Native Plants

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A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Thursday - March 26, 2009

From: Tucker, GA
Region: Southeast
Topic: Grasses or Grass-like
Title: Native grasses for Georgia
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I am new to Georgia by way of Colorado and would like to plant a drought resistant, tough grass/sod alternative in my backyard. Would buffalo / grama grass do ok in this climate? My backyard doesn’t get full sun and is somewhat sloped.

ANSWER:

There is good news and bad news. First, the good news: Bouteloua dactyloides (buffalograss) is shown in our Native Plant Database as being native to Georgia. The bad news? It really requires sun to survive and flourish. We consider "full sun" to be six hours or more of sun a day. There are, however, a number of grasses native to Georgia that are acclimated to shady conditions, and we will give you a list. We are going to go to our Native Plant Database, do a Combined Search on Georgia, grass and grass-like plants (under Habit) and part shade (2 to 6 hours of sun a day) and shade (less than 2 hours of shade a day), Light Requirements, and see what we can find. You can duplicate our method and make your own choices. While you are researching your options, can we suggest you read a couple of our How-To Articles on native lawns and grasses? The first is Native Lawns, the second is Meadow Gardening which might get you interested in an alternative to sod that is attractive and environmentally friendly, including helping with erosion on your slope. Follow our plant links to the individual webpage on each grass where you will find expected heights and propagation instructions; for more information, go to the bottom of that page and click on the Google link for that plant. If you have difficulty locating the grasses you select, go to our Native Plant Suppliers directory, enter your town and state and you will get a list of native plant nurseries, seed suppliers and landscape and environment consultants in your general area.

Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama)

Bouteloua hirsuta (hairy grama)

Carex cherokeensis (Cherokee sedge)

Carex texensis (Texas sedge)

Chasmanthium latifolium (Inland sea oats)

Muhlenbergia schreberi (nimblewill)

Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem)

Tridens flavus (purpletop tridens)