Tall fescue can be invasive in native vegetation. It is encroaching on the Clymer Meadow Preserve, a native prairie in northeastern Texas. Tall fescue typically spreads by establishing in wet or disturbed areas along roads, in eroded patches, and in damp hollows. It grows through the winter, shades out other plants, and begins spreading. It now covers as much as 40 percent of the ground in test plots at Clymer Meadow.
Tall fescue has good tolerance to grazing.
The level of tall fescue endophyte infection tends to increase in a field over time as infected plants outcompete uninfected plants. Management for grazing can include favoring other species to dilute the effect of the toxins on animals.