Ornamental Peanut Grass

Description

• The low-growing, warm season legume grows with underground stems or rhizomes, creating a dense mat with a mature height of about 6 inches in a short amount of time. The compound foliage is composed of narrow to egg-shaped leaflets with smooth surfaces. Ornamental peanut grass has prostrate stems and blooms with yellow or orange flowers. The flowers bloom all through the warm season and are encouraged by full sun, rain and low fertility. The plant occasionally produces a thin shelled pod with a single seed.

Growth Conditions

• Plant in an area of full sun for best results. Although the plant also adapts to areas of partial shade, growth and flowering are more prolific in sun. The low-maintenance plants prefer a well-drained alkaline soil. Amend lime to acid soil to improve pH and organic matter or sand to clay for better drainage. Being a legume, ornamental peanut grass has no requirement for nitrogen. Keep height at 1 ½ inches by mowing every two to four weeks to grow as a ground cover. It propagates easily with division, seed or cutting. Perennial peanut is hardy in USDA zones 8b to 11.

Uses

• Perennial peanut works well as a lawn substitute and ground cover in sandy areas with low traffic. These include highway medians and shoulders, golf courses, and landfills. Larger landscape areas with inclines and slopes, and the low-maintenance sites around structures, can also be covered with the plant. Perennial peanut is also chosen for erosion control on canal banks as the dense rhizomes help with soil stabilization. The plant is widely used as forage.

Planting Suggestions

• The recommended planting time for perennial peanut is during winter. This allows the roots to get established before active growth in spring. Planting too late like in spring or early summer slows down rate of spread in areas that require broader coverage. Water young plants well to avoid damage from drought. Established plants are drought tolerant. Plant at a depth of 1 ¼ inches with 1 ½ to 2 feet between rows. If used as forage, do not start grazing until plants are 6 to 8 inches tall.