Cock’s-foot

How to recognise it

Habit

Robust, loose to dense tussock of 30–120 cm, without runners; grey-green to bluish green.

Leaf

Flat, 3–10 mm wide, rough and grey-green. The shoots are strikingly flattened at the base, with keeled leaf sheaths. The ligule is long (up to 1 cm), white and papery; there are no auricles.

Flower

One-sided panicle of 5–15 cm with dense clusters of spikelets at the ends of stiff branches; the lowest branch spreads widely. Flowers from May to July, with purple to yellow anthers.

Fruit/Seed

Spikelets with 2–5 florets; the lemmas have a fringed keel and a short awn. The seed ripens in July–August and drops readily.

Roots

A deep, densely branched fibrous root system, which makes it very drought tolerant.

Confusion with

Tall fescue has rounded shoots, distinct auricles at the base of the leaf blade and a looser, more even panicle. In woodland grows a slenderer, rarer relative with a looser panicle and lemmas without long hairs on the keel.

Flowering: May–July · Pruning: June and September

Why grow it?

• Foodplant for the caterpillars of, among others, the large skipper, Essex skipper, speckled wood and ringlet.
• Its dense tussocks are winter shelter for ground beetles, spiders and other useful predators; in England it is sown on ‘beetle banks’ between fields for that reason.
• Mice and voles make runs and nests among the tussocks; finches, sparrows and other seed-eaters take the seed in late summer.
• Grows almost anywhere: in sun or light shade, on dry or moist soil, and stays green even in dry summers thanks to its deep roots.
• A long-established, widely used fodder grass, for hay as well as for grazing.
• Gives structure to a wild corner: the panicles stay standing into winter.

Cock’s-foot: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: hay meadows, pastures, road verges, dykes, field margins, woodland edges, open woods and waste ground.
• Sun to partial shade; it tolerates more shade than most meadow grasses.
• Dry to moist soil, preferably fertile: loam, clay or sand. It does not survive on wet ground that is flooded for long periods.
• In the garden: in a wild corner, a strip of long grass along a hedge or a flowery hay meadow on fertile soil. On poor sand it stays small.

Goes well with

• False oat-grass: Together they form the classic flowery hay meadow on fertile soil.
• Brown knapweed: Purple flowers in July–August for bees and butterflies.
• Wild carrot: White umbels that attract hoverflies and beetles.
• Tufted vetch: Scrambles through the long grass and flowers purple; food for bumblebees.
• Cow parsley: White umbels in April–May along the same woodland edges and verges.

Cock’s-foot: when and how to plant it?

1. Usually you do not need to plant cock’s-foot: it turns up by itself in any patch of grass that you mow less often.
2. If you do want to sow it, buy seed of native origin from a nursery for wild plants, preferably in a mix with other grasses and flowers.
3. Sow from late August to October or in March–April on loosened, weed-free soil. Sow thinly, rake in lightly and firm; no cold period is needed.
4. Keep the soil moist until the seedlings appear, after 1–3 weeks.
5. Set plants or plugs 30–40 cm apart.
6. Never dig up tussocks in the wild or from a road verge.

Care

Watering

Not needed: its deep roots carry it through dry summers. Water seedlings only.

Feeding

Never. On fertilised soil it smothers the flowers; poor soil keeps the meadow varied.

Mowing

In a flowery hay meadow twice a year: in late June and in September. Rake up the hay after a few days and remove it.

Spreading

If cock’s-foot dominates your flower meadow, mow a little earlier for the first few years (early June) and always remove the hay; this makes the soil poorer. Dig out tussocks that grow too big with a spade.

Wild corner

Leave a strip in a corner or along a hedge that you mow only once a year or every other year: tussocks form there for overwintering insects.

Tip: For more flowers and less cock’s-foot, mow twice a year and always remove the hay. Do leave a corner of tussocks unmown somewhere: beetles and caterpillars overwinter there.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: June and September.

When: Late June and September, in dry weather.

How:

• Mow at 5–10 cm with a scythe or a bar mower.
• Leave the hay for 2–3 days, so that seed can drop and small creatures can escape, then remove it.
• Mow in sections: leave part standing each time as a refuge for insects.
• In a wild corner, leave tussocks and panicles standing over winter: beetles, spiders and caterpillars overwinter in them.

Caution: Do not use a flail or rotary mower: they kill many insects and amphibians and leave fine clippings that enrich the soil.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Collect ripe seed in July–August and sow it in September or in spring; it germinates readily without a cold period.

Division

In March–April or in September, split a tussock with a spade and replant the pieces straight away.

Cock’s-foot: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• The leaves stay partly green; the tussocks turn grey-green to straw-coloured.
• Fully hardy, to about −30 °C.
• Ground beetles, spiders, ladybirds and young caterpillars overwinter in the dense tussocks.
• In a wild corner the dry panicles stay standing: lovely with frost on them.

Diseases and pests

• Dominance: On fertile soil it smothers the flowers. Mowing twice a year and removing the hay makes the soil poorer, so that the flowers return.
• Hay fever: Cock’s-foot pollen is an important cause of hay fever in May–June. If you are sensitive, mow it near the terrace or windows before it flowers, or let it grow further from the house.
• Rust: Small orange to brown pustules on the leaves in late summer, especially in warm, humid weather. Harmless to the plant; mowing and removing the cuttings helps.
• Choke (Epichloë): A fungus forms a white, later orange sleeve around the stem, so that the panicle does not emerge. Cut off affected stems; the problem usually stays local.

Through the year

• March: New shoots. Divide tussocks or sow.
• April: Sow on bare soil. The flattened, bluish-green shoots grow fast.
• May: Flowering starts; lots of pollen in the air.
• June: In full flower. Mow the meadow in late June and remove the hay.
• July: Seed ripens. Skipper caterpillars feed on the leaves.
• August: Regrowth after mowing. Collect seed.
• September: Second cut of the meadow. Sow or divide.
• October: Still time to sow. Leave the wild strip standing.
• December: The tussocks shelter overwintering insects.

Did you know?

• Dactylis comes from the Greek daktylos, finger, after the finger-like branches of the panicle; glomerata means ‘clustered into balls’.
• In North America, where it was introduced as a fodder grass, it is called orchard grass: a name that recalls how well it grows in the light shade of orchards.
• The name cock’s-foot refers to the panicle, which looks like a bird’s foot.