Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Buffalo Grass Update

We finished plugging the 27 flats (70 plugs apiece) of buffalo grass last weekend. I can't believe we did the WHOLE thing!


Anyway, here is the back courtyard area that we finished about a month ago. (If you check out the link, you'll see what it looked like then.) For the most part, the plugs have taken well and are beginning to expand outward a bit.

And here is the front yard, freshly plugged.


It's probably going to look a little odd for at least a year or two until we switch it entirely to buffalo grass. Right now we've left the fescue that's surviving and just plugged in around it. Since fescue and buffalo grass are worse than apples and oranges in terms of similarity, I don't imagine that it's going to be the most glamorous lawn in Sedgwick County, but hopefully it will hold the soil and be moderately green.

7 comments:

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

Wow that's a lot of plugs. I hope it fills in fast!

Gaia Gardener: said...

Thanks, Sherlock! I hope it fills in fast, too.

dejavaboom said...

Do you have any problems w/Buffalo grass in shady areas? We had Buffalo out in Western KS, but here it seems so wet and shady...any special variety?

Anonymous said...

So this is what plugging flats is all about. Hard work, to be sure. Hope it is paying off nicely now in Sept and that much of the grass will survive the winter. Reminds me of how we got our lawns going in Namibia. Have enjoyed visiting your very interesting blogg.
Cheers! Ted in Oslo

Gaia Gardener: said...

Dejava, we haven't really tried shady areas yet, but we'll probably expand to those next summer. I'll work on keeping the blog updated about it. (We're using Prestige, a University of Nebraska variety. It's supposed to be a bit greener than the species, plus it's female.)

Ted, thanks for checking out my blog! Conditions here probably aren't too different from those in Namibia, especially this last summer!

Tricia said...

OMG! A no-mow lawn! I will definitely be following this! I am a lawn hater and keep trying to find someone who is redoing their lawn to try some of the gamma and buffalo grasses. We are in a rental at the moment, so it's not an issue. I see you got it from one of my favorite sources -- HCG. Have you thought of filling in the bare spots with a meadow mix (Prairie Gardens have some) or something like creeping thyme? I love that look. Easy for me to say -- the landlord mows our lawn!

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