Epharaim Crested Wheatgrass spreads by rhizomes, but I think it spreads more slowly than something like Kentucky Bluegrass (or even streambank or western wheatgrass).

The crested wheatgrass should do ok even in a semi-arid area with no watering, while the other grass will probably die out. However, to promote rhizomes, you'll probably need to water once every couple of weeks as the soil dries out. Don't water more than once a week unless you want the crested wheatgrass to suffer (maybe even die).

Thanks for the info.

Will watering 1" every two weeks keep crested wheatgrass green?

Thanks.

Most sites I found that talked about watering crested wheatgrass said that it may need .75 inch per week in the summer to stay green. That doesn't seem right to me, though. If I were you, I'd try giving it an inch every other week, and if that doesn't work, increase the frequency a little.

If it really needs .75 per week, you'll need to do something else to get rid of the fescue, because fescue can get by with that much water, also.

Of course, over time, since the fescue is a bunch grass, the crested wheatgrass should become dominant, anyway.

If it really needs .75" per week, then it's not that much better than KBG with watering requirements. Both go dormant when there isn't enough water, and both green up when there is. So it uses a little less water, but not enough (in my opinion) for people to use crested wheat for a majority of their lawn. About all it does is make the "how dare you have 2 acres of KBG" people quiet.

Interesting.

As I said, I don't think that's really accurate.

I'm pretty sure you can water crested wheatgrass every other week, or possibly even less often and have it stay green. I don't know for sure, because my lawn is still mostly KBG, so I'm still watering once a week. I can't always tell the difference between the wheatgrasses (I've used crested, streambanke and western), but I do know that I have grass growing in spots that were always dead before, even when I watered more often (areas the sprinklers don't reach very well, for example). I've got some spots that no longer get any water from sprinklers and they have grass growing in them just from the little rain we get (it's not thriving, but it's not dead or dormant, either).

As time goes on, I'll continue to cut back on my watering, with the expectation that the KBG will do less well and the wheatgrasses (and sheep fescue starting this fall will thrive. It would be nice to stop watering altogether, but I doubt if I'll be able to cut back to less than once a month, and once every two to three weeks is probably more realistic.

It'll go dormant with no water at all, but it should stay green with infrequent watering. One other thing to note is that if you let it go dormant, it snaps out of dormancy really quickly (much more quickly than KBG does). So, if you wanted to take it to extremes and find out exactly how long it can go, let it go dormant, then bring it out of dormancy. Then you know how long it takes to go dormant, and you can water just before that.

I found this link that has some info about different alternatives to KBG, along with sample plots in Greeley (not sure where in Colorado you are, so this might not be helpful).

As a side note, I think KBG has higher water requirements than some alternatives, but I think many people simply overwater it. I have many neighbors who water daily. I water weekly. If we ever get watering restrictions, their lawns will suffer more than mine, because they've trained their grass to have short roots.

Thanks! I will try letting it go and see how long it takes.