Native Grasses and Groundcovers
Landscaping with Florida’s native wildflowers and plants provides refuge for birds, bees and butterflies while creating “habitat highways” through urban settings.
Level up your lawn with native grasses and groundcovers! Traditional turf lawns require excessive water use, fertilizers and often pesticides. Reducing turf by incorporating native plants and replacing open areas with native groundcovers not only benefits wildlife but also helps protect our precious water resources.
Grasses
In natural areas, Florida’s wildflowers grow among a wide diversity of native grasses. Together, they keep each other upright aboveground, while below, they weave a strong network of roots that stabilize the soil.
When incorporated into a home landscape, grasses can contribute structure and texture, and also increase the diversity of wildlife by creating cover for small animals and insects and providing seeds for birds.
Groundcovers
Native groundcovers are more beneficial and cost effective than traditional turf. Mowing frequency is substantially reduced, and the need for fertilizers, pesticides and excessive watering is eliminated. Flowering groundcovers also provide food and cover for pollinators.
Plan for success
- Determine the light and soil conditions of your landscape and select appropriate species that are native to your region.
- Consider the plants’ mature sizes and forms and space them accordingly to prevent overcrowding.
- If desired, create borders to contain groundcover plants and keep them from spreading.
by Emily Bell
Turf removal tips
If your goal is to replace your traditional lawn with a native groundcover, you will first want to remove the existing turf. This can be accomplished through a number of methods:
- Solarization involves covering the turf with clear plastic to trap heat from the summer sun, creating high temperatures that kill the grass and weeds beneath. When done properly, it is the most effective way of eliminating turf. Visit FlaWildflowers.org/solarize to learn more.
- Sheet mulching entails layering biodegradable material like cardboard, newspaper or soil over turf to block sunlight and smother the turf, eventually breaking it down. This process may take several months, so consider it during late fall or winter so the site will be ready for spring planting.
- Mechanical removal involves using equipment like a sod cutter or tiller to physically cut through roots and separate turf from soil. Sod cutters can often be rented from hardware stores.
- Manual removal is a labor-intensive process of digging, hoeing or hand-pulling turf and its roots. It is best utilized in smaller areas or where other methods are impractical.
Visit www.FlaWildflowers.org/turf-removal for more details on how to effectively remove turf.
Grasses and grass-like plants
Wiregrass
Wiregrass (Aristida stricta) is a perennial bunchgrass found in scrub, pinelands and coastal uplands throughout much of Florida. It is is a primary food source for gopher tortoises.
Elliott’s lovegrass
Elliott’s lovegrass (Eragrostis elliottii) has tiny yet prolific seeds that provide plenty of food for invertebrates and small birds that also use the plant’s dense foliage for cover.
Muhlygrass
Nothing says fall in Florida like the purple haze of Hairyawn muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris) in bloom. When planted en masse, this perennial bunchgrass puts on a spectacular fall display.
Starrush whitetop
Starrush whitetop (Rhynchospora colorata) is a unique and long-lived perennial sedge. It is known (and named) for its striking bracts that are often mistaken for a daisy-like flower.
Lopsided Indiangrass
Lopsided indiangrass (Sorghastrum secundum) is a robust and unique perennial bunchgrass. Throughout most of the year, it is rather indistinct. But in late summer, it produces tall, dramatic flower spikes…
Other grasses
Plants for turf replacement
Browne’s savory
Browne’s savory (Clinopodium browneii) is a highly aromatic plant that can be used to make a tea or to add mint flavor to a salad or other dish.
Carolina ponysfoot
If you’ve got a regularly irrigated lawn or a landscape that naturally holds moisture, chances are Carolina ponysfoot (Dichondra carolinensis) occurs there. Found in moist hammocks and floodplain forests, it…
Oblongleaf twinflower
If you are tired of mowing, watering and fertilizing the lawn, consider replacing your turf grass with Oblongleaf twinflower (Dyschoriste oblongifolia), an easy-to-care-for native groundcover.
Sunshine mimosa
Sunshine mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa) has showy “powderpuff” flowers that bloom spring through summer, attracting mostly bees. The plant is a larval host for the Little sulphur butterfly.
Partridgeberry
Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) is a dainty mat-forming vine with fuzzy white flowers that a variety of insects, especially bumble bees. Its fruits are enjoyed by birds, small mammals and humans!…
Creeping woodsorrel
Creeping woodsorrel (Oxalis corniculata) is a ground-hugging native with distinct clover-like leaves and sunny yellow flowers. It flowers and fruits mostly in spring, but may bloom year-round.
Frogfruit
Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) is both a versatile and vital wildflower. This evergreen perennial is low-growing and creeping, often forming dense mats of green foliage.
Wild petunia
Wild petunia (Ruellia caroliniensis) typically blooms late spring through late summer/early fall, attracting a variety of pollinators. It is the host plant for the White peacock and Common buckeye butterflies.
Shoreline seapurslane
Shoreline seapurslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum) is a sprawling, evergreen wildflower with pink, star-shaped flowers. It is critical as a dune sand stabilizer as it catches sand between its leaves and stems.
Herb-of-grace
Herb-of-grace (Bacopa monnieri) is a creeping, mat-forming perennial that occurs naturally in coastal hammocks and swales, salt marshes, freshwater marshes and swamps, and along river, stream and ditch edges.
Creeping sage
Creeping sage (Salvia misella) is an excellent groundcover for shady areas.
Other groundcovers
Tall elephantsfoot
You’d probably expect an elephant-sized flower from a plant called Tall elephantsfoot (Elephantopus elatus), but it’s not the flower that gives this plant its name.
Beach creeper
Beach creeper (Ernodea littoralis) is an evergreen low-growing, mat-forming shrub found on dunes, beaches and coastal hammock edges throughout Central and South Florida.
Wild strawberry
Wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) is a rare perennial wildflower that occurs throughout much of the eastern United States and Canada. In Florida, it occurs naturally only in open fields and…
Coastal mock vervain
Coastal mock vervain (Glandularia maritima) is a state-listed endangered wildflower endemic to Florida’s east coast. It blooms year-round, although the most prolific flowering occurs in spring and summer.
Dune sunflower
Dune sunflower (Helianthus debilis) occurs naturally along the coast. Its bright flowers attract a variety of pollinators, its dense growth pattern provides cover for many small animals and birds enjoy…
Rayless sunflower
Rayless sunflower (Helianthus radula) is a unique member of the Helianthus genus—its ray florets are almost entirely absent. It blooms late spring through fall and attracts a variety of pollinators.
Lyreleaf sage
Lyreleaf sage (Salvia lyrata) is an attractive perennial with leafless spikes of tubular, lavender to bluish flowers. Bees are its predominant pollinator, but it also attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.
Saw palmetto
Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) is an evergreen shrub found in scrub, pinelands, coastal hammocks, and dunes throughout Florida. Dr. Mark Deyrup of Archbold Biological Station calls it the “most amazing…
Blue-eyed grass
The low profile of Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium) makes it an excellent groundcover choice. It is fairly adaptable to a variety of conditions.
Blue porterweed
Blue porterweed (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis) is an excellent addition to a butterfly garden: It is a host plant for the Tropical buckeye and a nectar source for many other butterfly species.
Common blue violet
Common blue violet (Viola sororia) is aptly named as it is the violet that is most common throughout Florida and is often seen in cultivated lawns.
Bog white violet
Bog white violet (Viola lanceolata) is a diminutive perennial wildflower that occurs naturally in bogs and along the edges of ponds, marshes and other wetlands.
Gopher apple
Gopher apple (Geobalanus oblongifolius) is a hardy, low-growing, woody perennial shrub that occurs naturally in sandhills, pine flatwoods, scrubby flatwoods and scrub. It can bloom year-round.