Native Grasses and Flowers To Replace Turfgrass

According to Penn State Extension, there are 24 million acres of turfgrass in the United States.  Most lawns are food deserts for wildlife.  They also lack shade, shelter, and places to nest.  Further, turfgrass is a water hog, a problem in an increasingly dry world.  Planting some or all of your lawn in native grasses and wildflowers can help solve these problems. 

Check Lawn Requirements 

If you live in an area with a Homeowners Association (HOA), check to see what it says about lawns.  In many states, HOAs can no longer bar non-turfgrass lawns, as long as they are neat in appearance.  Many water utilities have information on requesting variances if the HOA requires a specific turf grass. 

Checking with your code compliance office in the city or town you live in can also be productive.  In my city, plants cannot be more than twelve inches high.  In other cities, you can declare your yard as a “wild yard” to grow native grasses and wildflowers instead of turf grass. 

Killing the Existing Lawn 

Before planting native plants, you must kill the existing plants in your lawn.  Common turfgrasses like Bermuda grass will outcompete new native lawns.  The fastest way to kill the current plants in your lawn is to use a herbicide containing glyphosate.  Care must be taken to apply herbicides on a windless day, so they don’t drift onto plants you want or your neighbor's land. 

If you do not want to use herbicides, you can use solarization.  Water the lawn well.  Spread clear plastic over the lawn.  Weigh the edges down with rocks then cover them with soil.  Leave the plastic on for about two months.  This method kills the existing plants and any weed seeds.  It works best in the summer. 

A third method is to lay thick cardboard on the lawn.  Cover the cardboard with topsoil you buy to a depth of at least two inches.  Cover that with two inches of compost.  Mix the topsoil and compost together.  Water the results well, then plant the native plants.  This can be done over a weekend, depending on the size of your yard and the amount of help you have.  This method looks nice faster than other methods.  The cardboard will rot away as you water the lawn but the weed seeds and other vegetation under the cardboard will die first. 

When To Plant 

Planting natives is best done in the fall.  The plants get a chance to get their roots established and settle in before winter.  Fall planted natives will green up in the spring faster than spring planted natives. 

If you are planting from seed, fall is a good time to do that, as well.  Many wildflowers and grasses have evolved to need to sit over the winter before germinating.  Planting these seeds in the fall allows them to experience the winter naturally and start growing in the spring. 

Choosing Native Plants For A Lawn 

Most climate areas have native ground covers that grow in open areas.  These may be grasses, sedges, or annual flowering plants.  Some natives grow in shaded areas, but the largest number of natives need full sun.  Here are some examples of each. 

Sun-Loving Native Ground Covers 

Plants native to prairies and meadows thrive in full sun.  Some of these plants can grow quite large, but many are much smaller. 

Purple Love Grass 

Purple Love Grass is a clumping grass that grows up to a little over a foot tall and wide.  The blades are blue-green in the spring, then turn bronze-red in the fall.  In between, purple love grass grows stalks full of purple flower spikelets that seem to float above the grass.  In the fall and winter, these become brown seeds that dry and blow away.  This grass will tolerate light foot traffic and once established, is drought tolerant. 

We sell plugs of purple love grass to let it get established quickly.  You can mow it once or twice if it is in full sun.  Purple love grass likes drier, well-drained soil.  In addition to being drought tolerant, it is salt tolerant and will grow under black walnut trees. 

Bee Balm 

Bee Balm has a bright red flowers on a stalk of green.  It can reach 3-4 feet tall.  Bee balm attracts bees and hummingbirds.  Butterflies like it too, but bee balm is resistant to deer and rabbit damage.  Song birds like the seeds that form inside the flowers and fall to the ground when ripe.  These plants smell good, too.  Plant in masses for the full effect.  Bee balm is a perennial, but will also self-seed.  Deadhead the flowers if you don’t want them to spread.  To get the best flowers, water during drought and dry weather. 

Shade-Loving Native Ground Covers 

Most of the plants in this category are found in the understory of forests or small woods.  They may grow in full sun, but most prefer dappled sunlight.  If you have a big shade tree in your yard, most of these plants would love to grow under it. 

Carex Pensylvanica 

Carex pensylvanica is a sedge that grows to be about eight inches tall.  It is a semi-evergreen with a color similar to Bermuda grass. In the fall, the grass turns gold color.  Carex thrives in dappled shade.  It will also grow in the sun or in partial shade.  Carex grows best in a dry, well-drained area with a cool climate, but is native to a wide variety of areas and soil types.  Plant it from plugs in the fall.   

Once established, Carex is drought resistant.  Deer do not like to eat it.  The flowers are rather insignificant, but the small fruit is eaten by birds and small mammals.  Butterflies and other pollinators are drawn to the flowers.  Small mammals and ground nesting birds will raise their families in Carex.  This grass doesn’t do well with a lot of foot traffic. 

Bloodroot 

Bloodroot is a small flowering ground cover with bright white flowers with bright yellow centers.  The leaves are green.  The fruit is green pods with brown seeds.  Bloodroot grows in shaded areas in woodlands.  It prefers moist, well-drained soil.  Native bees and European honeybees flock to the flowers, which last about 14 days in early spring.  Songbirds like the fruit.  The plant is poisonous if consumed. 

We Can Recommend Natives From Your Area 

At TN Nursery, we strive to help our customers find native plants that grow in their area.  Simply call 931.692.7325 and we can guide you to the most suitable plants for your purpose.