It is difficult to imagine a modern garden without cereal plants. Having won first place in the food sector, they just as quickly conquered people with their high decorativeness. In addition, they are unpretentious, hardy and extremely easy to care for. And the greens of the most varied shades and shapes will not only successfully form a smooth lawn, but also emphasize the rock garden, decorate borders, etc. One of the most popular garden cereals is sheep fescue. It has a high growth rate, high density of grass, which makes it the most attractive form for the formation of lawns.
Genus Ovsyanitsa
This genus from the Cereal family has about three hundred representatives, which are widespread in areas with a temperate, cold and subtropical climate, as well as in the mountains. Plants have an erect stem 10 to 200 cm high, form large and dense turfs, or spread through numerous underground shoots. Leaves are usually rough, hairy. Inflorescence - panicle, fruit - caryopsis.
Most of the species of the genus Ovsyanitsa is of great economic importance. This is due to the fact that they are valuable fodder plants. In particular, red fescue, photo of which is presented above, reed (resistant to soil salinization), meadow.
View description
Sheep fescue is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the boreal-European type. It can be found throughout Europe, in Asia (temperate zones). The main places of growth are pebbles, sands, meadows, light deciduous forests, pine forests. The plant is a good feed for small livestock, but does not find widespread economic use, unlike related species.
Sheep fescue forms friable sods with thin stems 30 to 60 cm high. The leaves have a flattened-cylindrical shape, rough, with a diameter of 0.4-0.5 mm. The inflorescence is a rather loose, oblong panicle with deviated branches, most often drooping. Spikelets in it are oblong or elliptical in shape, up to 6 mm long, light green in color.
Choosing a place and soil
All fescue are lovers of well-lit areas. These are sun-loving species that develop poorly in the shade and cold. The best place is the southern slopes, hot and dry. Young plants are cold-resistant, therefore they tolerate winter well, but, starting from the second year, they grow, and some parts of the turf begin to die, which leads to a loss of decorativeness. Sheep fescue does not tolerate cold drafts.
By making high demands on lighting, the plant, meanwhile, can grow on almost any soil. The soil can be sandy, dry, with ordinary garden soil, clay, but with one important condition - good drainage and water permeability, which will prevent moisture stagnation. Fescue does not need too fertile soil with an abundance of humus. Experienced gardeners say that the most spectacular look is a plant grown on stony and dry soil, characteristic of rock gardens and rockeries.
Plant care
Sheep fescue, the description of which was presented above, is an unpretentious plant. Care for it is the timely cleaning of the bush from fallen leaves, dried shoots. After the flowering period ends, it is recommended to cut off the dried panicles. As already mentioned above, the fescue turf 2-3 years after planting begins to decay due to the death of its individual parts. Therefore, if you choose a bush point planting, the plant must be updated and regularly transplanted.
Frost resistance of a plant depends on the variety. Choose those plants that are recommended specifically for your climatic conditions.
Reproduction of sheep fescue
The main method of propagation of cereals is the division of turf in early spring. Subsidiary plants develop rapidly and by the end of summer form their own beautiful bushes.
The second way is more troublesome. Uterine plants are dug up and planted in separate pots in the fall. In winter, they are kept in bright and cold greenhouses. Avoid damp areas, as the fescue rots quickly. In March, the mother bush is divided into several parts and planted in boxes with pre-prepared nutrient soil. In such conditions, the fescue (red, photo of which was presented above, or sheep) is kept until the beginning of June. Young delenki are planted in the ground at a distance of 4-8 cm from each other.
The seed method of propagation is relevant if you want to get rare and / or varietal plants. If the soil is favorable, then you can sow directly into the soil, otherwise the seedling method is recommended.
Use of fescue
Sheep fescue is widely used for decorative purposes. Depending on the variety, the plant can have a different color or height, which allows you to pick up a specimen for any conditions. The bluish pointed leaves perfectly complement the alpine hills, rocky gardens in the Japanese style, artificial ponds, adorn borders and harmoniously combine with large deciduous and coniferous trees.
Growing a smooth and soft green "carpet" is the main area in which sheep fescue is used. The lawn from this cereal is perfect, and most importantly, grows in the shortest possible time. All varieties of sheep fescue can be divided into three groups: high, low and medium. This feature, in particular, can be used for effective zoning of the lawn. Cereal has several advantages: high growth rate, high grass density, the ability to "hold" the soil, prevent its erosion, resistance to adverse weather conditions and trampling. Due to the fact that the plant has a deep root system that penetrates deep into the earth, it is not afraid of drought and freezing. Often, to create a beautiful lawn, red fescue, sheep's are used together.
What to combine with?
In our country, fescue is perhaps one of the most common cereals used in landscape gardening. If you want to use the plant not for lawn formation, but for rockeries, rock gardens, mixborders, etc., then it will not be out of place to find out what it is best combined with. When planting a fescue with a sheep as an array or border, put hosts, cuffs, heichera, tradescantes, that is, species that are much lower, in the foreground.
Or use the cereal in order to emphasize the beauty of large-sized plants, such as miscanthus, volzhanka, moliny. Against the background of even silvery greens, they will look even more impressive. On an alpine hill, the fescue will be complemented by a felted stalk, bells, and spikelet veronica.