The Dirt Yard

Wherever I drive in our beautiful valley, I’m forever looking at landscapes. Lately I’ve noticed an increase in yards that have opted for that bare dirt look. The best thing about a dirt yard is that it needs no irrigation! Another increasingly common drought-induced landscape fashion is the weed lawn. You all are doing a wonderful job of conserving water, but I always wonder what happens next, and I always hope the yards don’t end up going right back to thirsty green lawns sometime in the future.

What if you could have a green lawn that needs only a little bit of water? Let me introduce you to buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides).

Buffalograss was one of the dominant species of the shortgrass prairie habitat in the Great Plains, in a wide swath from Colorado to New Mexico, and guess who used to graze on it? The shortgrass prairie gets about 12-15 inches of rainfall per year and is subject to periodic droughts. Sound familiar? Buffalograss will feel right at home here in the Tehachapi Valley. It is one of the few native US grasses suitable for turf grass, because it spreads itself across the yard by above ground stems that root as they go. At the spreading stage it looks a lot like crabgrass, but then it thickens and leafs out to 4-8 inches tall.

The major advantages of buffalograss compared to fescue turf are reduced irrigation and fertilizer, and less frequent mowing. If you want to keep your buffalograss green through summer, you might water it once or twice a month instead of once or twice a week (or three times, or every day). The major disadvantage is that the most common weed killer for lawns (active ingredient Dicamba) will kill the buffalograss. You would need to do some research to find a broadleaf herbicide labeled for buffalograss if you choose to go that route.

Buffalograss can be seeded or plugged like any other grass, and sod is available but not recommended. We planted a bed of buffalograss in the new landscape at the Fire Station on Curry Street for you to check out. Plugs were planted in early May, and have mostly covered the bed except for one corner that gets too much shade. The taller grass next to the buffalograss is blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), another option for a low water use landscapes.

If you are intrigued by a lawn that needs so much less irrigation and do some research on the internet, be aware that in Australia, what they call buffalograss is what we call St Augustine grass. Also, consider the varieties of buffalograss. In California, the most commonly available variety is called UC Verde, and is adapted for a more moderate climate than what we have here in Tehachapi. The variety Legacy is better adapted to our colder winters.

Unfortunately, the State turf removal rebate won’t cover any type of turfgrass, no matter how much less irrigation is needed. But there are still hundreds of other beautiful low water use plants to replace your lawn. Our FREE Landscape Consultation is available to help you get started on replacing your lawn and taking advantage of the rebate (up to $2000) to reduce your expenses. Call for an appointment, (661) 822-5504. Everything you do to save water makes a difference!