Buffalo Grass in North Central Texas
Comments (50)
lou_spicewood_tx
14 years agomarlingardener
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Planning a buffalo grass lawn
Comments (18)Piling into this late ... texas-weed is misinformed on several points, and I have the lawn to prove it. 1 - It doesn't need horizon-to-horizon sun. My lawn gets part morning shade from some big trees to the east and south and it's actually doing a bit better (taller, silkier) in those areas. 2 - UV Verde can handle the heat just fine. See the link. 3 - I don't know about traffic. All we have is quail running across it. If it was lightly played on by a child and a small mostly indoors dog, it might do just fine. 3 - Soil doesn't need to be heavy clay, it just can't be pure sand. As for the watering and mowing, it's taking 1/2 the water of Bermuda and doesn't really need to be mowed. Here is a link that might be useful: Buffalo grass in Phoenix AZ, 4 summers experience...See MoreA Central Texas Lazy Lawn
Comments (11)Hi there--it's hard to say without seeing it, but maybe take some pictures in to a local nursery and ask what they recommend. I don't know if you're near Natural Gardener outside of Austin but they have a lot of bulk buffalograss, blue grama, bermuda and even horseherb. I have a backyard area that is mostly horseherb... I'm not a big fan of it because it dies out in winter, at least here, leaving a big empty dirt patch. It does grow in shade and in sun though. A couple years ago I started weeding out some of the horseherb and replacing that area with wildflowers and buffalograss. It's taking a long time to fill in but I'm being patient... take it from me, though, who tried this without thinking--sowing grass seed in fall (unless it's rye) doesn't produce much. It doesn't have enough time to germinate and grow... it likes warm soil. I'm curious what the tall grass is, though, especially if it's native... You might be able to incorporate it somehow and show it off--by giving it a more controlled look by making paths or something and planting flowers at the edge of the paths... kind of like "framing" the wildness! Have fun experimenting... it's so cool to start with a canvas like that! amy...See Moresuggestions for type of Buffalo grass
Comments (7)You don't have to ever worry about it as long as you don't mind having seed heads sticking up all the time. Otherwise you have to mow it weekly just like every other lawn grass. As far as I know all the seeded varieties are not well behaved as lawn grasses. They send up seed heads and flowers quick and tall making the lawn look shaggy in a week or so. Having said that I do not keep up with the most recent varieties. Buffalo growing in the wild is full of weeds. I have some in my lawn where the St Augustine has not quite reached in to kill it out. Sadly the Turffalo company stopped selling their signature Turffalo variety of buffalo sod. It had the excellent characteristic of sending up the seed heads slowly instead of quickly like most other varieties. That means it never looked shaggy. You might look into the UC Verde variety. I've never seen it as most of it is sold in California. It might be a sod only variety. Turffalo also spread fast and grew extremely dense compared to almost any other grass. Buffalo is known for being sparse thus allowing lots of weeds in, but Turffalo really was much different. It was more of a mutant than a hybrid. Here's a picture. You can see just about every good feature in that picture. That was 3 weeks without mowing and the seed heads are still the same height as the grass. You can also see how dense it is and how it is escaping across the concrete trying to spread. You can also see that the color is not the same sort of deep green you see in other grasses. You might look into some prairie grasses like blue grama and the wheatgrasses. Those also send up seed heads but apparently much more slowly giving you about a month to go between mowings. Your county extension service should know which of the wheatgrasses would do best in your area....See MoreBest Small Tree for Central Texas
Comments (15)East of the highway, Madrone and escarpment Black cherry are not for you. Are you North or south of Austin? You should ask this also on the Texas forum. You will get lots of advise and many more ideas. Mesquite, Persimmon, wax myrtle, tootache tree, Carolina buckthorn, Anacho orchid tree, Acasia right, acacia berlandieri,Possumhaw, Yaupon, rusty Blackhaw Viburnum, Eve'sNecklace,Retama, Waffer ash, South of Austin, there is Mexican olive and Is a beauty. It is good in a protected spot if you are inside the heat dome of austin but if out side, It might die on a cold winter. OH OH OH, arroyo sweet wood is a beauty that is just now caching on.. Huisache is an interesting one for a short flash of color in the spring. It is the first tree to burst and it burst in orange fragrant blooms.. SO many choices....See Morerock_oak_deer
14 years agoannnorthtexas
14 years agoserenitymoon
14 years agogranburyflowergirl
14 years agoredlodge
14 years agoLynn Marie
14 years agogranburyflowergirl
14 years agobjb817
14 years agogranburyflowergirl
14 years agoLynn Marie
14 years agogranburyflowergirl
14 years agoLynn Marie
14 years agogranburyflowergirl
14 years agoWell, okay...if you insist! I am still waiting for the plugs (any day now!)...I spread compost and corn gluten meal over the whole backyard including the test area and watered it in yesterday, so here are the before pics:
Hopefully next week I'll have some progress pics!
Lynn Marie
14 years agoredlodge
14 years agogranburyflowergirl
14 years agoMy plugs came late Wed, I finished putting them in yesterday:
{{gwi:84901}}
Redlodge, I think Buffallo grass with wild flowers sounds lovely (would love to see a pic!). But I would end up with more wild weeds than flowers, and my goal is to reduce weed seeds in the adjacent flower beds.
Lynmanrie I am only testing the grass in the area behind the statue (I know, it really looked like it should have been made into a rose garden after I prepared it, but alas, this is my moms house and I need low maintenance!)Are you asking about my sprinkler behind the statue or the bit of lattice hanging down in front?
granburyflowergirl
14 years agoWell it has been a week since I planted my plugs...
The plugs don't look much bigger but at least they are still looking healthy, I have only had a few small weed seedlings so far. I am hoping we get a little rain and it helps them take off (the plugs, not weeds!). The knockouts are sure busting a move!texaslynn
14 years agoLynn Marie
14 years agogranburyflowergirl
14 years agoWell, it looks like the rain did help, some of the plugs are really starting to spread, unfortunately the rain also moved most of the mulch to the lowest area in the back practically covering the plugs there so I will have to move it back. I had a few more weed seedlings but so far nothing seems to be coming up from under the cardboard/newspaper (knock on wood!). I fertilized yesterday for the first time, With that and the rain I hope next week there will really be a noticeable difference.
{{gwi:84898}}{{gwi:84899}}
Yes Lynn 1, my back still hurts - but this is the season for us gardeners to have backaches I guess! Lynn 2, here is a pic of the lattice thingy...It is a long story but basically it was my crude attempt at building lattice to provide strategic additional shade and privacy for the vantage point of the chair my mom likes to sit in!
Lynn Marie
14 years agokmanster_lycos_com
14 years agogranburyflowergirl
14 years agoWell this is the halfway point if the plugs are to provide full coverage in 40 days...What do you think? Any bets? Per the instructions, I cut watering to 1/2" every other day after week 2. Still dealing with a few weed-lings but nothing serious, and still nothing from under the cardboard (knock on wood!).
I added another area on the right to make use of my left-over plugs (due to miscalculation of the original area). I still have 12 plugs left which I repotted into large containers, I may create a 12' long by 1' wide spot for them to the left.
dchall_san_antonio
14 years agogranburyflowergirl
14 years agoLynn Marie
14 years agogranburyflowergirl
13 years agoits coming along, seems to really like the high temps!
22 days till complete coverage???? Maybe :-)
Lynn Marie
13 years agolou_spicewood_tx
13 years agogranburyflowergirl
13 years agogranburyflowergirl
13 years agoI just got back from a week in California and...WEEDS!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!
Lynn, you are right, it definitely wont be turf by Memorial day but it is starting to look green all over from a distance (I am sure the weeds were contributing to this effect). After taking pics, I spent an hour pulling weeds but they were all seedlings, nothing coming up from beneath the cardboard so I am sold on that technique for prepping to ground.
granburyflowergirl
13 years agoLynn Marie
13 years agolou_spicewood_tx
13 years agogranburyflowergirl
13 years agoYAY! 9 weeks and it finally really looks like a lawn now! Thanks Lou, for the soy meal suggestion; I spread it over my whole lot and watered in with liquid molasses, I think that coupled with the heat has helped both the Tech Turf Buffalo and the Princess 77 Bermuda take off! My Mom's yard has never looked this good!
I now have a 2nd herd of buffalo and will see if it spreads faster than the first due to the heat.
PKponder TX Z7B
13 years agolou_spicewood_tx
13 years agoLynn Marie
13 years agogranburyflowergirl
13 years agowaicklen
13 years agogranburyflowergirl
13 years agoThanks waicklen, well since you asked...why yes, I do!
This pic was taken on 6-20-10:
7-2-10, note the huge pile of crabgrass to the left...I pulled this out of the Bermuda and it's only a drop in the bucket! There was virtually no crabgrass in the Turfallo (probably because I put the cardboard and newspaper down in March - just the right time to prevent the seeds from germinating):
I wasn't sure how it would respond to mowing so I had the 2nd patch (not the original test area) mowed first on 7-14-10:
7-23-10, original test patch is pretty shaggy looking at about 6-8 inches tall, 2nd patch looks good after mowing:
7-24-10 Baby's first haircut:
7-28-10, couple days after the first mowing, grass is brownish, all the green tips were cut off, I was worried...
...but it turned green again pretty quickly as you can see in the background of this pic taken on 8-12-10:
{{gwi:612065}}I am very happy with it, it has weathered this heatwave well with very little attention, I think I watered it maybe 3 times this summer and I probably could have avoided mowing completely if I wanted to.
granburyflowergirl
12 years agoWell, just for fun here is a one year update. I still love this grass, I have only watered it twice this year and it is looking lush even with the drought! (These pics are from the end of May, I need to take some now to show the contrast with the neighbor's dead lawns).
One year:
after mowing:
rock_oak_deer
12 years agolou_spicewood_tx
12 years agoSun-n-Clay
12 years agogranburyflowergirl
12 years agoThanks, yes it is wonderfully low maintenance, I wouldn't have to mow at all if I had done the whole yard in it (that's the plan eventually).
Yes Lou, it's Turfallo (Tech Turf hybrid buffalo)
Sun-n-clay, I got mine from Marshall Grain in Fort Worth, they had to order it for me. I put a mix of compost and topsoil on top of the cardboard and pinebark mulch on top of that to help control weeds during the initial establishment when it had to be watered daily.
I removed the existing weeds/sod first from only half the original area and so that area was lower and got more topsoil but I couldn't tell any difference in terms of growth rate or weeds so I don't recommend doing that, it isn't necessary.
I received an email asking about how it compares to other grasses in winter. It started going dormant a little after the Bermuda and it took longer to go completely dormant. Here is a pic from mid November:
And it greened up completely a bit before the Bermuda as you can see in this pic from March:
I can't compare it to any other grass as that's all I have there.
rock_oak_deer
12 years ago
maidhc_mac