Eco-Lawn – Not for Atlanta

Q: Not sure if you are aware of a grass called Eco-Lawn. It is a blend of seven fescue grasses that is very drought tolerant. It sounds perfect for Atlanta.

I seeded my back lawn with Eco-Lawn last fall and seeded again this spring. The grass grew very well until the hot weather hit. Now it is becoming brown in many areas. From what I read about it, that means it needs more water, however that does not seem to be helping too much.

Do you have any comments or suggestions? Do I just need to be more patient? It is supposed to take a full year for the lawn to mature.

A: If the mixture is as described here:

Sheeps Fescue, 15%
Dawson Slender Red Fescue, 20%
SR5210 Creeping Red Fescue, 20%
SR 5100 Chewings Fescue, 15%
Jasper Creeping Red Fescue, 10%
Scaldis Hard Fescue, 10%
SR 3150 Hard Fescue, 10%

then in my opinion it will not grow here. All of the fine fescues are not heat tolerant.

Even turf-type tall fescue suffers greatly when night temperatures are above 70 degrees.