Grasses for Ground Cover and Lawns

Grasses can bring texture and softness into a landscape design. The wide variety of native grasses provides endless opportunities for adding color, providing a diversity of sizes and shapes, and offering relatively low maintenance. Favorable characteristics of most grasses include low water and fertility requirements; they reach their ultimate size quickly, have a high resistance to insects and diseases, and generally can fend for themselves. The use of native grasses for low maintenance landscaping can include a broad range of uses, i.e., ground cover, monoculture manicured lawns, individual accent or specimen plants, and prairie or meadow restoration.

See the Table of Grasses for Ground Cover and Lawns for specific grasses and their characteristics.

Ground Cover

Grasses that spread by rhizomes, stolons (above-ground runners), or tillers are prime candidates for ground cover and site stabilization. Steep slope stabilization, however, may require structural stabilization prior to plant establishment. Initial weed control is critical until the cover plants are established well enough to shade out or crowd out any unwanted plants.

Lawns

The use of native grasses for a manicured lawn involves the same site preparation and establishment techniques as with a Kentucky bluegrass lawn. The seeding rates are increased [500 Pure Live Seeds (PLS) per square foot to ensure a dense, solid stand.] Depending on the amount of water applied to a site (natural or supplemental) the plant density will eventually adjust to that which the site can maintain. Mulching and early supplemental water will help ensure a good initial stand. Rhizomatous species will continue to fill in the open spaces, but bunchgrass stands may develop gaps if the initial establishment is sparse. Although the emphasis of this publication is on native species, there are some introduced grasses that, because of their drought tolerance and low maintenance, can be used for manicured lawns.

Prairie/Meadow

In some suburban areas and particularly in rural settings, a person may want to restore large areas to native prairie or meadows, blending a residence into a natural setting. To restore a natural plant community there are several establishment options; e.g., 1) seed general mixtures of grasses and wildflowers, using most of the species you want in your end product; 2) seed simple mixtures and interplant to increase diversity; or 3) transplant all plants to spacing and composition desired.

Suggested Native Grassland Seeding Mixtures

Mountain/Foothills

• bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) - 4 lbs. per acre
• Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis) - 2 lbs. per acre
• big bluegrass (Poa ampla)  - 1 lb. per acre
• mountain brome (Bromus marginatus) - 9 lbs. per acre

Tallgrass Prairie

• big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) - 4 lbs. per acre
• little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) - 3 lbs. per acre
• switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) - 2 lbs. per acre
• sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) - 3 lbs. per acre

Mixed Prairie (upland)

• bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) - 4 lbs. per acre
• Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda) - 1 lb. per acre
• needle & thread (Hesperostipa comata) - 3 lbs. per acre
• Indian ricegrass (Achnatherum hymenoides) - 3 lbs. per acre

Mixed Prairie (lowland)

• Western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii) - 4 lbs. per acre
• green needlegrass (Nassella viridula) - 3 lbs. per acre
• thickspike wheatgrass (Elymus lanceolatus) - 3 lbs. per acre
• blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) - 1 lb. per acre

If you encounter any problems with the file provided on this page, please contact Technical Resources at 406-587-6822.

This information is also available for downloading as Chapter 7 of the publication, Creating Native Landscapes in the Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. This document requires Adobe Reader.

Grasses for Groundcover and Lawns (PDF; 1.8 MB)

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