buffalo grass
Bouteloua dactyloides
USDA zones4 to 8
SunNeeds full sun (6+ hours)
WaterHandles dry to moist soil
Size3 to 12 inches tall12 inches wide
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Habit
- Grass/grass-like
- Bloom season
- Spring, summer, autumn, winter
- Bloom color
- Yellow
- Foliage color
- Gray-green, blue-green
- Soil types
- Sand, loam, clay
- Soil pH
- Acid, alkaline, neutral
Garden uses
Attracts
Notes
Buffalo grass (Bouteloua dactyloides) is a grass for low maintenance lawns, ground cover, and meadows. It is hardy to USDA zone 4, or down to -30°F (-34°C). This plant likes full sun and dry to moist, sandy, loamy, or clay soil. It spreads by rhizomes and forms a soft, gray-green to blue-green sod. You can mow it or let it billow in the wind. Birds eat the seeds and leaves and use them for nesting material.
Pairs well with Blue grama, Sideoats grass, and Chocolate daisy.
Native range
AR, AZ, CO, GA, and 19 more places. See all 23
AR, AZ, CO, GA, IA, IL, KS, LA, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, SD, TX, UT, VA, WI, WY; MB, and SK.