Look at the genus, "Carex" that run 4"-6". There are over 200 to look
at. Also, Phyla nodiflora or Phyla incisa may be an option. At around 3
feet and a great habitat cover, Symphoricarpos orbiculatus could be
good.

This is a list of grasses and groundcovers I have in my habitat:

Weeping Love Grass
=

Bouteloua curtipendula Sideoats Grama, State Grass of
Texas
=

Carex spp. Blue Sedge
=

Carex texensis Texas Sedge
=

Panicum spp. Shenandoah Switch Grass
=

Pennisetum Black Fountain Grass
=

Pennisetum Red Dwarf Bunnny Tail Fountain Grass
=

Pennisetum villosum Feathertop
=

Rubus trivialis Southern dewberry, Bramble
=

Stipa tenuissima Mexican Feathergrass
=

Bouteloua gracilis Blue Grama
=

Muhlenbergia capillaris Gulf Muhly
=

Muhlenbergia dubioides Weeping Muhly
=

Muhlenbergia dumosa Bamboo Muhly
=

Muhlenbergia lindheimeri Lindheimer Muhly
=

Tripsacum dactyloides Eastern Gama
=

Chasmanthium litifolium Inland Sea-oats
=

Andropogon gerardii Big Bluestem

J. Kolenovsky
=



amjordan wrote:
=

Hi, y'all! Been a while since I've been back here, since my husband and=
I
moved out to California this summer (and oh yes, it IS the land of frui=
ts
and nuts, I am here to testify!!). At any rate, it seems to me that I r=
ead a
post here once upon a time about grass that stays short ...? A zoysia o=
r
buffalo grass or some such? The thing is, my husband and I just closed =
on a
fixer-upper here in Northern California that stands on just short of an=

acre. Part of it will be my garden (of course!) but that still leaves u=
s
with a fair amount of lawn, and husband has announced that he is NOT mo=
wing
half an acre every two weeks. So now I am looking for a grass that stay=
s
short or at least grows slowly. We have the advantage in that most of t=
he
lot is now just bare dirt, since the former owners have been keeping an=
imals
on it. Since it is still raining quite a bit here (the tail end of our =
rainy
season), it seems to me that if I put in some sort of grass right away,=
it
might actually germinate before summer gets here. (And I know if I don'=
t put
in anything, it will immediately start sprouting weeds!)
=

For further information, the ground here is black adobe clay (very fert=
ile
but hard as a rock in the summer, mucky mud in the winter). In the wint=
er,
low temps are about 32 F, just enough to nip plants a bit, and in the
summer, high temps reached 105F last year (though in the 90's is more
common). We receive 99% of our rainfall between November and May. Last
summer, there was NO rain -- I saw a figure of about 1/4" over the whol=
e
summer, I think -- and this is the normal state of affairs. We have a w=
ell
that is a good producer so we can do some watering over the summer, but=
I
would like to keep it to a minimum.
=

I will be calling my extension agent next week to ask about this, but =
I
thought I would ask here first, since I seemed to remember seeing that
original post once upon a time. If anyone knows about any tough grasses=
that
grow slowly or to a pre-determined height, please, please let me know a=
bout
them!!
=

Thanks in advance,
jordan

-- =

J. Kolenovsky, A+, Network +, MCP
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - commercial
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal webpag=
es