As a spin off to the "5 Gallon Tree" thread. I'm looking to plant / grow quite a bit of low maintenance native Texas grass and my new home. We recently purchased an acre in north Texas. The developer sodded and irrigated roughly 10,000 sqft of the property. But the large portion of the property is just dirt with very little growth. I'd like to throw out a lot of seed to get something to grow to prevent erosion and for aesthetics. Looking for something natural that I won't have to water.

Any leads on what to buy, where to buy and best time to throw it out? Would be looking to cover at least 20,000 sq ft.

I don't know the area/plants for that area, but at a minimum go ahead and do a soil test. Others will come along and help with the rest.

Throw out 5 pounds of Bermuda seed and call it a day

TAMUK does a lot of work with native plants, although I imagine most of their work is done on those that grown in South Texas. Still, it wouldn't hurt to contact someone there and see if they have any leads or could help you.

https://www.ckwri.tamuk.edu/research-programs/texas-native-seeds

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low maintenance native Texas grass

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in no way equals

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Throw out 5 pounds of Bermuda seed

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Here's a good Turf Talk blog for the OP.

You can look at this table from Turner Seeds (near the bottom of the page) for some information. Note their is a column delineating native seed from introduced seed varieties.

And native seeds from Native American Seed Co as well.

I will say that native grass seed is often expensive and it's worth the effort to baby it a little at first. It may be more intensive the first year or two, but is often much less water and resource intensive in the long run.

I have a lot of Buffalo grass that has been planted from seed and it has done extremely well in Leander. I also have it at my ranch in Blanco.

Thanks! I had already come across that blog. Thats basically the direction I am wanting to go. Was hoping to avoid the higher price, but I think in the long run this is going to be the best bet.

google texas native seeds, find a blend that's close to your geographic area. Be prepared for it to look really bad for a long time. Don't mow it. If you want bonus points, use a mix for pollinators. You sound like you're on the monarch flyway. Get a good mix of grass and forbs.

if you don't want that look, go the 5 lbs of Bermuda route.

Have about 200 acres of prairie restoration going on at the moment. I always tell folks to expect at LEAST 3 years to start looking good.

I kill Bermuda. May look good, but basically worthless to wildlife.

Buffalo Grass
Curly mesquite
Blue Grama

These are the 3 best native shortgrasses for Texas. Add in some sideoats grama and sand dropseed for a little taller (1-2' tall) variety of you don't mind.

Bermuda haters. For an acre around a house it's fine. Water it once a week and call it good.

Kill everything with round up first.
Rake the area, broadcast the seed and then drag a piece of chain link over it (or lightly re rake, the seeds should be just in the surface.
Water lightly, don't flood the stuff or you'll wash the seed away. Keep moist... it'll take a few weeks to germinate. If you are diligent with water you can establish pretty quickly.
I'd wait til late march or early April to seed.

Guys, it's one acre. That's a yard. It's not going to look like the rolling plains of Montana. Just over seed Bermuda, randomly water and mow and be done with it.

It's the accumlative effect of the matter.

giddings_ag_06 said:

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Throw out 5 pounds of Bermuda seed and call it a day

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This x10

giddings_ag_06 said:

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Guys, it's one acre. That's a yard. It's not going to look like the rolling plains of Montana. Just over seed Bermuda, randomly water and mow and be done with it.

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better plan... Spray Roundup on a super windy day and kill all your neighbors Bermuda.

giddings_ag_06 said:

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Bermuda haters. For an acre around a house it's fine. Water it once a week and call it good.

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Or how about simply answering the OPs question. He specifically stated he wanted native options.

Just lightly scratch the areas and fertilize it. Whatever is "native" will naturally take over.

In North Texas, that would be Johnsongrass.

True in theory, but not in practicality. What it'll do is expose whatever seed is in the seed bank. That could be native, but often it's whatever nasty invasive happens to be there. Johnson grass, sericea, etc, etc. Even if you get a good flush of natural growth in year one it's rarely the grass you're looking for. That'll take a couple of years (2-5) to come in right. Year one is often weedy forbs. Giant and common ragweed are the first to show where I live. That can be a 4-12 foot wall of plant material.

Restoring true native grasses can be pretty difficult in a lot of instances.

Sean98 said:

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True in theory, but not in practicality. What it'll do is expose whatever seed is in the seed bank. That could be native, but often it's whatever nasty invasive happens to be there. Johnson grass, sericea, etc, etc. Even if you get a good flush of natural growth in year one it's rarely the grass you're looking for. That'll take a couple of years (2-5) to come in right. Year one is often weedy forbs. Giant and common ragweed are the first to show where I live. That can be a 4-12 foot wall of plant material.

Restoring true native grasses can be pretty difficult in a lot of instances.

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Oh yea, grow a crap ton of giant ragweed. You'll be the landscaping guru of the neighborhood. Get a little bit of yucca and saguaro going too. Now that's native.

I am south of you, so someone more knowledgeable may correct me. I think you can throw some annual rye grass seed now. It should grow during the early spring and help prevent erosion. It will die when the weather warms up. The downside is that it will pull some nitrogen from the soil, but you will have a nice green lawn in February, March, and April.

Ragweed is a "nursery" plant.

giddings_ag_06 said:

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Guys, it's one acre. That's a yard. It's not going to look like the rolling plains of Montana. Just over seed Bermuda, randomly water and mow and be done with it.

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How dare you assume what my yard will and will not look like!!

But seriously, my goal is to have something that I don't have to water. Also, I don't want an acre of dallis grass. I'd like to plant something before that nasty stuff moves in.

The mix of Buffalo grama and curly mesquite is pretty intriguing.

giddings_ag_06 said:

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Guys, it's one acre. That's a yard. It's not going to look like the rolling plains of Montana. Just over seed Bermuda, randomly water and mow and be done with it.

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did you even read the OP post

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I'm looking to plant / grow quite a bit of low maintenance native Texas grass and my new home.

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That's not bermuda.

Apache said:

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Buffalo Grass
Curly mesquite
Blue Grama

These are the 3 best native shortgrasses for Texas. Add in some sideoats grama and sand dropseed for a little taller (1-2' tall) variety of you don't mind.

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I am north of you but Buffalo and Gramma is what I use in my machinery yard space - and I love it. Talk about Mother Nature doing her thing, when it rains, green(ish) grass. When it does not rain, the plant goes dormant. Does not require much mowing. Agree w posters above on the "be patient with it" comments - not much to see the first year. I purchase my mix from Sharp Bros in Greeley, CO .... just for a data point for pricing comparisons.

Ursusguy- Can you post your seed mix for the 200 acres?

Also, which native grasses are best in rolling terrain with seepy wet areas with black clay and flint rocks in Central Texas?

I've already consulted with various NRCS guys, but want more input before making my final decisions.

Any way to contact you directly?

My restoration work is a bit different (city property). About 160 is fairly unique, so I have volunteer groups collecting seed off areas rated as excellent. Then have two separate ~20 acres remnants (this is how important these remnants are considered to be). I will allow Native American Seed "Blackland Prairie Mix" or "Comanche Mix". There is about 5 acres that we use the "Eastern Savannah Grass Mix"

B1-83 or Apache can probably give you better recommendations for your area. But I would look at something like NAS's "Dam Slope Mix" around the wet areas, and "Blackland Prairie Mix" in the drier areas.

Off the top of my head, for wet central Texas areas I'd recommend the following grasses:

Brushy Bluestem
Seep Muhly
Switchgrass
Inland Sea Oats (More of a shade understory grass)
Wild Ryes (Canadian & Virginia - they like more shade as well)

Any of the mixes mentioned by ursus will work fine.

ursusguy said:

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In North Texas, that would be Johnsongrass.

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Not if he keeps it mowed.

Then you are back to standard lawn, which didn't sound like his goal.

Or mow it really short, wait 10 days and go back with a wick applicator set at about a foot. You can knock the crap out of Johnsongrass that way.

My 2 cents....

The "spray and plant" Method is great - as long as you have a good drill to insure seed/soil contact. Native grasses are EXPENSIVE and if you don't do it right - don't bother. No rake can achieve this in the trash left after spraying. In small areas, I'll bite the billet and tell folks to plow it clean, let it firm, scatter seed, and run pipe or cut cedar over it to "dust it in" - 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

Species - of you want "real natives" you're looking at mid and tall grass species that may not have the aesthetics you want. Buffalo grass and blue gramma stay short and are good at keeping weeds out when established. Blue gramma seed is a beotch to plant - very fluffy.

Thanks guys. I have 100+ acres that was root plowed this year and plan on going back in with native grasses. A fellow landowner I know that runs many thousands of acres of natives recommends a mix of 2 lbs/acre of each of Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Indiangrass and Switchgrass. I don't have immediate access now to the mix NRCS suggested.

As per NRCS and Turner Seeds suggestions, we plan to plow it in the Spring, then use a 3pt broadcast seeder to sling it and then roll it with an old cultipacker. I can't stress enough how substantial of a crop of flintrocks some of these areas have.

Any insight anyone has would be helpful, as I hope to only do this once. Thanks!

That's an excessively heavy seeding rate (assuming they mean PLS - pure live seed - pounds). Big bluestem and little bluestem are EXTREMELY hard to get up, and the little bluestem/imdiamgrass combo is like slinging feathers. For the love of God and all that's Holy, find somebody with a grass drill. I would also change that mix to add some side oats gramma and green sprangletop.

B-1 83 said:

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...... find somebody with a grass drill.....

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This x 77, imho