Yard Ecology in a Changing Climate

These parts have been getting hotter and drier over the last couple of decades. Well. Hotter for sure. Recently, like about the last four years, the fall rains that formerly cooled and refreshed these parts, have failed to materialize. How have these evils impacted the CB vegetation or yard?

OK. First, nobody knows anything about yard ecology. So anybody posing as an expert on yard ecology is a charlatan and/or crook. However, there are some that know a little something about turf management maybe. These turf experts have managed to assemble or construct (in the lab) an assortment of short grasses that, when constantly mowed, watered, fertilized and sprayed with a broad leaf herbicide, wind up looking like a putting green. Chances are, if you see what is being discussed here, it is a putting green. Course in these parts you still may have to do some mechanical weeding, on the putting green, just to make sure.

Golf courses are the typical melieu of the turf manager and indeed, most of the expertise available to the yard manager comes from the turf or golf course grass management crowd. Typically, the average yard manager settles for something less than the putting green look though. And in fact, nearly all the yards one espies in these parts feature an amalgam of Eurasian and African weeds with maybe a little St. Augustine holding on under the tree. These yards of the common man scarcely resemble a putting green at all.

So many may in fact know that the average yard ecologist or jockey is not fixing to spend the time and money required to have a yard that looks like an Irish putting green. Especially not in these parts. And that’s OK. Even an amalgam of weeds from foreign parts is better (less evil) than a yard comprised of one water logged cultivar. That is, better according to the White Goddess.

Now, here’s some of what Crumby feels like he knows about the CB yard. And have no doubt. Crumby knows plenty. OK. When Red ordered the lower ranking Druids to clear out the KR bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemum)we did. We eliminated the KR. Easy that. You just need elbow grease or man power, whichever you have in good supply. But then we made a huge mistake. You see, what we aspired for was a meadow-like yard, filled with happy wildflowers, buzzing bees, etc., but in a grassy matrix of course. Duh! You have to have a grass matrix. Right?

So the huge mistake we made was replacing the KR with buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides). Yikes! How stupid was that? Really stupid. But the excuse was, we did not realize at that time that buffalograss lawn maintenance requires more mowing and almost as much watering as a bermudagrass lawn. Then, if you don’t mow it every week, and water the Bejesus out of it, and fertilize it for Goddess Sakes, it goes belly up. Plus. The sod was expensive. And now it’s all dead. Dead, I tell you.

What replaced the sickly, retarded buffalograss? Gracious sakes alive! Speargrass replaced it. Speargrass is the white trash name for Texas wintergrass. The Latin name is Stipa leucotricha.

Goes to show, there are unintended reactions to any action. Well. But something besides the inherent ability of speargrass as a competitor versus the non-competitiveness of buffalograss is at play in the example of yard ecology we are now considering. Yes. Speargrass grows and puts out seed mostly in the spring. Thus, it takes advantage of a relatively favorable springtime growing conditions. (Spring rains have not been plentiful, but more so than the autumanl rains). Buffalograss grows and puts out seed later, mostly during summer and fall. Thus lately, the buffalograss has had scant moisture to work with relative to the speargrass. And as a result, the speargrass increases as the buffalograss declines.

Thus, what we espy in this yard ecology situation is, the replacement of one cespitose perennial grass by another with the buffalograss disaster as the transitional step or phase. But what does it all mean, many might fairly ask? Is speargrass good or evil compared to KR? Well. They are both cespitose. So neither one is an especially good yard grass in the traditional putting green sense. Both may be prone to a monocultural lifestyle which is possibly a positive or good attribute depending upon the average yard manager’s feelings on monoculture. However, KR is probably better at the monoculture lifestyle than speargrass. On the other hand, speargrass produces spears, a definite down side for anyone considering actually walking around it. Those dang spears get in your socks.

In summary, we are not especially happy that the dominant grass in the yard was KR bluestem, and now the dominant grass is speargrass. However, on balance, since speargrass is native to North America and is slightly less prone to monoculture, while KR is native to foreign parts and wipes out ever other living thing in its path, we feel slightly better off with the speargrass. Slightly!

By the by, additional increasers of late include side oats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula)and especially eastern gammagrass (Tripsicum dactyloides). These twain grasses also set seed primarily in spring or early summer.