Ground cover on your range? Buffalo Grass or Crown Vetch?

[Mustang Gregg]

What would you reccommend for side/back berm and range surface grass?  We're looking for something hardy and doesn't grow tall.  I know that some DOR's sow Crown Vetch.

We appreciate any ideas.

Much obliged,
Mustang Gregg

[Stu Kettle]

I've got blue grama growing in my yard.  It's tough, drought resistant, & short.

[Russ T Chambers]

Out here in northern Nevada we tend to use a lot of sand, gravel and occasional rocks.  The wild horses, loose range cattle and lack of rain tends to keep the weed level down.

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[wildman1]

The crown vetch should be more aggressive once it gets established. It would be my choice for berms etc. I'd go with a low growing grass for flat range surfaces that ya don't want ta be to high. WM

[Bow View Haymaker]

For the berms. some K-31 fescue with some rye as a "cover" crop. Wont be  short butvery hardy when established and will hold the soil well .   Buffalo takes  a while to get going but makesa nice low drought resitant cover.  howeverit willbe dormant and brown through the winter.  Zoyza is even thicker and chokes out every   thing else once it gets going.  it is brown and dead looking through the cold months also.though.   Both Zoyza and Buffalo are usually put in with plugs.  Don't know much aboupt crown vetch.

[Ranch 13]

Fairway crested wheatgrass will grow quick and tight ,and survive drought, and not get tall and clumpy like regular crested.

[1961MJS]

HI

I put in some hybrid buffalo grass at my house in Wichita Kansas.  It doesn't take traffic too well.  My wife and kids also hated the color.  I also put some out at the range in Whitewater KS, it spreads slowly, but there's no traffic on it there.  Buffalo grass also doesn't get too high. 

Crown Vetch is poisonous to Horses according to Wikipedia.  I would also hesitate to buy it because of the flowers would be distracting.

K-31 is what is planted in my yard in Wichita now because the fescue hybrids only lasted about 2 years before everything but the K-31 died off anyway. 

In the South, Bermuda is great, it grows like a darn weed.

Just my $0.02

Mike
Norman OK

[Bugscuffle]

Here in texas we use Pricly Pear Cactus, Tumbleweed, Russian Thisle, and bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush in the spring.

[Gen Lew Wallace]

Greetings,

If I do recall the highway departments across the land use crown vetch on the highways for ground cover and erosion control.

[Chev. William]

M y local Outdoor Commercial Public Shooting Range is bare dirt/sand/gravel due to the lack of rain and cost of Water here in Southern California.
My home 'Lawn' started out as seed about 1956 but is now 'cut weeds' almost entirely.  It does get brown if it is not watered, needs cutting about every two weeks but looks green all year around, just a little 'grayer' when hot and dry before the 'weekly' watering.

My neighbors water their lawn about ever two days and cut it weekly, but they have three boys to help out.