Where is the best place to plant little bluestem?
Little bluestem grows best in full sun. The plant will be taller (and therefore more prone to flopping late in the season) on fertile soils and shorter on dry, infertile sites. Do not fertilize heavily and avoid fertilizing on richer soils. Although it is not recommended for heavy clay, it will grow on clay soils. Roots reach 5 to 8 feet deep. Grows on soils of sand, loam, clay or caliche. It grows with Big Bluestem in deep soils of the Oakwoods & Prairies; with Indiangrass/Sideoats on the Edwards Plateau and Rolling Plains; and with the paspalums on the Coastal Prairie.
Why is the little bluestem important?
Little bluestem is a native grass that provides excellent ecosystem benefits for wildlife and disturbed soils reclamation. It can be mixed with other native species for biodiversity enhancement. Little bluestem is a handsome complement to other perennials with grass-like foliage, in fact you could create a feathery foliage pollinator garden with plantings of bluestem mixed with other wildflowers such as meadow blazingstar (Litaris ligulystylis), narrowleaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis), threadleaf .
How to grow Little bluestem?
Little bluestem grows best in full sun. The plant will be taller (and therefore more prone to flopping late in the season) on fertile soils and shorter on dry, infertile sites. Do not fertilize heavily and avoid fertilizing on richer soils. Although it is not recommended for heavy clay, it will grow on clay soils. Ecosystem benefits: Little bluestem is a valuable forage species for livestock (Leithead et al. Tober and Jensen 2013).