Grasses

No-mow For turf grasses used to control erosive flow in swales, see Turf

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Sortable table, click on header you wish to select decorative graminoids by:

Scientific Name	Common Name	Native	Soil Moisture 1=Dry 2=Med 3=Wet	Partial shade tolerance	Drought Tolerance 1=Low 2=Med 3=High	Salt Tolerance 1=Low 2=Med 3=High	Pollution tolerance	Compaction tolerance	STEP star!	Illustration
Andropogon gerardii	Big Bluestem	Y	2		3	2		Y	☆
Bromus latiglumis	Broad-glumed Brome	Y	2-3	Y	2	2
Calamagrostis acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'	Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass		1-2		2	2	Y	Y
Calamagrostis canadensis	Canada Blue-joint	Y	2-3		1-2	2
Carex atherodes	Awned Sedge	Y	3		2	2
Carex bebbii	Bebb’s Sedge	Y	2-3		1-2	2		Y
Carex brevior	Brevior Sedge	Y	1-2		2-3	2		Y
Carex crinita	Fringed Sedge	Y	2-3	Y	1	1
Carex grayii	Asa Gray Sedge	Y	2-3	Y	1	2
Carex hystericina	Porcupine Sedge	Y	3		1	2
Carex intumescens	Bladder Sedge	Y	3	Y	1	1
Carex lacustris	Lake-bank Sedge	Y	2-3	Y	1	2
Carex lupulina	Hop Sedge	Y	2	Y	1	1
Carex pensylvanica	Pennsylvania Sedge	Y	1	Y	2-3	2
Carex stipata	Stalk-grain Sedge	Y	2-3		1	2		Y
Carex vulpinoidea	Fox Sedge	Y	2-3		1-2	2	Y	Y
Chasmanthium latifolium	Upland Sea Oats		2	Y	2	3
Danthonia spicata	Poverty Oatgrass	Y	1-2		2-3	3		Y
Deschampsia cespitosa	Tufted Hairgrass	Y	1	Y	2	2-3
Elymus canadensis	Canada Wild-rye	Y	1-2		2-3	3		Y
Elymus riparius	River Wild-rye	Y	2	Y	2	2		Y
Elymus virginicus var. virginicus	Virginia Wild-rye	Y	2-3	Y	2	2		Y
Festuca spp. (see: other information)	Fescue species.	Y	1-2	Y	3	2-3	Y	Y
Helictotrichon sempervirens	Blue Oat Grass		1-2		2	2
Juncus effusus ssp. solutus	Lamp Rush	Y	2-3		1	3	Y	Y	☆
Juncus tenuis	Path Rush	Y	2	Y	2	3		Y
Muhlenbergia mexicana var. mexicana	Mexican Muhly	Y	2	Y	2	2
Panicum virgatum	Shenandoah Switchgrass	Y	1-3	Y	3	3	Y	Y	☆
Pennisetum alopecuroides 'hameln'	Fountain Grass		1-2		3	3			☆
Schizachyrium scoparium (Andropogon scoparius)	Little Bluestem	Y	1		3	2-3	Y	Y	☆
Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani (Scirpus validus)	Soft-stem Bulrush	Y	3		1	2-3	Y
Scirpus atrovirens	Dark-green Bulrush	Y	3		1	2	Y
Scirpus cyperinus	Cottongrass Bulrush	Y	3		2	2
Sorghastrum nutans	Yellow Indian-grass	Y	1-2	Y	3	2-3		Y
Sparganium eurycarpum	Large Bur-reed	Y	3	Y	1	2
Spartina pectinata	Prairie Cordgrass	Y	2-3	Y	2	2	Y
Sporobolus neglectus	Small Dropseed	Y	1-2		3	3		Y		Please submit a photo
Typha latifolia	Broad-leaf Cattail	Y	3		1	2-3	Y

Links

• Plants

Resilient turf grasses are particularly useful in the design of vegetated filter strips, dry ponds and enhanced grass swales. The Ministry of Transportation have standardized a number of grass mixes. The 'Salt Tolerant Mix' is of particular value for low impact development applications alongside asphalt roadways and paved walkways.

Canada #1 Ground Cover (salt tolerant mix)

Common name	Scientific name	Proportion
Tall Fescue	Festuca arundinacea	25 %
Fults Alkali Grass	Puccinellia distans	20 %
Creeping Red Fescue	Festuca rubra	25 %
Perennial ryegrass	Lolium perrenne	20 %
Hard Fescue	Festuca trachyphylla	10 %

Sustainable Technologies Evaluation Program

A stormwater management strategy that seeks to mitigate the impacts of increased urban runoff and stormwater pollution by managing it as close to its source as possible. It comprises a set of site design approaches and small scale stormwater management practices that promote the use of natural systems for infiltration and evapotranspiration, and rainwater harvesting.

A mixture of mineral aggregates bound with bituminous materials, used in the construction and maintenance of paved surfaces.