1950-51

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74
RECREATION GROUNDS
Redtop, too, is common enough in this country occurring as it
does as
a
weed on waste land generally in arable districts. Gener-
ally it is too broad in the leaf to work down satisfactorily into very
fine turf. When used alone it fails to make a dense turf. It can be
obtained quite cheaply, has hard-wearing qualities, and makes a
sufficient fibrous development from its long underground runners
to render it useful in mixtures when sowing down sports grounds.
Amongst the fescues, true creeping red, Chewing's, and hard and
fine leaved fescue alone are of importance to greenkeepers. A fescue
turf can easily be detected by passing the hand over it, when it is
somewhat needle-like to the touch. This is due to the blade being
permanently rolled and not expanded as in the case of
Agrostis.
Generally speaking, too, the fescues prefer lighter and drier soils,
which accounts for their being frequently found on sandy land, such
as sand dunes or on dry heaths and downs. When mixed with
Agrostis
to make a sward, fescues will be found to be less persistent
under bowling green and putting green conditions and will
gradually give way to the bents. Some types are susceptible to
Dollar Spot and Corticium disease.
True creeping red fescue
(Festuca rubra genuina)
occurs naturally
as a tall-growing grass which is an advantage from the point of view
of seed production, in that harvesting is rendered much easier.
It creeps below the ground by extended runners, though this depends
to a large extent upon the strain. Some types, for example, have
more in the nature of surface runners. A variety
glaucescens
occurs in sea-washed turf and is characterised by its bloom, as in
the case of a type of creeping bent already mentioned. All the red
fescues have red bases when examined closely and some of the com-
mercial types, which reach our market, generally from the Continent,
are coarser leaved than those being bred in this country.
Chewing's fescue
(F. rubra fallax) is
different in habit from true
creeping red fescue, being more tufted and, therefore, less aggressive,
but it gives a sufficiently dense turf soon after sowing. Its colour,
especially when it is sown pure, is frequently disappointing, especially
in the winter. During the season, too, on account of the blades of
the grass resisting cutting and tending to produce small dead ends,
Chewing's fescue turf may have a whiteish cast. It is more easily
obtainable than true creeping red fescue and at a cheaper rate ; as
in the case of browntop, the seed is sent from New Zealand, though
it first originated in this country. In some seasons the germination
of the seed is low and further decline may take place in warehouse.
Hard fescue
(F. longifolia)
does not now so frequently find its way
into mixtures for very fine turf because of its inability to spread
quickly and due to its habit of giving a tufted or whorled appearance.
Hard fescue, however, gives a good hard wearing turf and for this
purpose can be used satisfactorily in seeds mixtures for sports
grounds. An added advantage is its winter greenness, so that it is
valuable where winter games are played.
Other fescues used are sheep's fescue (F.
ovina)
and fine leaved
sheep's fescue
(F. capillata)
which are different species, but occur
together frequently on dry heaths, especially where the soil is rather