Native Warm Season Grasses - A Primer

Post on 14-Jun-2015

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Mr. Whitescarver, District Conservationist at Headwaters Soil and Water Conservation District (http://headwaters.vaswcd.org) presents the a basic overview of the benefits of warm season grasses (WSG). He presented this at the Staunton Green 2020 meeting on 3/9/10.

Transcript of Native Warm Season Grasses - A Primer

Native Warm Season GrassesSwitchgrass

Big BluestemLittle Bluestem

IndiangrassBroom Sedge

Sideoats GrammaEastern Gama

Growth Curves

Tall Fescue

• The most invasive non-native plant in North America (my opinion).

• Infected by an endophyte that secretes a toxin that affects horses, cattle, insects and birds.

• Allelopathic to other plants

Native Warm Season Grasses:

• Native to Virginia• Perennial• Mature height from 3 to 8 feet• Yield from 2 to 5 tons per acre• C4 Plants which utilize 80% of incoming light