Creeping Red Fescue belongs to the group collectively referred to as fine fescues. While fine fescue is okay to use in Maryland, Creeping Red in particular is less hardy in our summer conditions and is not recommended; Chewings and Hard fescue types are better. You can learn more about grass type on our Starting a New Lawn web page and the Recommended Turfgrass Cultivars publication, which is updated yearly after UMD collects data from local turf trials studying which varieties perform the best in our challenging conditions. The best time of year for fescue lawn renewal (and overseeding existing lawns too) is autumn, but it can also be done in spring if you can't wait until next autumn to do the renovation.

Miri

Great response and very quick. Thanks. UMD rocks. Is there any self-spreading grass that grows in Maryland? I am from the south and St. Augustine is king down there. I am looking for something that gives me the self healing capacity of southern grasses. Thanks again for being so helpful. All the best, Kerry 

Turf-type Bermudagrass is sometimes grown in Maryland, but it's fairly rare outside of special situations like golf courses or sports fields. The primary spreading turf type here is zoysia, which is a warm-season grass (as bermuda is), compared to the cool-season nature of fescues. Our collection of Lawn Care and Maintenance web pages do address zoysia, but their focus is tall fescue since that's the most widely-grown turf type in Maryland. The recommended cultivars publication we linked to earlier does include zoysia cultivars recommended for Maryland lawns. Zoysia is usually planted as plugs (very young plants), though sometimes seed is available. As a warm-season grass, it's established around late spring as it enters active growth.

Miri