Good for you Greg

I have a Microlaena lawn, in parts of my weedy mixture paddock. It makes such a lovely lawn, its so soft, and when it is mowed it mats together nicely.

Do you think it does better in shady spots ? Doe you think it needs watering every so often ?

Is this lawn going to be mowed ?

If it is left to seed it is very pretty, so soft and delicate.

Have you tried Oplismenus sp ? Another structurally pleasing native grass, that grows at different angles creating an interesting patch.

Gardening Aust. had a bit about native plants last week.

Just one more question....did you create the lawn from seed ?

Popi

From seed.
Microlaena does well in quite deep shade actually.
And it will be mowed, although I encouraged them to let it go to seed over spring and summer.

It may require occassional watering if we have a particularly hot and dry summer. Even if it does brown off a bit for a while over summer Microlaena always comes back as soon as it rains.

But this is unlikely because the area is shaded in summer and the soil was relatively moist 20cm under the surface. The surface was very dry indeed because of the surface roots of the Oak tree and this was obviously what was killing off all the other shallow rooted turf varieties the people had tried.

Griffin Microlaena has a very similar growth habit to Tall Fescue.

I'm not sure why you call it "Griffin" M. What does Griffin relate to ?

When you say seed...did you just collect heaps of seed, and then broadcast it at the site ? How long did it take to germinate ?

My experiences of m. stipoides in sydney has not been positive. Required so much watering that it became impractical.I stopped watering and it died back to a few crevices in the deep shade. I don't think its the answer for sunny spots in sydney

In response to Popi's query about the significance of the name Griffin - see this link to entry in Plant Breeders Rights database

Here is a link that might be useful: Microlaena stipoides 'Griffin'

In response to gonow's bad experience with Microlaena.

Microlaena normally grows in low lying areas with heavy clay or silty soils that are likely to be moister on average. The moisture I am refering to is found several centimetres or more below the surface. Ttop few centimetres is rather irrelevant to Microlaena given that its roots penetrate at least 30cm into the sub-soil.

If you have planted it on a sloped area or in sandy or rocky soils then it is not surprising that it did not do well.

A better choice would have been Bothriochloa macra or red leg grass which I have seen thriving on very dry rocky hill sides in Bulla - Victoria. The roots of this species have been recorded at reaching a depth of 1.2m. The same company also sells a variety of this species for lawns.

Microlaena is a winter grass and goes dormant in particularly hot dry weather where as Bothriochloa is a summer grass and goes dormant (and turns red) in winter. What you could have done is mixed the two in your lawn. Microlaena would have been active and green in the cooler moister weather over winter and Bothriochloa in the drier hotter weather over summer.

Where did you get the seed from ?

The trouble in Sydney is that it is often dry in winter and wet in summer. However, it's the week/month of dry weather in summer which kills non-indigenous plants, or plants planted out of their natural enviroment. I have seen microlaena do well here, as mentioned it is on moist fertile soil in filtered light.

Where do you get the seed from?
Me if you are local or otherwise Native Seeds: http://www.nativeseeds.com.au/categories.asp?cID=37

Try the Bothriochloa pos02. I have seen it growing and thriving under the most hostile conditions on a very dry rocky hill side in Bulla - Victoria.

I have never seen it growing naturally in the generally damper areas where you find Microlaena.

Have a look at the Bothriochloa lawn here:

Here is a link that might be useful: Bothriochloa and Griffin Microlaena lawns

Weed grasses are a major, major problem in Australia. I understand that there are almost 500 exotic species which have become naturalised. Many of them, sadly, are things which have been introduced by hopeful graziers, but turned out to be less nutritious (but more aggressive) than the native grasses which they have supplanted!
The danger does exist that we native gardners could do the same thing, by introducing non-indigenous grasses to our own areas, where they could supplant perfectly suitable local species. We really need to be experimenting with the locals, rather than buying seeds from afar. The problem is that we need either good local advice, or to have learned to identify our own grasses. Then there is the problem of doing the experimentation without getting our grass patches full of grassy weeds! Oh for a good, Australia-wide network of botanical gardens dedicated to trialling plants from their own areas.
In the Toowoomba area, there is a Panic (Homopholis belsonii) (grows at Jondaryan among other places) which is rare and threatened, and shows all signs of being an excellent spreading mowable lawn grass for dry shade. Someone should be trialling it, but I don't think I could manage it myself. How I wish I could just go and buy seed!
I have let Oplismenus spread from natural occurrences in my yard. It's lovely in summer (in the shade) but dies back for a rather long winter recess. I don't water it of course.
Has anyone else found local grasses that convert happily to lawns?
Cheers, Trish

Compared to the exotic rubbish that is going into gardens these days and invading native bushland, even a non-indigenous form of a local grass species is a 'giant leap'. At least it wouldn't fundamentally alter the look of the bushland if it did spread through it. I think to expect that people always plant material of local provenenace right down to lawns is unrealistic, certainly at this point in time.

Native Seeds is working on other varieties of Microlaena such as 'Tasman'. Not sure where that variety hales from, presumably Tasmania.

Very true, Greg. I can't manage it myself. Wish I could, though.
Trish

For clay soils native seeds recommend a mix of red grass and wallaby grass. I have seeded both in my garden recently in Caroline Springs (Melbournes West) and hope it turns out well. The redgrass won't sprout till early summer so for the intial six months I'll have to rely on the wallaby grass which can be a bit patchy on its own. Luckily for me both species are common in my area.

The best thing is how I was told to prepare my bare site for planting by Native Seeds: rake of my clay soil lightly to put in some grooves, spread the seed by hand and then all I have to do is keep the soil moist until seeds germinate. Periodic watering is all that is needed at most after that. If I need seed I'll let the seed heads grow, collect and resow.