Minor Warm Season Turfgrass Species for the Midwest

Blue and Sideoats Grama Blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis [H.B.K.] Lag. ex Steud) is a fine-textured, weakly rhizomatous, gray-green native used in turf mixtures with buffalograss. It tolerates heat, cold, and alkaline soils (pH above 7.0), and is intolerant of shade and heavy traffic. It is a low maintenance grass with few pest problems. It is best used in arid, low maintenance settings where a low-to-medium quality turf is acceptable. Sideoats grama (B. curtipendula [Michx] Torr.) is also a gray-green native sometimes combined with buffalograss for use in low maintenance settings. It is coarser textured and often longer-lived than blue grama, and also spreads by rhizomes.