Native Plants

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Tuesday - February 23, 2016

From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Groundcovers, Shade Tolerant, Grasses or Grass-like, Herbs/Forbs
Title: Ground covers for a shady spot in central Texas
Answered by: Guy Thompson

QUESTION:

I reside in Austin, Texas and need advice on my xeriscaping project. Portions of my front yard have always been a challenge to get grass to grow, so I have xeriscaped that area with Fairland Pink granite and salvias. I have also established a small pocket prairie of Texas cupgrass based on a catalog provided by the Native American Seed Company. The remainder of the yard is largely shaded during the summer midday by a Chinese pistache tree and almost completely shaded in the late afternoon by the pistache tree and a large cedar elm. This shaded section is mostly St. Augustine grass with some other thirsty and (I think) unattractive grasses. I would like to convert this shaded area to something attractive and drought resistant. I�ve considered the granite, but it requires quite a bit of weeding and I don�t especially like rock yards. They look fine in Phoenix, Tucson, and Las Vegas where much of the natural landscape is barren, but just don�t look right in Austin. I would be willing to physically remove the thirsty grasses and replace them with something more drought resistant, but am at a loss for what to plant. I need an attractive, drought-resistant grass that will grow well in the shade of my front yard. It also should be attractive enough to keep the homeowner�s association happy. Any suggestions?

ANSWER:

Unfortunately, there are no low-growing (for the Neighborhood Assoc.) native grasses that grow well in central Texas in areas as shady as yours. So you will have to choose a non-grass species. There are some grass-like sedges that are fine in shady areas, but most need at least occasional watering. And there are several good broad-leaf candidates for your spot.

Lots of people have the same problem that you do, and many of them have asked Mr. Smarty Plants for advice. Here are a few answers that might be helpful. They come as the result of searching the MSP archives for Austin groundcovers for shady application:

Compatibility of mixed ground covers with St. Augustine grass
Strip Groundcover for Austin, TX
Shade grasses for central Texas
Native lawn replacement for shady areas in Austin
Sunny and shady lawns from Austin
Grass for shady area

There’s plenty more, but that’s probably enough.

In reading those recommendations- These look like good possibilities:

Groundcovers: Calyptocarpus vialis (Straggler daisy), Phyla nodiflora (Texas frogfruit), Geum canadense (White avens)

Sedges: Carex blanda (Eastern woodland sedge), Carex planostachys (Cedar sedge), Carex texensis (Texas sedge)

Grasses: Paspalum setaceum (Thin paspalum), Bouteloua hirsuta (Hairy grama)

Herbs: Salvia lyrata (Lyreleaf sage), Salvia roemeriana (Cedar sage), Callirhoe involucrata (Winecup), Chamaecrista fasciculata (Partridge pea)