DeLange Seed

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BLUE GRAMA:  Bouteloua gracilis

      Blue grama is a warm-season native perennial grass found throughout the short-grass region from Texas to Canada and is also important in parts of the desert grasslands.  Blue grama is usually found in association with buffalograss and in the northern area of its adaptation with the wheatgrasses.  In the more southern areas, blue grama can and often does occur in near pure stands.

      A typical short-grass, blue grama seldom grows taller than 12 to 20 inches.  In semi-arid areas, blue grama is often utilized as a turf grass.  It forms a dense sod and its narrow leaves can make an attractive lawn.  For turf, blue grama is usually seeded in mixture with buffalograss.  A mixture of one part buffalograss to two parts of blue grama produces an extremely drought tolerant and low maintenance turf.

      Adapted to a wide range of soils and climate, blue grama produces a highly nutritious forage during the summer months.  Forage remaining in the fall makes good winter pasture if allowed to cure standing.  Tolerant to alkaline soils, blue grama is the most drought tolerant of the major grasses on the Great Plains.

USE AND MANAGEMENT:

            Adapted to a wide range of soil types, blue grama is used in range seedings, conservation plantings, wildlife habitat plantings, roadsides, and as a turf grass in semi-arid regions of the Great Plains.

            Native stands are most often utilized for range and pasture.  It produces an excellent quality forage and with the exception of buffalograss, it's the most grazing tolerant grass on the Great Plains.

            Blue grama is routinely used for revegetating abandoned croplands and disturbed areas.   Birds relish the seeds and small mammals consume seed heads and plants.

            Since growing points are at or near the soil surface for most of the season, blue grama tolerates close grazing.  For best performance, defer grazing every two to three years during the growing season and graze no more than 50% of the current years growth by weight.