Native Plants

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Monday - June 15, 2009
From: Houston, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Problem Plants, Grasses or Grass-like
Title: Removal of weeds in buffalograss mix in Houston
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I recently attempted to seed a small lawn area with a buffalo/blue grama grass mix, unfortunately for me the area has been hit hard with weeds. Is there an environmentally friendly method to reduce/eliminate the weeds without also killing the native grass?ANSWER:
Yep, pull them out. Sorry, this is the biggest problem with planting the Bouteloua dactyloides (buffalograss)/Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama) mix - that undesirable weeds, including other grasses, will come popping up, and the grass mix you have planted is not very aggressive about defending its turf. If you have not already done so, read our How-To Article Native Lawns: Buffalograss. We will give you some close-up pictures of the two grasses in the mix, which will hopefully assist you in identifying which plant should be pulled out and which should stay.
More Grasses or Grass-like Questions
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Planting creeping phlox for a groundcover
June 13, 2014 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants,
I live in Southwestern PA (zip code 15065). I have a small slope on my property that is hard for me to mow. I would like to cover it with creeping phlox, which I saw on t...
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March 19, 2010 - I'm looking for native (Southwestern Ontario, Canada) plants to slow erosion and provide a nice appearance on a mildly steep, 20 foot bank leading to a large pond. The bank faces west. And, are tree...
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