I am curious if anyone has used buffalo grass in southern British Columbia, particularly on Vancouver Island. It sounds like a great alternative to a 'traditional' lawn for low use areas, but it seems our climate may not be suitable?
To my knowledge, although "Buffalo Grass" is indeed a 'common name', the only plant this name refers to is Buchloe dactyloides. It is known for its general versatility in that it requires less water, fertilizer and mowing than more traditional grasses such as Kentucky Bluegrass. It has a few other qualities which I find attractive but I am just not sure how it would do with Vancouver Island's climate.
I think the distribution argues against trying it on the Pacific coast. http://herbarium.usu.edu/webmanual/ I suspect those highly competitive grass seed growers in the Willamette Valley may have some grasses that like the PNW dry summers.
Dave, Thanks for the web link, it is a terrific site. I agree, after seeing their distribution recommendation it appears to be overwhelmingly against trying it in my region! However, it does give me a bunch of other options to consider... Thanks again, I would never have found this site otherwise.
Laughing Dog, As a former Portlander, I need badly to do a tour of Vancouver Island. The published online volumes of the Flora of North America are a valuable resource, and the grass family is provided with more information and bigger/better illustrations than the rest. This is because the grass project was already underway (as a revision of the famous Hitchcock & Chase Manual), and it merged into the Flora. Which also explains why the grass manual is on a different server, at Utah State University.