Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants

See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

rate this answer

7 ratings

Thursday - February 11, 2010

From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Wildflower Center
Title: Update on Wildflower Center's Turffalo plot
Answered by: Nan Hampton and Julie Krosley

QUESTION:

Hi, I was wondering if you can provide an update about the Turffalo grass installed at the Wildflower Center? The last update was June 26, 2009. We are investigating options for a lawn in South Austin with partial shade/partial sun so the Shadow Turf from Turffalo seemed like it may be a good option since other types of buffalograss state they go dormant in shade. Our lawn is also slightly sloped. If you have other recommendations for this type of site, that is also appreciated. Thank you!

ANSWER:

Here is an update on the Turffalo plot from Julie Krosley, our senior horticulturist:

"Since June of 2009, I can report the Turffalo did fill in. It never got really dense though and presently it is thin and slightly weedy. I am in the process of hand weeding it with my volunteers and plan on putting corn gluten on it early next week. I still stand by my earlier statement that I don't think the Turffalo is any more weed resistant or dense than other varieties of buffalo. I don't know how Shadow Turf performs so I can't comment on that.
I am excited by the studies that Mark Simmons has done on the different native lawn mixes and I would encourage you to come out and look at the test plots and read our 'how to' article on native lawns. I am beginning to think that this is maybe a better way to go instead of a monoculture lawn, even a native one such as buffalo grass"

To find the article about Dr. Mark Simmons's research on native lawn grass mixes click here.

You can also read the How to Article: Native Lawns.