How does grass seed proliferate in nature, especially in dry climates, if it requires so much water to germinate?
In: 344
If I gave you 3 options of where to spend 12 hours wearing a t-shirt and jeans would you choose; the desert at 100F (37C) with no water, the freezing arctic, or inside a house at room temp with a fridge full or food and things to drink? I’m guessing you chose the last one.
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In nature grass grows really well and spreads in places where (that species of) grass is well suited for and where other plants like trees aren’t well suited. However people want certain types of grass that aren’t necessarily suitable for their location and soil type, so in order force the grass to grow and look good it takes watering and fertilizing.
The problem here isn’t grass – it is lawns.
Grasses can be divided up into two groups called C3 and C4 which refers to the way that they do photosynthesis. The latter has evolved to actually use very little water to deal with higher temperatures and dry seasons.
Which works quite well and is a big part of the reason it has managed to claim such vast regions of the earth – but that doesn’t guarantee a nice even spread of the plants, especially outside of their natural habitats
Basically be we try and grow grass in places it naturally wouldn’t grow or seasons it would have already grown dormant. And typically we grow only a few species of fescue, bluegrass or Bermuda grasses.
Generally native grasses don’t make the same neat manicured lawns that people want. For example in my area native grasses tend to seed and go dormant or die off until next year by late June or mid July . Our native grass growing season starts around February/march, and by July it’s all dried and dead. Lawns are irrigated, mowed and fertilized year round. Mowing prevents it from going to seed and keeps the roots shallow. Native grasses can have roots that to down several feet to survive the dry season, lawns rarely have roots that extend beyond a few inches.
Humans pick the grass they want. Nature picks the grass suited for the environment. Grass that takes 7-10 days of moisture isn’t from where you are.
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