Thinking About a Buffalograss Lawn?
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- Опубликовано: 6 ноя 2024
- Are you thinking about getting a buffalograss lawn this year? If so, this video details some things to consider before making your decision.
If you want to see the rest of buffalograss series check out this playlist here.
• How Establish and Care...
If you looking for prime grade buffalgrass seed, and a great customer experience call Chase Mitchell at Curtis & Curtis Seed Co. out of Clovis NM
curtisseed.com
Put it in my garden and love it. Just 4" pots. I planted it in autumn. It is VERY happy in Spokane, WA (17" precipitation) It doesn't mind our heavy silt. Haven't fed it-just small sprinkle of compost. It's gorgeous. The seed pods are lovely, and it has a delightful blue and grey to it. ❤
I’m in Houston and you just broke my heart
I'm in Austin and he just made my day!
Thanks for the info I live in Oklahoma city so I was told that Buffalo grass was the way to go.
Here’s the deal: Very VERY few seed dealers have (April 12, 2021) buffalo grass varieties. Sharp Bros. In Healy, KS tells me there is a national shortage, esp. Sundancer. They say that it sold out while it was still in the ground. And that the best time to order it was Oct-Nov. A dealer in Greeley (Pawnee Buttes Seed) said that I could use the TEXOKA variety for lawns, but I hesitate because Texoka has been described as a forage grass, and I haven’t found much about it’s green-ness, the rate of growth, it’s stollen length, etc... basically in comparison to the fine features of Sundancer. Any thoughts on whether Texoka is a good substitute for Sundancer?
DO NOT use Texoka for a lawn.
That is 1950’s tech grass. It was bred to improve pastureland, and isn’t adequate for a high quality lawn.
I’d give Curtis & Curtis Seed Co out of Clovis NM a call (who I source from).
If they don’t have it, I’d evaluate doing plugs or even sod of buffalograss. (see Todd Vally Farms).
If too big for your purse, blue grama can be a temporary option.
Thanks for your content. I am considering planting buffalo grass in my backyard and I live in Atlanta Georgia. Buffalo grass is a native species to Georgia so I’m confused why are you say that it’s not good to plant in the East.
It may be there, but it won’t thrive as a lawn grass. Too much moisture, weed pressure, and Bermuda pressure
I see st Louis is outside of the range for Buffalo grass. Do you have any recommendations for low to no maintenance ground covers for lawns? Micro Clover or regular Clover seems to be a good choice, but I'd be interested in hearing from someone who clearly knows a hell of a lot more about this stuff than I do. Whatever I choose needs to be safe for dogs, cause my dogs definitely love grazing!
Sorry for the late response. Microclover works. I’ve also heard of creeping thyme being a cool grass replacement as well.
I wish I had watched this before I planted sundancer, my area gets about 20 inches per year, I watered too much, when It started to look bad I watered more...that is one difference between bermuda nd buffalo...bermuda will take ALL the water and get stronger...buffalo will just die..,eventually the bermuda took over and all of my sundancer died....I am trying again..Now I know!!! Thanks.
Buffalo grass is a native grass on the eastern plains of Colorado which gets less than 15 inches of water per year.
True, but if you want to keep it green, it’ll take more than that. If you don’t it’ll go into dormancy
I’m in sw KS it’s natural here, in my backyard Bermuda has infested my fescue, it’s too hot and dry for fescue to thrive without constantly watering and reseeding. My experience with Buffalo grass (not from seed but naturally/established) it’s tough, dogs can’t ruin it, it’s natural here and thrives and I want it in my backyard! Can buffalo overtake Bermuda?
The Bermuda is too aggressive for buffalo.
You’ll need to kill the Bermuda off before establishing it.
Thanks for the cautions and recommendations. What is your opinion of soaking the seeds before propagating them? A seed dealer in Kansas recommends soaking the burrs overnight before applying the seed. I was thinking of doing this as well as using the “blanket.” Also, in one of your earlier posts, you demonstrated over-seeding with ( I think) blue gramma: What’s the reason for doing that? And how did it turn out? Finally, what kind of iron supplement did you use... a spray or granular. Thanks for the tip on soil chemistry. I’ll have to get mine tested before I get much deeper into this.
Thanks for watching.
For seed soaking, I’ve never done it because I figured it’d make it hard to spread the burrs from the spreader.
Blue grama, I added it because I had an old bag of seeds from my house in New Mexico. When you keep blue grama mowed it’s virtually indistinguishable from buffalograss, so it adds some diversity to the lawn. Think of blue grama as an analogous to fescue, and buffalograss to KBG.
I used spray ferrous sulfate for the chlorosis issue. This year I’m planning on using ironite and seeing how that works.
What do you think about Ohio? We get hot summer, cold winters. Mostly we can get 4 seasons in a week
I wouldn’t recommend it. I’m using Dayton as an analogue for Ohio, but you simply get too much moisture.
The buffalograss wouldn’t like it, and you’d get way too much weed pressure.
@@theyardfreako that's unfortunate, really like the way it looks. I'm really looking for a hardy prairie grass that works well in wet areas. Thanks for the info!!
By all means if you want to show that I’m wrong, go for it! I’d love to be surprised. I just can’t in good conscience recommend it knowing what I do about the species.
If you’re wanting a prairie type of look for your area I’d highly recommend contacting your local ag outreach. They’d be a lot more knowledgeable than I am for the Ohio area.
@@theyardfreako
I live in Indianapolis Area and my is doing just fine. I give it more credit than what your clameing
Can you give an idea of what setting (#) to set the grass spreader to for Buffalo grass seed (Sundancer). Planning to spread today in the Springs. Thanks!
If the bag the seed comes in doesn’t have a recommendation, put it on a low setting and make multiple passes
So I did it! Seeded Memorial Day weekend. We have had so much rain this season. Watering was not an issue. Finally, some heat in Colorado Springs. The lawn is still quite patchy. What can I expect as far as the lawn coming back in spring and what maintenance should I be prepared for? Do you use Tenacity? How often should you add iron (what product)? Thanks again!
Thanks, what do you know about dog tuff. Thank you
First time I’ve heard about it, so no opinion one way or the other.
Googling it, I’m intrigued.
Will the round up kill the Buffalo grass while you’re trying to germinate and kill the Bermuda grass at the same time
If you do a blanket application of round up, yes it’ll kill the buffalograss as well as the bermuda.
If you have spots of bermuda, then using targeted applications to just those areas judiciously should be fine
Nice video! I started following you last year after our first year establishing a Sundancer Buffalo lawn. After the last freeze, we are starting to green up a bit, but we are curious what fertilizer we should use, if any. Do you have any suggestions? We live just north of Fort Worth. Thanks!
I’d wait one more month for it to green up, then apply half a pound of Nitrogen to the yard derived equally from Milorganite and Jobes Organic Lawn Food.
I planted sundancer cuz of your videos. I live in Vegas. Its doing awesome. Nuked fescue, seeded may 15. Watering same as fescue spring seeding for like 12 weeks. Now less than fescue. It will take low 100s 1" 1 day a week. Im fertilizing like Bermuda now. Iron did wonders we are naturally low. My neighborhood is fescue so not much Bermuda to worry about.
Glad I could help out man. Truly brings me joy to pass on knowledge to folks
@@theyardfreako i can send some pics. I suspect i can back off watering and fert a lot next year. It was 110 to 116 for like 10 days and it was the best week yet. First low cut at 2" last week. Looks like AstroTurf. Already recoverd grew a couple inches this week. Back to low 100s. 115 i watered 2 inches. Fescue im backyard closer to 3 and edges want to check out. There is no buffalo info. Im flying blind.
Only advice, especially in that high of heat is to keep it at 4” or above.
It’s not like fescue or bermuda which can take shorter cuts.
If I seed buffalo grass or blue gramma grass into Kentucky bluegrass bare spots, will they be choked out?
Yeah I wouldn’t recommend that course of action.
The KBG would eventually choke it out and it won’t look good, especially in spring and fall when the buffalograss and blue grama go dormant while the KBG is still green
Great info. Helped a lot.
Glad you got some good info. Thanks for watching!
Question: It doesn’t seem that Sundancer plugs are available through commercial sources. Any idea why?
Probably has something to do with the plant patent I’d imagine. I’ve only known it as a breed that comes from seeds.
Perfect timing for the question though. I’m making a video as we speak taking Sundancer plugs in my yard to fill in bare spots
Please expand your circle. Buffalo grass grows well along southern California coast. California is mostly a desert.
I’ve talked to folks in San Luis Obispo/Monterrey and they said it doesn’t do that well there, hence why I cut SoCal off at Lompoc
@@theyardfreakooops, sorry didn't see the circled area included southern Californa. But thank you for your response.
Won’t the use Roundup kill everything in its path and perhaps prevent the Buffalo Grass from growing too since it’s in the soil?
Roundup degrades pretty quickly in the soil, so it shouldn’t be a problem using it to kill bermuda to make way for Buffalograss.
Am testing it out of that Range and its doing just fine.
Awesome!
Do you have any thoughts on Sundancer seed vs Prestige plugs? I'll be installing plugs this weekend, but now I'm wondering if I should have gone for Sundancer since it is so much newer.
If you’ve got the cash to drop on plugs by all means go for it! Especially Prestige.
The only reason I recommend Sundancer is because it’s cheaper to establish a buffalograss lawn via seed than by plugs or sod.
The great thing about plugs is that they are only the female plants of buffalograss, so you won’t have the male florets poking above the canopy.
So no worries using Prestige. Your lawn will look great!
Where in CO are you? I'm considering it in Colorado Springs and would like to know the best variety and what is the height? No interest in a bermuda grass or anything that resembles it.
Chase is no longer there.
Not sure what you mean by chase?
I’d recommend the Sundancer breed for a seeded variety. If you’d like to go with buffalograss plugs Legacy or Prestige are solid choices as well.
They all get up to 6-7 inches in height if you don’t cut it. It looks really good cut at 4” of height as welll
@@theyardfreako In your description you mention for excellent service Call (link) and ask for Chase.
I lived in Colorado Springs in the Cheyenne Canyon area. We moved in to new construction and I planted Legacy Buffo Grass plugs that I bought from High Country Gardens. We planted them 12 inches apart and used an auger bit on a drill to space the holes. As I recall, we had a full yard of grass within 2 months. Once established, I watered about 8 times per year and mowed about 6 times per year. The only downside was dandelions. I was forever digging them out by hand in the spring. I was afraid to use any type of weed killer since most state they they kill Buffalo grass. I have since moved to Denver and am thinking of killing the existing grass and planting Legacy once again. In speaking with High Country Gardens, they said it was OK to use a weed killer after year one. As a side note, the guy who cut lawns in the area always commented on how well my grass did and that it changed his mind on Buffalo Grass. I would give you the address of our old house but the next owner took out the Buffalo grass, planted blue grass and installed a sprinkler system.
Almost green up time. Can't wait.
they are sold out of Sundancer :( do you know where else I can buy it
Give Curtis & Curtis out of Clovis New Mexico a call. They should have some.
Pro tip… maybe , mention what state you are in…
My advice is relevant to all haha.
Very helpful. TNX
Glad I could help. Hit me up anytime if you have any questions
Bermuda grass shows up in my nightmares.
sounds like summer monsoons are a germination driver.
I live in west Texas. I’m looking for some type of grass to grow on my property. The top soil has quite a bit of caliche mixed in with it. I was wondering if you think I would still be able to plant Buffalo grass and if so would I need to add something to the soil to amend it?
Hey Olivia. Thanks for watching!
What part of West Texas? (I ask because I grew up in the panhandle and know the area well).
Depending on the soil type you should be good using buffalograss, but with the caliche and most likely sand, I’d mix in a decent amount of blue grama as well.
@@theyardfreako Big Spring Texas. On the south side. So I basically live on a quarry lol.
Always my favorite place on my way to San Angelo or San Antonio!
Is Casa Blanca still around?
@@theyardfreako of course! Don’t think that place will ever shut down. It’s the town favorite.
First for the new season
Roundup does not work on Bermuda grass. Spare yourself the hazardous glyphosate exposure.
Not in my experience when I’ve used it to spot treat it.
No hat.I got scared.
No hat or aviators within the house? Do you consider me uncivilized?