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jheyen_gw

Buffalo Grass for Turf

jheyen
19 years ago

I am an engineer that is working on a project in Northeastern Illinois that has a large expanse of open area the has existing turf grass on it that gets mowed at least once a week. I am specifically working on the drainage aspect of the site and am looking for a grass that has a better root structure that will allow for more water infiltration as well as a lower maintenance turf that will help me "sell" this idea to the client. I have been specifically looking at buffalograss becuase of it's low maturity height and excellent root depth. I was wondering what everyone's thoughts were on trying this. I know that buffalgrass is a warm weather grass, which concerns me as to the added maintenance needed to it because of weeds and such. I do, however, believe that the impacts of the increased infiltration can have a large impact on the amount of runoff in the area.

Also, if there are any other varities that you would suggest, I would be happy to hear about them. I am definitely not a horticulturalist or a biologist, so I don't have the background knowledge to know what to look for.

Thank you all for your time.

Comments (6)

  • veronicastrum
    19 years ago

    I would suggest you call one of these nurseries and explain your project. All of these nurseries are VERY helpful and willing to share their vast knowledge.

    Agrecol - Madison, WI 608-226-2544
    Prairie Nursery - WEstfield, WI 800-476-9453
    Spence Restoration Nursery - Muncie, IN no phone # on website

    They all have websites that can easily be found through Google. Spence in particular has a lot of drainage info.

    Good for you for looking for a better alternative to turf grass!

    V.

  • Judy_B_ON
    19 years ago

    You might want to get a restoration ecologist in for a consult. Union Gas, a utility company here is S Ontario used a tall grass meadow instead of turf for their corporate offices and dramatically cut their annual maintenance costs. Now established, their acre+ property requires only 10 person hours of weeding per year, basically a day in the spring. Turf would have required 2 to 3 hrs of weekly mowing plus fertilizing, watering and pesticide applications all season.

    I have a small patch of buffalo grass in my front yard. I retain the previous season's dead grass until the new growth starts. It is dense enough to prevent most weeds.

  • apcohrs
    19 years ago

    Do you really want a grass that will be dead brown from october to may?

    Just make sure that's what you really want before you plant. Also buffalo grass CAN be intolerant of midwestern climate.

    There are some fescue/perennial rye strains that have been developed which are slower growing and more drought tolerant than the ususal lawn grass mix. You might want to investigate them.

  • pickwick
    19 years ago

    have grown Bachloe with Bouteloua(blue grama)as it is slower to germinate and establish.Granite Seed states:"...slow to establish unless treated with potassium nitrate."
    in agreement with Apcohrs' suggestions

  • plantlust
    19 years ago

    jheyen
    You may want to consider Carex spp instead, or in addition to buffalo grass. Buffalo grass is very picky in my yard. Needs to be well drained and full sun, croaks in any hint of shade.

    Have you thought about a mix, instead of a straight mono culture. In the dry, sunny part of my yard, I've mixed buffalo grass, pasque flower and wild petunia. Other species prefer a more shaded area.
    Lucent caused traffic jams and near miss car accidents with their Lisle/Naperville site (before they demolished it to put in a new building). It wasn't "pure" but they had included dame's rocket surrounded by a border of ox-eye daisy. They burned yearly and by year 3 I noticed less of the dame's rocket and ox-eye daisy. Apparently, it was put in to impress the uninformed.

  • jheyen
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    I have contacted a few nurseries to see what kinds of information they can give me about buffalograss or other varieties and mixes. Airport design is very stringent as to the type of grass selected because you do not want to attract more wildlife to the area. Any type of native plant that may be a food soure must not be used. Also, because of the cover characteristics of some of the taller native plants I am limited to the height. The limited height, however, is an attractive selling point that I am going to mention to airport managers as a possible way for them to save money.

    I am very interested to see what the nurseries have to say about my situation and will certainly post my findings here. Thank you for all of your help.

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