Native Plants
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
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Wednesday - August 17, 2011
From: Allen, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives, Meadow Gardens, Grasses or Grass-like
Title: Non-native bermudagrass in meadow in Allen TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
What is the effect of not killing or removing bermuda grass when converting an area to a prairie meadow in Allen, Texas? Most articles describing how to create and establish a prairie meadow suggest killing or removing all weeds and existing plants. We (an HOA) want to convert several of our community grassy areas into a prairie meadow with native wildflowers and native grasses simply by mowing the bermuda very short and then sowing the area with seeds. While this is perhaps not the best implementaion method, will it work? What will be the effect over one, two, three years? Are you completely opposed to this method?ANSWER:
Read our How-To Articles on Meadow Gardening and on Recreating a Prairie Meadow. Both of these articles point out that leaving existing invasive or non-native grasses in the area will negatively impact the progress in the meadow. See this University of California at Davis Integrated Pest Management article on Bermudagrass. It is considered one of the most invasive weeds in the south, and since it propagates itself largely by underground rhizomes, mowing it close will have little effect on its continued activity. Another How-To Article, this one on Native Lawns: Multi-Species, will give you more information on mowing and just "sowing the area with seeds," which probably won't work.
There is no reason why we would be opposed to anyone's gardening plans, but we do think you should be warned that bermudagrass is not that easy to get rid of.
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