "turf-type" tall fescues.

When planting fine fescue seed in a shady area with trees, first use soil amendments, such as compost and peat moss, to improve the body of the soil so that it does not dry out easily. You will have trouble with your fine fescues if the soil has a tendency to dry out, which is precisely what will happen if tree roots are absorbing all of the available water in the area.

At the same time, fescues do not want to be in excessively wet soil, so you should not plant it in areas that stay wet all of the time. Applying compost helps strike a balance between good drainage and water retention.