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Buffalo grass prep

Posted by John_7700 none (My Page) on
Wed, Sep 7, 11 at 13:53

I have an area about 20 x 100 next to our semi rural road. It's where all the underground construction was and is filled with weeds, bindweed and kochia mostly. It is also downwind from about 10 acres of the same. My plan is to plant buffalo grass there, low maintenance and hopefully choke out a lot of weeds. In June I think it will be warm enough.

I'm trying to kill the weeds now. Should I rototill this fall and let it sit for the winter or will that just increase weeds for the spring? I'm sure I will need to spray again anyway. I'm not sure how to manage weed control and ground prep to get the grass started.


Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: Buffalo grass prep

Do you get much rain? Buffalo grass cannot compete with anything.


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RE: Buffalo grass prep

TW, Not a lot of rain. I am in near 4 corners in Cortez. We have irrigation water (like the farmers) for watering.

Are you saying the buffalo grass will be overwhelmed by the weeds?


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RE: Buffalo grass prep

4 corners seems a little high altitude for buffalo grass. It will grow there, but it will have a long dormant period.

I think what TW means is that in areas with significant rainfall, most other grasses and weeds will do better than buffalo grass. Buffalo grass thrives where there is little rain and nothing else (except maybe blue grama) does well.

When do you usually get your first frost in the fall? When do you usually get your last fall in the spring?

I wonder if streambank wheatgrass, western wheatgrass, crested wheatgrass or a mix of those would be a better choice. I've been recommending Utah Seed's cabin mix for people in similar situations. I didn't use it, but it isn't too much different from the mix I made one variety at a time for my own lawn.


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RE: Buffalo grass prep

Thanks BPG, I am at 6000ft. First frost by the end of this month. Last about mid May, although we had a couple of late one's this year about June 1. Caused a lot of problems.

Just looking for a grass that doesn't need much watering, will spread, and cut down on the weeds for this area. Tried some in another place and it seems to be doing well, takes a long time to get going. We'll see in the spring how effective it is at weed control. KBG in most of the turf area, doing ok, but high maintenance.


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RE: Buffalo grass prep

Look into the cabin mix I linked in my earlier post. I made my own seed mix, but it's pretty similar. I watered twice this year. I did have some dormancy, but most of the lawn is green.


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RE: Buffalo grass prep

Hey John, BP answered the question. Buffalo grass cannot compete with other grasses and weeds. The soil needs to be pretty poor lacking nutrients with little water. Otherwise if if the soil has nutrients and gets adequate water anything that comes along will take over.

In addition I think the altitude would be a problem, and Buffalo would only be green a few short months. I suggest you take BP advice.


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