Native Texas Tall Grasses

Grasses have become prominent features in landscapes in homes an on roadsides alike. Increasingly, municipalities display native tall and short grasses, especially those that have striking features. These provide pleasing sights to passers-by, but the use of native grasses in landscapes is beneficial to our local ecology.

What’s So Great About Grass?

Native grasses are adapted to the heavy clay soil of North Texas. They are an excellent forage food for livestock, and they provide habitat for local wildlife. They benefit gardeners too, because they require only initial care as they establish themselves in the range or landscape. Maintenance of native grasses is minimal too!

One of the biggest benefits of native grasses is their ability to sequester carbon in the landscape. 1 acre of native prairie grasses holds 1 ton of carbon. Their root systems run deep into the earth, branching below the soil level, providing nutrition to the micro-organisms that keep our ecosystems healthy.

With so many benefits, homeowners increasingly incorporate native grasses in their domestic landscapes. Let’s talk about some of North Texas’ most prominent native grasses and how you can include them in your next landscape installation.

USEPA Environmental-Protection-Agency, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Water-smart features: This water-wise landscape features rain gardens and a broad palette of native perennials. Five rain gardens capture rainwater from the roof, reducing runoff and increasing infiltration. Nearly 300 native grasses, shrubs, and trees cover the landscape. Plants used: Little bluestem, Sideoats grama, Texas lantana, Prairie phlox, Goldenrod

The Big Four

These four grasses have a wide range, from as far north as Canada, down through the Central US to Texas. While there are several species of grasses native to the North Texas area of varying heights, we’ll highlight the four most common tall grasses.

Most of the grasses here reach about 6 feet tall in optimal conditions.

Big Bluestem

Also known as “turkey foot” due to its forked seed head, big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) is a lovely tall grass that fits into many different landscapes. In a native prairie full of big bluestem, the sounds are completely different than the sounds on a more common short-grass lawn. One of the best uses for big bluestem is erosion control.

Jennifer Anderson. United States, IA, Scott Co., Bettendorf, Pigeon Creek Park. 2002., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Indian Grass

The seed head of Indian grass is a rusty brown to bright golden color depending on the season. As the grass shifts into fall, its seed head changes from deep orange to purple. This is another excellent forage grass for livestock, but it also fits nicely into meadow-based landscapes and prairie stands.

Photo by David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Switch Grass

Switch grass is distinguished from other native grasses by its many-branched seed head. It has a bluish grass blade that makes it lovely in spring and summer. The upright stems are perfect places for insects and wildlife. Switchgrass is another erosion control plant that binds loose soil particles together, and improves soil biomass overall.

Chhe, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Little Bluestem

Diverging somewhat from the last three grasses we talked about, little bluestem is a shorter grass, topping out at 2.5 to 3 feet at full maturity. If a 6-foot grass isn’t applicable to your landscape, this may be a better option. Although it shares a name with its larger cousin, big bluestem, the seed heads are very different, taking on a broom-like appearance in late summer.

Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

How To Incorporate Tall Grass in Your Landscape

While native grasses may not seem to be good landscape plants, they are excellent when they’re placed and managed correctly.

Tall grasses make lovely borders between garden beds, or boundaries between property lines.

Create prairie patches on your land with native grasses that are interspersed with local wildflowers and forbs. Employ this for a purely restorative and functional purpose, especially by planting seeds in spring and fll. Or you can strategically place grasses among other native plants creating a pleasant design.

Tall grasses add dimension to existing landscapes, giving height to an area that may have included single-level plantings. In this type of design, grasses can sit at the back of the landscape, along fences, or they can create a center line inside a large garden bed, giving the area two separate sides.

Or they can be clumping centerpieces in the middle of a garden, with smaller plants surrounding and accenting them. Bunches of big or little bluestem can sit among lance leaf coreopsis, blanket flower, and bluebonnets. Or they can be grouped together, with taller grasses adding even more dimension in the center of a bed.

Rangeland conservation is largely focused on cultivating and managing native grasses. Knowing when to plant, mow, and allow livestock to graze is very important. For more information about how to manage rangeland while conserving local ecology, check out the Texas Land Conservation Assistance Network.

Depending on our available stock, we at Wildscapers can install native Texas grasses in your landscape. Please reach out to discuss this with us if you are interested.

Resources

Managing and using native grasses
TX Master Naturalist Web Site: Area Grasses
Six Powerhouse Native Grasses
Native Plants Store Carbon
Sorghastrum nutans
Big Bluestem
Switchgrass

Written by Sarah Jay

https://www.sarahjaywriting.com