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Grass · Poaceae Draft — unreviewed

Big sacaton

Sporobolus wrightii Munro ex Scribn.

Also called big sacaton.

Tall, vase-shaped native grass of desert floodplains, tolerant of alkaline and salty soils. Creates a bold seasonal screen.

Size over time

Typical landscape size 1.5–2.1 m (5–7 ft) tall and 1.2–1.8 m (4–6 ft) wide; fast growth, about 2 years to maturity. Intermediate sizes use the planner’s growth curve (k = 0.45) from the #1 install size.

00.511.52mPlanting0.3 × 0.3 mYear 31.4 × 1.2 mYear 101.8 × 1.5 mMature1.8 × 1.5 m

Design notes

  • Cut back in late winter.
  • Thrives in basins and bioswales that receive runoff.

Regions

Native range: Floodplains of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and northern Mexico.

Native to these OpenLandscape3D pilot regions:

Southwest

Native status describes where the species occurs naturally. It is not a promise that it suits a particular garden; site conditions decide that.

Related plants

Prairie dropseed
Sporobolus heterolepis · Grass · 0.6–0.9 m (2–3 ft)
Blue grama
Bouteloua gracilis · Grass · 0.3–0.6 m (1–2 ft)
Deer grass
Muhlenbergia rigens · Grass · 0.9–1.5 m (3–5 ft)
Mexican feather grass
Nassella tenuissima · Grass · 0.3–0.6 m (1–2 ft)
Shenandoah switchgrass
Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah' · Grass · 0.9–1.2 m (3–4 ft)
Little bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium · Grass · 0.6–1.2 m (2–4 ft)

Plan with Big sacaton

Place it in a design, check it against your zone, light and moisture, and see it at year three and year ten.

Start designing Try a sample garden