Of the grasses you named, Panicum, 'Heavy Metal' or any of the others, is the best at erosion control, because it is a sod-forming grass. Carex and Sorghastrum are other sod-forming grasses. They are also fairly drought tolerant once they are established (2-3 years).

As far as using the cuttings (shredded, I assume) for mulch, you'll find the stems (culms) work well, but the blades are difficult to keep in place. When dry and shredded, they will blow all over in any appreciable wind.

The land our house was built on was previously pastureland, and about half the turf in our backyard is still the native grasses since we don't feed or water the bermuda much (read: not at all). I know we have some little bluestem growing back there, but I bet we have sorghastrum too. I'll have to look and see if I can transplant any of it to the spot that's eroding the worst. Thanks for the suggestions!

Hi Miraje,

Here in Oklahoma the Panicum usually prefers lowland where water collects occasionally. The local Home Depot and Lowes stores are now carrying Muhlenbergia Lindheimerii which is a very attractive blue/grey, tall, vertically growing, drought hardy Texas native grass that would do better in your situation because it will thrive better on the sandy slope in a dry situation. Deergrass Muhly also thrives on drought and heat and would love the spot but you would have to find it online as its not sold locally to my knowledge. I started mine from seed last fall and they are now blooming.

If you are open to shopping online, High Country Gardens has some great choices that are very drought hardy and would love the site you are describing.

These would be either of the Muhly grasses (Pink Flamingo Muhly Grass, Regal Gulf Coast Muhly grass),
Indian Ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides)
Sporobolus (Prairie Dropseed, Sacaton alkali, Sacaton wrightii)

Santa Rosa Gardens is selling the Prairie Dropseed, and other grasses currently at half off of half price, less than $2.00/plant with a 25 order minimum. This is a beautiful grass.

Along with the Little Bluestem you might have Blue Grama and Sideoats Grama growing around there in your prairie and these would work very well too and look good without being invasive. The Indian Grass prefers a more moist soil but it would grow, only shorter than is typical.

A grass that is a sandy soil stabilizer is Sand Dropseed (Sporoblus cryptandrus) which will quickly colonize vacant land and is used in erosion control (but use some caution, it is sometimes considered invasive due to the speed at which it colonizes). Seed is available through Plants of the Southwest. Its not really an ornamental but planted in a large stand it would be attractive. This company is out of New Mexico and has other drought loving grass seed available.

Oh, that's good to know about the panicum. The Muhlenbergia Lindheimerii looks like a good substitute for it in terms of the bluish color, too.

Do you happen to know if the miscanthus will have issues with the shallow soil? I've read that it tends to have a very deep root system, and I'm a bit concerned that with the soil limitations it may not grow as tall as advertised.

If it was me, I wouldn't try the Miscanthus because it will just struggle there if its a slope that is difficult to water deeply. The ones growing around the city look terrible unless they are getting regular water, in which case they are doing great. The new leaves haven't yet covered last years trimmed growth on the unwatered ones in this drought we are in.

Any of the short prairie grasses will do very good. The tall prairie grasses prefer low lands with more water or swales.

I have a lot of sand and these Texas Muhly grasses love it. In their natural habitat they grow in places just like you described. I have 'Heavy Metal' and 'Northwind' Panicums I planted at the same time in two different areas. One group is on the low side where the drain off ends and the other on the high side at the top of the slope on my property. The ones on the low side are twice as large and thick. I am moving the others next spring. The Lindheimerris I bought last fall are planted on a slope in 8" of mostly sand on top of clay and they are thriving and robust with no additional watering. Its a very pretty grass and long lived. If you mulch with the cuttings and happen to be lucky enough to get a seedling, save it, they are difficult to germinate.

Are your muhly grasses fussy about pH? wildflower.org says their natural habitat is alkaline soil from limestone, and our soil trends more toward the acidic side (anywhere from 5.5 to 7). I probably should have checked on that with the other grasses, too.

They grow native in that caliche soil around the Hill Country in Texas where there is a lot of limestone. They easily adapt to many different soils and pH and will grow just fine elsewhere as long as its well drained and low fertility. They are recommended for Southwestern US states, Texas and Mid-Atlantic states zones 6 -10.

Its sort of like grasses that will tolerate salt. They tolerate it but don't require it. I am in central Oklahoma and all of these natives from NM and Texas have done great here and have way less watering demands. They are really holding up well in this hot dry weather we now have and wintered over fine.

If you decide on getting them, look for pots that have the smallest specimens. A couple of mine I bought last August were so root bound I had trouble establishing them because I was going for the biggest grasses they had. I had a bit of winter die off but they did come back and are fine now.

Ok great! I'll definitely add the Muhly grass to my list to buy then. I'm a bit hesitant to go out and get them right away because of this terrible drought, so I may have to wait until next spring. I'm looking forward to getting them all planted, though.

Sounds like a good plan to me. I had filled out an order to take advantage of the SRG sale and then cancelled it on second thought due to this drought. Fall would also be a good time to plant here. On the subject of mulch, I just remembered, my sister is planting a prairie yard in Kansas and bought a bale of Little Bluestem "hay" and mulched her entire area property. Worked real good, stays in place and looks good too.

Where did she buy it? I'd be interested in doing something similar for the garden, at least for the first few years while the grasses are still somewhat small. I'm not really sure where you can buy straw mulch or hay around here if you don't know any farmers.

She didn't really say specifically and I didn't ask, but she did say it was cheap. She's up there in a small town just across the Oklahoma/Kansas border. She got it at some local place. She also mentioned it choked her up pretty bad when she tried to separate it. I'd wear a dust mask if you have problems with allergies or asthma (she does). She hasn't had any problems with it on the ground, however, just that dust from when she untied the bale and separated it initially.