Native Plants

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Friday - October 10, 2008

From: Henly, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Wildflowers
Title: Plants for cleared area by creek
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Hi Mr. Smarty Pants. My front "yard" is about 2 1/2 sloping acres with a wet weather creek at the bottom. It has been recently cleared of cedar. The cedar is now shredded and acts as a cover to help with erosion. There are springs running through the hill as well, but only when the creek is full. So far this year - not to worry. I was hoping to seed it with turffalo. Plugging would not work for my budget. Would another type of grass be better? Now that the cedar is gone, there are oaks lining the creek with the rest unshaded. I'm also planning to seed the lower portion with various native wildflowers. Any ideas you have would be much appreciated!

ANSWER:

As far as I can tell, Turffalo is only available as plugs. You might consider seeds from Native American Seed in Junction. They sell pure Bouteloua dactyloides (buffalograss) seeds but they also sell a mix of 66% buffalograss and 34% Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama) that should do very well. For the shady areas under the oaks you might consider Chasmanthium latifolium (Inland sea oats), a beautiful grass that loves the shade. Andropogon glomeratus (bushy bluestem) is another beautiful grass that does well in sunny, moist areas and Muhlenbergia reverchonii (seep muhly) is another attractive grass that likes moist, sunny spots. You can see a list of recommended native species that are commercially available for Central Texas by selecting the area from the map on our Recommended Species page. Here are some suggestions for flowers from that list:

Aquilegia canadensis (red columbine)

Calylophus berlandieri ssp. pinifolius (Berlandier's sundrops)

Coreopsis lanceolata (lanceleaf tickseed)

Engelmannia peristenia (Engelmann's daisy)

Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii (wax mallow)

Oenothera speciosa (pinkladies)

Phacelia congesta (blue curls)

Ratibida columnifera (upright prairie coneflower)

Salvia coccinea (blood sage)

Salvia farinacea (mealycup sage)

Wedelia texana (hairy wedelia)