Grasses Blogs

When it comes to plant selections in landscaping, much of the focus is typically put on trees, shrubs, and showy flowers. But take a closer look at many landscaped areas and you’ll often find a few grasses. Grasses are underappreciated but can often provide four season interest in the landscape....

If you are new to grass ID, or even experienced with it, and you come across an unknown grass, the options of possible grasses can be overwhelming! In Illinois, there over 400 possibilities, including subspecies and varieties. Luckily there are several online mapping tools that are easy to use that...

I recently received an inquiry from a farmer to identify an unknown grass he found on his property. This led me to a grass I’ve never identified before, but I had seen for years along the interstate and never knew what it was! Let’s take a look at Carolina Foxtail, Alopecurus carolinianus...

Crabgrass isn’t usually a problem until summertime, but effective management starts this spring. Many cultural choices, like how often and how high you mow your lawn, can impact the ability of crabgrass to establish.  About crabgrassThere are several species of crabgrass in Illinois, but the...

2025 was a whirlwind year and I decided to take a step back from this blog. If you’re wondering why, I had a baby! I’m already teaching my little girl about plants and who knows, she might grow up to be a grass lady one day too! Before moving ahead with new content, I took some time to look...

Fall is here, and while some days feel much more fall-like than others, you can’t deny that trees are putting on their fall colors, herbaceous plants are fading away, asters are blooming, and many warm-season grasses are in their prime. One of my favorite grasses to appreciate in the fall is...

A few years ago I began to notice a very tall, stately grass growing on the roadsides on my daily commute. I only seemed to find it growing in southernmost Illinois. Without any good places to pull over my car on the roadsides, I wasn’t able to get a closer look. Then one day I got an email asking...

Several years ago on a hike in mid-November, I came across an unfamiliar grass. It was still green, with an intact seed head. The alarm bells started ringing in my head, like they do whenever I see green plants late into fall or very early in spring – was this grass native or non-native? Many...

Warm-season grasses are in full bloom right now, putting on their fall display. If you go on a hike in the woods, you might find Wood Reed, Cinna arundinacea. Wood Reed is a native warm-season grass that grows in semi-shaded woodland areas. It can be found in nearly every county in the...

A year ago my family moved. As a gardener, I was looking for a house with a big yard with lots of potential to plant huge gardens. We found a home with almost a blank slate of a yard – after spending a few weeks removing invasive trees and shrubs we were ready to establish landscape beds and get...