Organic Answers Column – April 24, 2024 – Pasture Grasses

Recommended Native Pasture Grasses

When I’m asked about the best pastures grasses for the south and much of the rest of the country, the first and most important answer is the big six: Little and big bluestem, Indiangrass, Eastern gamma, switchgrass and side oats grama. When planting any of these native grasses, broadcasting shredded native tree trimmings first will pay great dividends.

Here is an expanded list with those and others that should also be considered.

COMMON NAME	SCIENTIFIC NAME
Big Bluestem	Andropogon gerardii
Blue Grama	Bouteloua gracilis
Bushy Bluestem	Andropogon glomeratus
Eastern Gamma	Tripsacum dactyloides
Little Bluestem	Schizachyrium scoparium
Indiangrass	Sorghastrum nutans
Sand Lovegrass	Eragrostis trichodes
Sea-oats	Uniola paniculata
Longspike Silver Bluestem	Bothriochioa saccharoides var. longipaniculata
Sideoats Grama	Bouteloua curtipendula
Switchgrass	Panicum virgatum
Coastal Muhly	Muhlenbergia filipes
Lindheimer’s Muhly	Muhlenbergia lindheimeri
Canada Wildrye	Elymus canadensis
Texas Bluegrass	Poa arachnifera
Inland Sea oats	Chaemanthium latifolium

Photos of a few of them (and several of the grasses listed have been cultivated for ornamental use)

Sideoats gramma (photos from Western New Mexico University)

Big bluestem (left; photo North Carolina State U) and Brush bluestem (photo Levy Preserve)

Switchgrass (left, photo U of Wisconsin), Sand lovegrass (photo, U of North Carolina)

Inland sea oats