Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Thursday - March 08, 2012
From: Houston, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Planting, Turf, Grasses or Grass-like
Title: Planting Habiturf in Houston, TX>
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
First, I want to say thank you for such an informative site. You say that the Buffalograsses tend to do well in drier and well drained soil. My house has a lawn that drops about 10 inches in about 20 feet. I live in Houston and the predictions for this year are that we will have below average rainfall. What would be your take on the chances of Buffalograss lawn doing "well" in these conditions? Thank you,ANSWER:
Thank you for the kind words. There are some truly dedicated workers, both staff and volunteers, here at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
First lets clear up a mis-conception; when we talk about “well drained soil” we are talking about the water percolating down through the soil, not running down a slope. Here are a couple of links that illustrate this point:
walter reeves.com
acupofhot.blogspot.com
As more and more people are looking at Buffalo grass and Habiturf for their lawns, we are getting more questions about these grasses. Here are a couple of previously answered questions from Houston that may be helpful to you.
#7752
#7750
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July 24, 2013 - We planted habiturf in spring 2012. It's beautiful. But since last summer, we have had one area that seems to go dormant much more rapidly than the rest, even though it receives the same amount of ...
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