I have a small area near the back of the garden where I tried to seed Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) in the spring. Nothing grew.
Last month I bought a Little Bluestem in a pot, split the clump into pieces, and planted those. Also in that area, I planted one Gulf Muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris).
In the remaining space of that defined area, I have now sown seed for more Little Bluestem (purchased from Native American Seed), and Waco Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans, gifted to me by Headwaters at the Comal, where I sometimes volunteer).
Here’s how that process went:
- As best I could, I cleared the area of weeds.
- The boundary had already been defined by a little mulch ridge in the spring, but that had become worn down since then. I added more mulch at the edge.
- The two kinds of seed were mixed in a bucket, and then mixed with peat moss and soil to make the dispersion easier. Sand also works as a seed carrier, but in this garden I am adding more organic material at every opportunity. These photos are seeds before and after adding peat moss; the larger portion of seeds is the purchased Little Bluestem.


- The seed mix was spread by hand, and then I stomped it all in and lightly watered the area.

I do not plan to have any watering schedule for these seeds. I will let nature decide if and when they germinate. Ideally they would germinate before we have heavy rain, but by building up the mulch barriers, hopefully they will at least stay in the defined area. At this point, the only further action I plan here is periodically to remove anything that isn’t a grass.


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