Native And Non-native Grasses

Lawn research plots 1:
The octagonal beds at the Wildflower Center where the characteristics of common Bermudagrass were compared to Buffalograss and a mixture of up to seven native grass species. Each octagonal bed includes all the grass combinations, with the nine octagons allowing mowing and other treatments to be replicated.
Photo by: The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Lawn research plots 2:
The octagonal beds at the Wildflower Center where the characteristics of common Bermudagrass were compared to Buffalograss and a mixture of up to seven native grass species. Each octagon includes all the grass combinations, with different octagons used to replicate mowing or other conditions the grasses were exposed to.
Photo by: The Lady Bird Johnson Widlflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Common Bermudagrass:
A close-up of common Bermudagrass used in the Wildflower Center research study. It is a non-native grass often used alone to create lawns in yards in Texas and other warmer climates.
Photo by: The Lady Bird Johnson Widlflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Buffalograss:
A close-up of Buffalograss used in the Wildflower Center research study. It is a native grass often used alone to create lawns in Texas and other warmer climates, and occurs in the Great Plains of North America. Buffalograss-only lawns have been reported to handle foot traffic and flooding poorly (however Buffalograss held up to foot traffic in the conditions tested in the Ecological Engineering study).
Photo by: The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Mixed native turf grass:
A close-up of two Great Plains grasses – curly mesquite and blue grama – mixed in with five other grasses that outperformed common Bermudagrass. Some of these grasses such as Buffalograss are commercially available to some extent, and it grows naturally from Texas to Canada. Others, such as curly mesquite are more difficult to find commercially, and occur naturally in just a few states, but likely have counterparts in other states.
Photo by: The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Blue grama:
A close-up of seedheads on blue grama, one of the native grasses used in the mixed turfgrass of seven native species that would require less mowing and resist weeds better than common Bermudagrass lawns.
Photo by: The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Curly mesquite:
A close-up of seedheads on curly mesquite, one of the native grasses used in the mixed turfgrass of seven native species that would require less mowing and resist weeds better than common Bermudagrass lawns.
Photo by: The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Traditional European lawn:
A close-up of the Simmons family home lawn in the county of Cornwall, England. A mixture of native grasses with daisies, clover and other plants is considered the norm in many historical settings in the United Kingdom.
Photo by: Dr. Mark Simmons of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

A landscape in Cornwall:
Native grasses and native wildflowers at Ogo-dour, a cliff in Cornwall, England, the county where Dr. Simmons grew up.
Photo by: Dr. Mark Simmons of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

A landscape in Oxfordshire:
Native grasses growing on a hill in the Vale of White Horse, a district of Oxfordshire, England.
Photo by: Dr. Mark Simmons of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Mark Simmons:
Dr. Mark Simmons, director of the Ecosystem Design Group, who lead the native lawn research study published in Ecological Engineering.
Photo by: Philip Hawkins at The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center of The University of Texas at Austin.

Measuring turfgrass density:
Michelle Bertelsen, an ecologist at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, measuring the density of the grass in one of the turfgrass plots. To do so, Bertelsen counted the number of blades of grass touching a pin placed at regular intervals along a string suspended between metal supports.
Photo by: The Lady Bird Johnson Widlflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Sprinkling dandelion seeds:
Holly Zafian, a former research assistant at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, placing dandelion seeds in contact with the soil of a turfgrass plot. The same number of dandelion seeds was placed at the same density in each plot, with red cloth pinned to the corners of each square that was treated.
Photo by: The Lady Bird Johnson Widlflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Mimicking Foot Traffic:
Holly Zafian, a former research assistant at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, using a work horse to mimic foot traffic across a bed of turfgrass plots. No difference was seen in the density of leaves of Bermudagrass and the native grasses after soil compaction under the conditions studied.
Photo by: The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Buffalograss vs. common Bermudagrass:
A close-up of a plot of Buffalograss by itself next to a plot of Bermudagrass.
Photo by: The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Bermudagrass profile:
Close-up of common Bermudagrass. This non-native grass has a tree-like growth, with a single stalk of grass producing multiple branches at its upper edge. With infrequent mowing, the grass will look thin, or "scalped." Mowing on a regular basis, sometimes weekly, is required to shorten the height of the branching point so the grass retains its density.
Photo by: The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Native grass profile:
Close-up of the architecture of a native grass such as Buffalograss. The grass stalks do not branch, so the grass stays as lush when reduced mowing is done to save resources. Native grasses often grow slower than Bermudagrass, requiring less mowing for that reason as well.
Photo by: The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.