Native Plants
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Monday - May 14, 2012
From: Dallas, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Groundcovers, Grasses or Grass-like, Herbs/Forbs
Title: Habiturf for East Texas
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
We live in east Texas, right on the beginning of the piney words, the soil is a little sandy. We have taken up a wooden walkway but can't get anything to grow there. Could the soil be dead from year of not having anything grow there under the walkway? Would Habiturf work?ANSWER:
Without knowing the town and county in Texas (your e-mail address was from Dallas) we will need to refer you to some websites on Habiturf; you can read them and determine if Habiturf is usable there. We doubt that it will be.
Native Lawns: Habiturf - The Ecological Lawn In this article, Habiturf is defined as "a multiple species mix for North, West and Central Texas." Also, you should know that Habiturf requires at least 5 hours a day of sunlight.
We do, however, have a video on preparing soil for Habiturf which we think would be useful for your strip of apparently sterile ground. You might still not be able to grow Habiturf, but it sure would be good dirt when you finished.
Go to our Native Plant Database and, using the Combination Search, first select Texas, and then under Habit, pick grass/grass-like or herbs (herbaceous flowering plants).You can even select the height of plant you are looking for. But you must specify the amount of sun under Light Requirements - that is, Sun is 6 hours or more of sun a day, part shade 2 to 6 hours of sun and shade 2 hours or less of sun a day.
To take this out for a trial run, we are going to specify first grasses, with a 0 to 12" height, and part shade. On the second go-round, specify herbs, and the same height and light. Once you have the database mastered, you can use any criteria or any type plant to make selections for that area or others in your yard.
Grass or Grasslike plants for East Texas in Part Shade:
Herbaceous Blooming Plants for Part Shade:
Amblyolepis setigera (Huisache daisy)
Callirhoe involucrata (Winecup)
From the Image Gallery
More Grasses or Grass-like Questions
killing grass on 1 acre before planting Habiturf
March 04, 2012 - I have an acre of full sun lawn on a slight slope in Dallas - would the habiturf be appropriate & if so, how do I go about killing off the existing weeds/crab grass before installing? Removing 3 in o...
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Herbicide use in bluebonnet field in Blanco, TX
April 10, 2012 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I have the best of both worlds and the worst of both worlds. I’ve been throwing bluebonnet seeds for 6 years on our property near Blanco, and when it rains, as it has this year...
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Sheet mulching before planting Habiturf from Grand Prairie, TX
March 03, 2014 - Have you tried sheet mulching as a bed prep and to kill bermuda grass before planting habituff?
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Plants for a bank too steep to mow
June 24, 2009 - Like the inquiry made in late June of 2008, mine involves a bank that is too steep to mow. However, ours is facing south. I am looking for a native grass, plant or groundcover. Any suggestions?
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Native plants for eroding hillside in Kansas
May 08, 2009 - We have a creek running thru our property and the hill running down to it is about 30 feet tall, in some places almost straight down, some sloping. Some is in shade, some full sun. We would like som...
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