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.

Bouteloua dactyloides