Buchloe dactyloides - Buffalo Grass

Buffalo Grass is often used as a low maintenance lawn substitute. It needs mowing only once a season and has low water requirements. Buchloe forms a tight mat with stolons (above-ground runners) and has very dense roots. Often planted with Bouteloua gracilis in a lawn, as the Bouteloua will green up about 2 weeks earlier than Buchloe.

The first killing frost will send it into dormancy (buff-coloured) and due to it being a warm season grass, it will not turn green until the soil has been warm for approximately 2 weeks. This could result in the lawn not greening up until late May. Therefore Buffalo grass is not an ideal turf grass for cold climates. We suggest our Enviro-Turf instead.

Do not use Buffalo grass as a lawn where snowfall is low and foot traffic is high in the winter.

Due to its spreading ability, it is often used for erosion control.

Description: warm season; moderate spreader
Foliage - grey-green; of narrow blade width; 10-15 cm (4-6")
Flowers - sparse; blooms in July-Aug; 5-15 cm (2-6")

Ideal conditions: full sun; prefers clay soil, but will grow in sandy loam; well drained soil is required; tolerant of extreme heat and drought

Coldest zone: 4 (find your zone; further info on plant hardiness)

Native to: Great Plains of North America, one of the short grass prairie grasses

Drought tolerance rating: 1 (water to root depth once every month) further info

Recommended spacing between plants: 20-45 cm (8-18")

Pronunciation: Buchloe (boo-KLOH-ee) dactyloides (dak-til-LOY-deez)

More ornamental grasses

Compare Buchloe dactyloides to our other grasses in this handy chart.