From the boss man, Danny Takao:

With the current drought conditions we face here in California and other parts of the country, the new California garden will need to change to accommodate our growing population.  With the increasing population here in California the pressure on our water resources will continue regardless if we get rain next year. One of the greatest user of water in our landscape is our cool season fescue type grasses. The inputs of fertilizers, chemical sprays and water doesn’t make much sense anymore. We need to change the way we think about our gardens and the way we live. And we need to do it now….

UC Verde Buffalo Grass

When I first learned of UC Verde Buffalo Grass it was from a catalog from High Country Gardens in New Mexico. David Salman is a leader in regards to low water landscape in New Mexico. After reading about the Buffalo Grass I put it in the back of my mind to follow up again when I had more time. I knew this grass was interesting but at the time 5 years ago water was not an issue.

A couple of years ago  I had to go a Green Roof Conference in Minneapolis to see about becoming a grower of  green roof modules.  By chance Wayne Thorsen from Todd Valley Sod Farm had his booth next to the Live Roof booth. (Todd Valley Farms owns the rights to UC Verde , Prestige and Legacy developed by UC Davis and UC Riverside and the University of Nebraska. )  I couldn’t believe this because I had forgotten all about the buffalo grass. Anyways Wayne and I got to talking about UC Verde and a month later Wayne callled to say we could be a plug producer in California.  Later on Wayne called Tom Hawkins from Florasource ( Our marketing and sales partner) to go see the trials at UC Riverside. UC Riverside and UC Davis are the breeders of UC Verde. What I saw at the trials really made me a believer in UC Verde. What UC Riverside did was establish plots of different drought tolerant turfs and then turn off the water. The only green blocks in the trials were UC Verde.  The Zoysia and Bermuda grasses were completely dead. It was really a amazing sight.

Since that trial we have started our own trial plots here at the nursery and have become a firm believer even more. UC Verde creates a really deep root system and the ability to transpire very slowly in hot weather. Making this grass ideal for our central valley heat. The only negative about UC Verde is the dormancy period from late November to early March. But the straw color of the grass during dormancy can be painted with turf paint or left natural. It’s quite strking with the dormant colors.

As our world gets closer to the tipping point there is something we can do to help and use less water in the process. UC Verde Buffalo grass is that solution. I’m glad to be a part of this and I hope California can see we need to use less water but still have our green gardens.