June 15, 2013 Buffalograss

New Buffalograss plugs at bottom, Buffalograss planted last August at top.
Burlap covering topsoil along the base of the building on right side.

     During the late fall and early spring, we sprayed the grass-like weeds that were still green after the buffalograss went dormant. This worked great. We no longer have those weeds competing with the buffalograss. There are only a couple of spots where thick-bladed grass is growing. I will carefully paint some Roundup on those with a small paint brush, being careful not to get any Roundup on the buffalograss.
     The buffalograss came out of dormancy about a month ago. It has really started spreading now that the weather has warmed up. I have been spot spraying using a household spray bottle with lawn weed killer with Trimec herbicide, 4 tablespoons per gallon of water to kill broad leaf weeds. Always be sure to read the instructions on all herbicides you use. Buffalograss instructions say not to spray 2-4 D products when the temperature is above 85 degrees, because it may harm the grass. We really had a bad infestation of field bindweed, or wild morning glory, especially in the back area of the picture and the 2-4 D has really killed it well.
     I spread lawn fertilizer, 25-5-10 with slow-release nitrogen, 1 pound per 1000 square feet about a week ago. I will spread some more again in late July or early August.
     We sprayed Roundup on anything green in the area in November and again until early April. After spraying in early April, I looked closely at the buffalograss and it looked like it was coming out of dormancy. I was really scared that we had killed the buffalograss with our last spray of Roundup, but in May it really began to turn green so we hadn't killed it! Phew!
     We don't want to over water the buffalograss, so we have only watered it twice since it greened up.
     Water runs off our building and eroded a lot of the dirt away since last summer. There was a depression about 8 to 12 inches wide and 6 to 8 inches deep all along the building at the base. To remedy that, I bought  burlap fabric, 3 feet wide and 20 feet long and topsoil at Walmart. They also sell burlap at Home Depot and Lowe's. I put one side of the burlap down into the hole and dumped the topsoil into the depression. Then I folded the rest of the burlap over the top of the topsoil and pushed landscape pins into the burlap every couple of feet. So far, it has kept the soil in place and hasn't eroded anymore. The buffalograss is starting to grow into the burlap and the burlap will eventually decay away, hopefully after the buffalograss spreads its roots into the soil so it doesn't erode anymore. That's the plan, anyway.