I heard we should stop planting St. Augustine which takes SO much water to keep alive, and plant "native grasses" which don't require as much. What's a native grass around our neck of the woods? [Zone 8B]. To me that means weeds. Am I right?
The idea makes sense, but what do I know? That's why I'm asking you guys.
We spent good money to put the St. Augustine in, and 90% of it died in the 2005 drought. I spent MOST of 2006 watering to try to keep it alive, killing some plants in the flowerbeds nearby which don't want that much water.
Lu
Planting NATIVE GRASSES (= weeds?) to conserve water???
One good one is:
Muhlenbergia capillaris
Gulf Coast Muhly
Another good one is:
Stipa tenuissima
Mexican Feathergrass
And yet another is:
Chasmanthium latifolium
Inland SeaOats
All of which do well for me just down the road a piece on the Katy Prairie. If you need sources for these plants in early spring, let me know--best to dmail me--I don't always check on this forum real regularly. None of which are "weeds" in my opinion, but I'm quite sure others will have differing opinions.
Debbie
You could use Buffalograss http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/133938
It is supposed to be very good, they sell it at many places and it is not a weed.
Josephine
I find buffalo grass is not real fond of our frequent deluges (in my garden) but I do know some parts of town where it is growing good. Like center islands on divided roads that never get any rain. Big bunch of it on Gessner in front of Town and Country mall--but they are giving it no supplemental water, at all, ever. I know, I drive down there every day to work. The mexican feathergrass in front of Herman Memorial Hospital looks soooo cool when the wind is blowing--that's right across from Town and Country Mall too.
edited to add:
Both of the papers suggest excellent prairie grasses that do well in OUR part of the state; both of which can be obtained by visiting the Katy Prairie Conservancy website (just google it--it will pop right up):
Cameron, G. 1996. Impact of exotic species on biodiversity of coastal prairie. Presented at The Coastal Prairie and Native Grasses Symposium. Houston, Texas, 24 October.
Campbell, J. A. 1996. Native Gulf coast prairie restoration project. Presented at The Coastal Prairie and Native Grasses Symposium. Houston, Texas, 24 October.
This message was edited Dec 14, 2006 6:29 PM
I agree dmj, Buffalograss's biggest enemies are overwatering, acidic soil and shade, I think those deluges might kill it, but it would love our long rainless summers. I wonder if anyone around here is growing it.
I especially like the pink Muhly, but I like most of the smaller ornamental grasses.
Thank you all. If you have further info on any of these, (I should have asked before), I'd rather have something that doesn't need to be reseeded, but rather perennial, since I have a lot of area to cover.
Lu
Lu, all the grasses mentioned are perennial, and Buffalograss only needs to be mowed two or three times a year. I think you have to use grass plugs to get it started.
Josephine.
dmail me--I can link you to the information
When we built this house a few years ago we used a wild grass seed mix and have just let it do it's own thing since then.