You gardeners out there probably both love AND hate your Bermudagrass (Cynodon dayctylon) lawns. If you don’t have a Bermudagrass lawn, then I think you’re lucky.
I have grown up with Bermudagrass my entire life. I’ve never given it a second thought as to whether it was native or not. To be fair, I’ve only come to REALLY understand the vital importance of native plants in the last 6 months or so. Still, in my experience, lawns are either Bermudagrass, St. Augustine (Stenotaphrum secundatum), or a mixture of both.
I happen to live in an ecological region of Texas known as the Blackland Prairie. Prairie. When I think of a prairie, I think of grass, and the old TV show, “Little House on the Prairie.” The grasses that I picture are tall and certainly not what is considered “turf” grass. The native grasses and wildflowers that make up Texas’ Blackland Prairie region support wild birds and many other types of wildlife. As with so many of our natural resources, the Blackland Prairie is all but gone or severely damaged. There is a good, brief discussion of the state of the Blackland Prairie at the Native Plant Society’s site and I recommend that you take a moment to read it. The NPSOT lists this sobering statistic:
Today, it is believed less than 1% (and possibly less than 0.1%) of the native Blackland Prairies remain.
So what am I going to do about it? First, write this article to start a discussion of the topic and raise awareness. Second, conduct an experiment in my backyard where I remove the Bermudagrass from 8′x8′ plots and plant native grass blends designed to function as socially-acceptable lawngrass and other prairie grasses. Once my experimental plots have grown, I fully expect to see some great choices for the future of my lawn areas. I also expect to meet with or at least speak to my home-owner’s association when I suggest the radical idea of changing my front yard to a native grass mix that does not require mowing, watering or fertilizing! OMG, what would the neighbors think?! I’m betting they’ll be asking how they can do the same.
