Many of the native lawns of Texas look beautiful and lush because of the presence of the curly fine blue-green leaves of buffalo grass. Its botanical or technical name is Buchloe dactyloides, and it is a perennial grass belonging to the Poaceae family. Since herds of buffalo grazed on this grass, it came to be known as buffalo grass. This grass has great tolerance for droughts and extreme temperatures because it is the only native turf grass. It is very hardy. The blades of this grass grow up to 10 to 12 inches high, but as they fall down, they slowly form stolons, which give a short appearance to the turf. This sort of grass can grow well in clay soil while receiving moderate to low rainfall. Regarding its needs for survival, 15 to 30 inches of annual rainfall is the ideal situation for buffalo grass to flourish. You can establish buffalo grass in your lawn through seeds or sod, if there is not too much abuse of the area. You’ll also want adequate sunlight falling on it. While purchasing seeds, look into the details of the seed treatment as seeds chilled at around 10 degrees can have a higher germination rate. April and May are the ideal months for planting buffalo grass in your lawn since there should be a sufficient amount of moisture during this time of year. Maintenance of buffalo grass is not a tedious process. You have to mow it periodically depending on how frequently the lawn is used and how good you want it to look. For example, buffalo grass on irrigated golf turfs is mowed weekly or even more often. The light application of nitrogen can enhance the growth of buffalo grass. To keep buffalo grass green, irrigate it with an adequate amount of water. It becomes brown with an insufficient water supply.