Buffalo grass

[BB_TX]

Anyone planted buffalo grass in north TX? I have bermuda now. It does pretty well, but even it requires quite a bit of water in our hot dry summers to stay green. And last year's drought really hurt it. Looking for something that can survive better without a lot of watering.
Have not yet been able to find a source for buffalo grass seed in this area.

 

[EddieWalker]

Bill,

I've been thinking about it too. I've seen it on the shelf at Lowes, but hesitate because it's so expensive. When I get my pastures cleared and ready for planting, I'll probably through some out just to see what happens because it sure sounds good from what I've read on it.

Eddie

 

[Egon]

Go to native prairie grasses. They have drought tolerance.

 

[BB_TX]

Thanks, Eddie. Lowes is the one place I have not been to. Reading about buffalo grass says it only needs 12" of water a YEAR to survive. That is a lot better than bermuda. Yeah, I noticed from some suppliers I found on the internet that it is expensive. But apparently it spreads well. And if I don't have to water it in the summer, I would probably save more than the cost of the seed the first summer.

 

[BB_TX]

Go to native prairie grasses. They have drought tolerance.

I believe buffalo is considered a native grass to this area.

 

[jeffinsgf]

I have used some in non-lawn areas of my 10 acres.

You'll note that the statement you quoted said that it needs 12 inches a year to survive. There is a difference between survival and looking like a lawn. My buffalo grass is kind of thin and scraggly. Of course, it has to survive on its own...no water and no fertilizer. It looks a heck of a lot better than the fescue it replaced. I will be planting some more this year, when I work on the drainage on my driveway.

Have you investigated zoysia for your lawn? It handles the heat and drought well, and with just a little care, it looks and feels like a green carpet. Mine is "Companion", which is a seeded variety, rather than sprigs, plugs or sod. The seed is expensive, but the results have been impressive.

 

[texasjohn]

Buffalo grass is a native in Texas. It is low growing, about 4 inches off the ground and thus looks very good without mowing. It propogates via runners and seed. Somewhat slow to establish, but very, very tough and survives and excells in low rainfall situations.

Read all about it here.

 

[BB_TX]

Great site, John. Thanks for the link.

 

[wushaw]

The native Buffalo grass I have on my place went dormant last year and the native Bermuda grass never did...now the Bermuda seed I put in many areas obviously is different than the native stuff that that was already on my place cause it will go dormant if not watered.

The Buffalo grass is a good looking grass and a hardy grass from what I've seen. I would rather have the Buffalo in the yard since you don't need to mow it if you want 4" lawn.

 

[BB_TX]

My bermuda suffer badly during last year's drought. Maybe you got a little more rain that way. I tried to keep it watered and green but without a sprinkler system I did not have much luck. Many areas just died and it is slow coming back this year.
Not sure what variety mine is. I know there are at least two as some was from seed and a little from sod. Planted it 23 yrs ago when we built the house. Last year was the first year it ever suffered like that. The native bermuda on my other land survived pretty well.