Native Plants
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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Wednesday - June 23, 2010
From: Iola, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Shade Tolerant, Turf, Grasses or Grass-like
Title: Will Thunder Turf do well in shade from Iola TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
Will the Thunder Turf do well in shady areas or is there a better blend of native grasses that would thrive better?ANSWER:
Native American Seed has a product page on Thunder Turf, which indicates that it is full sun only. At this point there are no shade-tolerant native grasses that could be considered turf grasses, low-growing and mowable. NAS also has a Shade Friendly Grass Mix composed of:
Tridens flavus (purpletop tridens)
Chasmanthium latifolium (Inland sea oats)
Elymus canadensis (Canada wildrye)
Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama)
Elymus virginicus (Virginia wildrye)
Setaria machrostachya (plains bristlegrass) - pictures and more information
Nassella leucotricha (Texas wintergrass)
These are still not going to be urban lawn grasses. You can follow each link to our page on that grass in our Native Plant Database to learn its growing conditions, expected size and light requirements.
From our Native Plant Image Gallery:
More Shade Tolerant Questions
Native plants for heavy clay soil in east Austin
May 02, 2007 - I live in East Austin and have very thick clay soil on my property. I also have a lot of shade and partial sun/shade. Can you suggest some native plant varieties that are well-adapted to these condi...
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Want salt, shade, drought tolerant plant for Rochester, New York
September 21, 2010 - I am looking for a ground cover plant for western NY to grow on a strip alongside a road that gets very little sun in summer (lots of tree branches shading it). It gets a lot of road salt in winter a...
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Seed source for Carex texensis from Louisville KY
May 02, 2012 - Your reply to my question re a grass for my Kentucky home with cistern only water available was much appreciated, Carex texensis was recommended. I am unable to find this product for sale other than ...
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Grass or ground cover for sun/part shade in Austin
December 30, 2007 - I live in Southwest Austin (a couple of miles from the Wildflower Center) and I would like to plant some grass in my backyard. I have a small yard with several oak trees and they have been cut back to...
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Native ground covers for rocky, shady slope in Arlington, TX
January 25, 2009 - I need a good native ground cover for a completely shaded and rocky 30 degree slope with red sandy soil and southern exposure. Will anything grow in these conditions?
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