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Home → Publications → Forest Nursery Notes → 2007 Summer Forest Nursery Notes → 2007 Summer Forest Nursery Notes - New Nursery Literature → Native Roadside Perennial Grasses Persist a Decade After Planting in the Sacramento Valley

Native Roadside Perennial Grasses Persist a Decade After Planting in the Sacramento Valley

O'Dell, R. E., Young, S. L., and Claassen, V. P. California Agriculture 61(2):79-84. 2007.

Restoring native grassland along roadsides can provide a relatively low-maintenance, drought-tolerant and stable perennial vegetative cover with reduced weed growth, as opposed to the high-maintenance inva-sive annual cover (requiring intensive mowing and herbicide treatments) that dominates most Sacramento Valley roadsides. A survey of long-established roadside native-grass plantings in Yolo County showed that once established and protected from disturbance, such plantings can persist with minimal maintenance for more than a decade, retaining a high proportion of native species. The survey also showed that each species of native perennial grass displays a microhabitat preference for particular roadside topographic positions, and that native perennial grass cover is negatively affected by disturbance.


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Author(s): Ryan E. O'Dell, Stephen L. Young, Victor P. Claassen

Section: Diverse Species