Development of Native Warm-Season Turfgrass Mixes for Sod Production in the South Central Great Plain

There is a growing interest in the use of native warm-season turfgrasses and their mixes for lawn and landscape use in the South Central Great Plains. These grasses are occasionally being used as alternatives to warm-season introduced species such as common bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. var. dactylon). Both clonally propagated buffalograss [Bouteloua dactyloides (Nutt.) J.T. Columbus; or Buchloe dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm] cultivars and seeded buffalograsses are available as sod using reinforcement netting. While native warm-season turfgrass mixes are available for purchase as seed, no information was available concerning their use in sod production. Architects specifying native warm-season mixes often request that no reinforcement netting be used in the sod product. The objectives of this research project were to examine the potential for development of sod without the use of reinforcement netting from seeded mixes of 'Texoka' buffalograss, 'Alma' blue grama [ B. gracilis (Willd. Ex Kunth) Lag. ex Griffiths], and curly-mesquite [Hilaria belangeri (Steud) Nash] to improve sod tensile strength. Mixes tested at Stillwater, OK during 2014 -- 2017 were seeded at 649 pure live seeds m-2 (2 lbs. Pure Live Seed 1,000 ft -2 buffalograss burs) and included the ratios of 100% buffalograss, 90% buffalograss to 10% blue grama, 75% buffalograss to 25% blue grama, 50% buffalograss to 50% blue grama, 25% buffalograss to 75% blue grama, 100% blue grama, and finally a mixture of 20% buffalograss to 75% blue grama to 5% curly-mesquite. Netting was not used in this trial so that any change in sod tensile strength due to mixture could be determined. All seeded mixes were found to have unacceptable sod handling quality and could not be tested for sod tensile strength at 13 and 21 months of age. Curly-mesquite did not persist in the three species mix. This finding was likely due to a combination of poor establishment, winter-kill, and excess competition. Multiple-species mixes showed a continuing increase in buffalograss and a decrease in blue grama cover. This research suggests that if a buffalograss/blue grama turfgrass sod is to be produced it should use biodegradable netting and also include a higher percentage of blue grama than used in this research to ensure a diverse mix.