#1 Texas has a VERY large and powerful state-wide Native Plant Society of
Texas (NPSOT) and they strongly encourage the use of native plants in the
landscape. It's always good to cater to the people...
#2 Texans are pretty serious about water conservation particularly water
used for lawns and landscapes. Native grasses take considerably less water
than exotics.
#3 Bush's ranch is in the Hill Country which is not known for the greatest
of soils. Native grasses can thrive with much less in the way of added soil
amenities.
#4 If your question is actually "Why did he have to plant native grasses
when they should have been there to begin with?", then it most likely has to
do with encouraging Buffalo Grass, which is a turf grass for a lawn area
rather than having Little Bluestem, Indian Grass, etc. which are bunch
grasses and not condusive to having a mowable lawn.
#5 If Bush planted native grasses throughout his ranch, then he probably
was trying to increase the forage potential on what was most likely
overgrazed land. Some photos that I have seen have shown large expanses of
Prickly Pear Cactus and Yucca which are two surefire signs of past
overgrazing. In Texas, if you are trying to raise cattle on the open range
native grasses are the way to go unless you are in an area which will
support Coastal Bermuda which is the primary "hay" grown in the state.
#6 He also may have been trying to overcome a mistake made long ago on the
King's Ranch where they created King's Ranch Bluestem (KR Bluestem) which
has become a weed grass throughout much of the state. The grass was created
to have a higher forage value but never really worked out as well as
planned.
#7 Texas has a state-wide program known as WildScape which encourages
landowners to landscape their property with native plants which provide
wildlife food and cover. Once certified, you get a nifty certificate.
Maybe he just had a blank space on the wall that he needed to fill.
Rob Denkhaus
Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jay DeLong
> Sent: Monday, May 06, 2002 10:04 PM
> To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
> Subject: RE: RE: NANFA-- native grasses on Bush ranch
>
>
> I wasn't making a joke. Does anyone have any information on why Bush
> planted native grasses on his ranch? A link to a news story
> or anything?
> Thanks.
>
> --
> Jay DeLong
> Olympia, WA
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/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org