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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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

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Thursday - September 20, 2012

From: Edmond, OK
Region: Southwest
Topic: Invasive Plants, Non-Natives, Pests, Grasses or Grass-like
Title: Weeds in Buffalograss from Edmond OK
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

We have a patch of buffalograss surrounded by patio/flower garden/vegetable garden. We like B-grass, but are getting a lot of weeds despite preemergents, and some bermuda had appeared. Are there herbicides safe for use on buffalo grass? Is there a sure-fire way to identify bermuda in a buffalo grass lawn (so we can dig it out!) Thank you

ANSWER:

Last question first: Since bermudagrass is not native to North America, we will have no information on it in our Native Plant Database. However, here is an article from The Garden Counselor on Bermuda Grass Pictures. This article also has links to several others that should help you with your commendable project.

Since we knew someone was going to ask this question, we have already prepared a How-To Article on Native Lawns: Buffalograss that pretty well covers the subject.

From the Image Gallery

Buffalograss
Bouteloua dactyloides