Rewilding My Lot

Previous posts: Planning, Preparation, Seeding, Rain Crisis

The story so far is that I prepped land for seeding native grasses, dispersed the seed, and then had most of it washed away or damaged in a rainstorm a few days later.

This rain event was certainly disappointing, and at first I thought I’d lost everything that I had seeded. However, a few seeds did survive and germinate, which has yielded a tiny start to the native grass project. I’ll sow more seed in the fall. In addition, this rainstorm revealed some major drainage issues that needed to be resolved quickly if I want to keep the rain that falls here on the property. If we ever get rain again, I’ll be able to see if what I did has helped (adding a rain barrel and some temporary water barriers).

The seeds that did grow cover less than 5% of the area (rough estimate). However, what is growing looks great. Clumps are spreading and perhaps self-seeding the area, since I also see seed heads.

I made an strategic error when I planted the seeds originally in not setting aside a few from each of the three types (Buffalograss, Blue Grama and Curly Mesquite) to grow in labeled pots so that I could recognize what was growing in the ground. I think that I see at least three different kinds of grass growing, but I’m not certain which is which.

The new native grasses seem to be handling our current drought well and are remaining green as the Bermudagrass turns brown. Here are some photos.

There are also photographs in the previous “State of the Garden” After 6 Months post that give an idea of how little of the native grass area is covered yet, but it’s a start.