Native bunchgrasses can be used alone or as accent plants in landscaping. Bunchgrasses will remain in clumps because they don’t spread by rhizomes, but they can spread from the seeds they produce. If your site uses weed barrier and is mulched with wood chips, bark or rock, it probably will be several years before very many seedlings survive. If you don’t want your grasses to reproduce, simply cut off the seedheads and remove them.
- Native bunchgrasses add a unique aesthetic that’s visible all year. Little bluestem, Big bluestem and Switchgrass all turn reddish to purple in the fall, providing color all winter long.
- Indian ricegrass provides nutritious seeds for many songbirds.
- Blue grama, Sideoats grama, Basin wildrye, Rough fescue, Idaho fescue and Tufted hairgrass are all attractive bunchgrasses, as is our Montana state grass, Bluebunch wheatgrass.
- Some Montana nurseries sell potted plants of native bunchgrasses – see the MNPS Native Plant Source Guide. As demand increases, the nursery industry will respond.
