Native Plants
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
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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Sunday - April 01, 2012
From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Turf, Grasses or Grass-like
Title: Questions about Habiturf
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
What does habiturf look like when it first emerges? Could you post some images? And how long will it take to begin to cover?ANSWER:
Habiturf™ is made up of Bouteloua dactyloides (Buffalograss), Bouteloua gracilis (Blue grama), and Hilaria belangeri (Curly mesquite grass). You can find a photo of a buffalograss seedling on the Native American Seed webpage. You can also see seedlings of Native American Seed's ThunderTurf, which has a similar species mix as our Habiturf™.
Habiturf™ is avaliable from Douglas King Seeds in San Antonio and on their webpage you can see a series of photos showing: 1) the prepared soil on June 14, 2011, 2) seedlings on June 29, 2011, 3) and an established turf on July 25, 2011. Actually it shows the third mowing on July 25, 2011 at approximately 6 weeks after planting.
This should give you an idea about how long it will take your plot to begin to cover, but I can't tell you exactly since it will depend on several factors such as:
- how well the seeded area was prepared
- amount of seeds used
- amount of sunlight available for the area
- rainfall or water applied
Please read the Native Lawns: Habiturf™ A Multispecies Mix for North, West and Central Texas article for more information.
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