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Meadows & Prairies

Best native species for lawn in mid atlantic area?

15 years ago

I live in the DC area and that equates to wild unpredictable weather, from two to three week long droughts to torrential rainfalls to blistering heat to blistering cold. This summer, the weather has done a number on my lawn, big bare patches are all over the place from where grasses died and the rest of the lawn is is low density and has various patches of weeds on it choking some areas, especially spurge. I'm looking into replacing my lawn with native grasses someday in hopes of having a tough and low maintenance lawn that requires little water but looks decent at the same time. Anybody recommend anything?

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Comment (1)

ladyslppr
15 years ago
I am not sure there really is a grass native to the eastern seaboard that would make a good low lawn. There are several that could make a slightly taller lawn. For example, I have seen nice stands of Little Bluestem (a native grass) that are regularly mown to about 4 inches high and look nice all summer, turning a nice fall red/yellow color, then a rather colorful hay color all winter. I don't know if Little Bluestem would survive being mowed to a couple of inches as typical lawns are, but with the mower on its highest setting, you could have an interesting and native lawn. I am not sure how it would stand up to heavy foot traffic, but should be fine with the sort of occassional traffic that most lawns receive. A sort-of-native choice is Buffalo Grass, which is native to parts of the western US, but not to the east. Buffalo Grass is available commercially for lawns, and Little Bluestem seed is also available.

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