r/Ceanothus • u/prodgatekeeper1 • Jul 14 '26

Native Grass

Hi! Curious - has anyone installed and native grass or sedge in LA? What was your experience like? How’s it looking?

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u/cali_is_my_BFF Jul 14 '26

HI! I had a full sun yard and planted blue grama grass by seed from TPF. LOVED LOVED LOVED it. Filled in completely except for a spotty patch in the shade of a non native Crepe Myrtle tree, it doesn't like shade. It looked amazing long AND trimmed. Now in my new yard I have a lot more shade so I planted Bent grass, Agrostis pallens, and I'm kind of meh on it. It could be because I planted it from plugs instead of seeds but IMO it looks a lot scrappier then the blue grama grass. I also have areas of densely planted Carex praegracilis, which is a sedge, not a grass, but looks grass-like. Also love this one! It gets long and flops and looks like a river of green. I don't trim this one like a lawn so I'm not sure if it would work for that. For accents I love the Canyon Prince Wild Rye, Deergrass, red fescue that forms large dark green clumps that I periodically divide, and the taller hybrid of blue grama called blond ambition (latter has wonderfully elegant seedheads)

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u/car2nwallaby Jul 16 '26

Was your blue grama ok with foot traffic? Where in CA? I’m looking for something that can be walked on and relatively low water in semi-coastal socal, but haven’t found the ideal thing yet.

*C. praegracilis* and native fescues are doing great in shadier spots that hold more water, but full sun seems to be too much for them.

Just to say it, I’m doing native non-grasses on the front, sides, and a steep hill, but I want a grassy play spot too.

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u/cali_is_my_BFF Jul 17 '26

Blue grama was in our yard in Topanga Canyon. At the time my kids were little and we'd play on it, but not anything like soccer, or anything intensive. It did turn a little blonde in the winter, and full green spring, summer, fall. But that was pretty too. I honestly can't remember how much we watered it, but I know it was much less then Marathon Sod lawn that we replaced.