Blue Fescue (Festuca glauca) is a widely cultivated ornamental grass prized for its striking, fine-textured, silvery-blue foliage. Gardeners seek out this grass for its ability to add color and texture to borders and rock gardens without creating maintenance issues. Blue Fescue is a true clumping perennial, meaning the plant expands slowly outward but does not send out aggressive or invasive runners.
Defining Blue Fescue’s Growth Habit
The growth habit of Blue Fescue is clump-forming. Unlike some turf grasses or aggressive ornamental varieties, Festuca glauca lacks the specialized underground stems (rhizomes) or above-ground runners (stolons). These structures allow plants to spread and colonize new areas.
Instead of runners, Blue Fescue expands its diameter slowly as new shoots, called tillers, emerge tightly next to the original crown. This growth pattern results in a dense, dome-shaped tuft of foliage that maintains a defined, predictable boundary. Any perceived “spreading” is simply a gradual, lateral enlargement of the initial mound over many years. The plant’s non-invasive nature makes it a well-behaved choice for garden borders, containers, and mass plantings.
Natural and Assisted Propagation
Natural propagation happens when mature plants produce seeds that drop and germinate nearby, resulting in new seedlings.
However, relying on self-seeding is not the preferred method for maintaining the plant’s aesthetic qualities. Growing Blue Fescue from seed often results in genetic variation, meaning the offspring may not possess the desired intense silvery-blue coloring of the parent cultivar. The most reliable method for generating new, genetically identical plants is through division.
Division is the process where gardeners lift the established clump and physically separate it into smaller sections, each capable of forming a vigorous new plant. This procedure is performed not only to increase the plant stock but is also an obligatory part of the plant’s long-term maintenance.
Maintaining Clump Density and Health
Blue Fescue is considered a short-lived perennial that requires specific maintenance to sustain its vigor. As the dense clump ages, typically after three to five years, the center portion of the plant often becomes woody and dies off. This decline in health is more pronounced in climates with high heat and humidity, resulting in the plant taking on a “doughnut” shape.
To prevent this structural failure and prolong the plant’s life, division is mandatory. The entire clump must be dug up, the dead, woody center material discarded, and the healthy outer sections replanted. This rejuvenating process resets the plant’s growth cycle and ensures the continued production of vibrant blue foliage.