Sideoats Grama is a charming warm-season grass with distinctive oat-like seeds that dangle along one side of the stalk. The small bright purple and orange flowers are especially attractive when the grass blooms in late summer. Compact and low-growing …
Sideoats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) is a charming warm-season grass with distinctive oat-like seeds that dangle along one side of the stalk. The small bright purple and orange flowers are especially attractive when the grass blooms in late summer. Compact and low-growing, this prairie grass forms a good sized clump around 2.5’ high with attractive bluish foliage. The fall color is shades of gold. Sideoats’ height and shape are a great fit with other prairie perennials in both smaller gardens and meadow landscapes. This remarkably tough grass is drought tolerant and not very aggressive. Full sun is required but just about any type of soil will do, including dry sand, gravel, and even in medium clay.
Sideoats Grama is a larval host plant for several Skipper butterflies and moths, including the Dotted Skipper, Leonard's Skipper, and the Ottoe Skipper.
Seeding Rates for a Solid Stand of Sideoats Grama • 1/4 Lb. per 1000 square feet • 10 Lb. per acre
Native plants can be grown outside of their native range in the appropriate growing conditions. This map shows the native range, as well as the introduced range, of this species.
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Spring plant-shipping begins April 7, 2025. The last day to order plants for spring delivery is projected to be May 21, 2025
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What is the seeding rate for a solid stand of Sideoats Grama?
The seeding rate for Sideoats Grama, for a solid stand (of a single species) is: • 1/4 lb. per 1000 sq. ft., or • 10 lb. per acre.
When seeding two or more grasses together, divide the seeding rate for each species by the number of species to be planted. When seeding grasses and flowers together, use one-half to two-thirds of the recommended grass seeding rate, depending upon your desired balance of flowers to grasses.
How deep are the roots?
Sideoats Grama roots are about the same size as the plant itself, but slightly larger. Roots are around 4 feet deep. The width of roots will be as wide or wider than the plant.
I’ve seen google images of this species and they may look like they have loose, sparse foliage, but in the images here I see the plants are full and bushy. Is that just normal for this species to be that varied in foliage density? How would I get a nice full, bushy plant with strong stems like in your images?
In a prairie planting, Sideoats Grama might not get quite as large and bushy, and that is due to the competiveness - the closeness of all the plants in a natural setting - there's not room for the base of the plant to expand. In a garden or a designed setting, given the room, sideoates grama will expand into a large bushy clump. It does take a couple of years for a grass to develop into a large clump. The thing that will make the plant more upright is lean, well drained soil. Sideoats grama prefers a lean sandy soil and that will produce the strongest plant. In clay, or richer soils, the plants will be less vigorous.
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