How to identify it
Fine, curling, grey-green blades that top out around 4–8″ if never mowed; spreads by stolons. One of the only native North American lawn options.
Growing conditions
| Sun | Full sun only |
| Traffic | Fair; recovers slowly |
| Water | The lowest of any lawn grass — a true shortgrass-prairie native |
| Overseed rate | 1–1.5 lb / 1,000 sq ft |
Where it fits — by region
- Cool-season states: Adapted to the dry plains parts of the state; struggles where summers are humid.
- Transition zone states: Great for the drier west of the state; loses to Bermuda in watered lawns.
- Warm-season states: Best in the dry interior; too much rain or irrigation invites weed takeover.
Caring for a Buffalograss lawn
The calendar does the heavy lifting: establish and feed from late spring through summer, put pre-emergent down in late winter, and stop nitrogen 6–8 weeks before frost. Local dates for every one of those jobs come from the lawn calendar lookup or your city's calendar page. Quantities come from the seed calculator and the fertilizer calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How short should I mow Buffalograss?
Keep Buffalograss between 2″ and 3″, and never remove more than a third of the blade in one cut. Mow at the taller end in heat or drought — longer blades shade soil and deepen roots.
How much Buffalograss seed do I need?
1–2 lbs per 1,000 sq ft for a new lawn, 1–1.5 lbs for overseeding, with germination in 14–30 days of consistent moisture. The seed calculator converts your lawn's square footage.
How much fertilizer does Buffalograss need?
About 0.5–1.5 lbs of actual nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft per year, applied through the warm growing months. The fertilizer calculator turns that into pounds of product from your bag's N-P-K.
Where does Buffalograss grow well?
Plains and western lawns, xeriscapes, low-water conversions from Nebraska to Texas.