Side Oats Grama – A Beginner’s Guide

Side Oats Grama is a native grass that naturally inhabits most of continental North America, from Northern Mexico to Canada. It is drought tolerant, loves full sun, deep rooted, and interesting to examine closely with it’s dangling flowers^[1][2][3]. Besides all this there are a number of insects that feed on the foliage (including larva, as it is a host plant). And finally many herbivores will forage on it such as deer, elk, and antelope.

Found in dry patches of woods in the Eastern United States and along dry prairies in the Midwest and Western US & Canada, this is a drought tolerant plant that thrives on slopes and well draining soils. One may also encounter it in Oak savannahs, Southwest grasslands, and among Ponderosa Pines.

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Facts

• Roots typically extend 2-4′ (0.6-1.3 m) deep
• Is Native to most of North America, only absent in the Pacific Northwest and VT/NH
• Sideoats Grama has huge wildlife value as it is fed on by many native insects as well as herbivores, showing its value as a native plant
• Makes a row of flowers along the stalks, that will eventually form into seed
• Can be used as turf grass in lawn
• The Scientific Name of Sideoats Grama is Bouteloua curtipendula
• Often grows well with other warm season grasses such as Big Bluestem, Switch Grass, Buffalo Grass and Blue Grama

Native Range

The native range of Side Oats Grama is huge. It is native to most of the United States, Northern Mexico, and Canada. We can document it going from New England to the Southwest, but it is likely that it is native pretty much everywhere on the continuous landmass of North America.

Look, I’m all for respecting science and botanists observations…but if there is a plant that is documented to be native in North Central Maine, and South Arizona, then it is very likely that it is native to almost the whole country…or at least it once was….

Reference Table

Scientific Name	Bouteloua curtipendula
Common Name(s)	Side Oats Grama
Native Range, USDA Zone	North America, USDA zones 4-9
Bloom Time	Summer-Fall
Bloom Duration, Color	8 weeks, pink to white
Height	2′ tall
Spacing / Spread	2′
Light Requirements	Full sun
Soil Types	All textures
Moisture	Dry to medium-moist
Fauna Associations / Larval Hosts

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Benefits

Erosion control

The deep roots produced by Side Oats Grama make it excellent at holding soil. While the seed bearing stalks fall down in winter, the other foliage will remain to help protect against rains, compaction, and erosion.

Wildlife

This grass is excellent forage for all manner of livestock, deer, antelope, and other mammals. Additionally the grass is eaten by numerous insects (and their larvae). Finally, it will provide cover for rodents and birds.

Adaptable

Although it is suited to dry prairies, it is adaptable as long as there is some drainage for the soil. It can grow just about anywhere that gets six hours of sunlight per day.

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Identification and Characteristics

Stalk

The overall size will typically be 2′ tall. The stalks are round, light green, and hairless. In fall and winter they will turn to a white or tan color, like most warm-season grasses.

Leaf

Leaf blades are linear in shape, and 6-8″ long by 1/4″ wide. And the leaves are rough in that if you run your finger along them, it will grab hold of your skin. For color, sometimes the leaves are blue-green but most often medium-green in color.

Flower

The stalk/culm will terminate into a raceme of spikes that hang down. They are green to red in color, with a dangling anther (the orange/pink thing). Flowers can self-pollinate or be pollinated via wind^[3].

Root

The root system of Side Oats Grama is fibrous and clump forming. This can be divided in fall or very early Spring.

How to save seed

When it comes to saving grass seed, Side-Oats Grama is just about the easiest. In early fall, after the spikes turn brown, just run your hand along the stalk and strip the oats. You now have a handful of viable seed. Scatter it to the wind, or save it for winter sowing!

The above clip shows the dangling flowers followed by harvesting seed. Note that the grains are brown and dry when I harvest them.

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Growing Conditions

As mentioned, this grass is highly adaptable. It can/will grow in full sun in nearly any soil as long as there is some drainage. It is a native, and does not need fertilizer of any kind. In fact, it will do better in poorer soils as it can compete with other plants that often demand more nutrients.

How to Grow Side Oats Grama from Seed

This is absolutely one of the easiest grasses to grow from seed. There are absolutely no pretreatment requirements for germination. However, you should only try to germinate it in late winter to late Spring, as it needs some growing season to fully establish.

But the basic instructions for growing this from seed is to just rough up some soil and scatter seed. Do this in late winter or Spring, and then walk on the seed. The soil will generally be moist and germination will occur naturally. In rough or disturbed soils it can be surface sown, or planted no more than 1/4″ deep for fine textured soils like silt.

If you are trying to be more strategic with your planting and wish to start with containers, then simply fill a suitable container with moist potting soil and scatter some seed on top. Then press it in with your thumb or the palm of your hand. Place the container in a location that gets morning sun and afternoon shade, and water it in the morning via misting (if needed). Germination will occur by mid-Spring.

The actual time to germinate can vary wildly^[3]. One study managed germination within 22 hours of sowing, while others may take weeks^[4]! But some studies have shown that germination will be possible once soil temperatures reach about 50F (10.6C)^[5].

Establishment

Once seedlings are 3″ tall, you can transplant them to their final location. Alternatively you can separate seedlings and transfer to larger pots. However, you should keep them in the shade for 3-4 days to account for transplant shock.

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Wildlife, Pests, and Diseases associated with Side Oats Grama

Pollinators/insects

The flowers don’t feed pollinators, but the leaf blades do! This plant feeds leaf-hoppers, grass-hoppers, skipper larvae and other insects. So, even if the bees aren’t interested doesn’t mean it doesn’t serve your local environment in other ways.

Birds

The large seeds of Side Oats Grama are eaten by various game birds. Turkey, grouse, quail, and most likley other birds will forage on the seed as it falls to the ground.

Deer and Rabbits

Most references don’t talk much regarding deer and rabbits, but I will offer my observations over the last 7-8 years (as of 2025). I have never lost a clump of grass, nor seen significant damage from rabbits or deer. I’m quite certain deer would browse it, as other hoofed mammals do, but I have never seen any deer actually munching on it.

Other mammals

This grass is excellent forage for cattle, horses, buffalo, antelope….and most likely many other mammals on the prairie.

Disease

This grass isn’t really bothered by disease.

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Where you can buy Side Oats Grama

You generally cannot buy mature plants of Side Oats Grama. Your only hope would be to locate a nearby native plant nursery on our interactive map, and hope that they have it. However, seed is readily available.

Where to buy seeds

Side Oats Grama seed is CHEAP. You can usually buy and ounce for $3-4, not that you need that much.

We have ordered a variety of native flower seeds from Everwilde Farms, which you can order right from Amazon through our link on our RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS PAGE. (We may earn a small commission when you purchase through our links, at no cost to you. This helps support our website.)

Varieties of Side Oats Grama

If one is interested in using Side Oats Grama for grazing livestock, know that there are numerous cultivars and selections available. While there are close to a dozen, I’ll summarize three of the best below:

• ‘Butte’ is a selection that had very high germination rates.
• ‘El Reno’ is a strain from Oklahoma that is particularly good forage, disease resistance, and winter hardiness.
• ‘Kildeer’ is from North Dakota and is very cold hardy as well as surviving in an arid environment.

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Uses of Side Oats Grama

Landscaping

This grass is great to use by itself to fill in space, stop erosion, or as a general native groundcover that doesn’t get too tall (24″). But it can be used as an ornamental. So, since it isn’t that tall it won’t flop on other plants, which is a benefit in itself. But using it close to other plants will help them stay upright – not just from structural support, but from root competition. If there is a root mass near other plants, they will be forced to grow more vertical, helping to ensure they don’t flop. This extra competition will also limit their potential size as they compete for water and nutrients.

While using grasses to increase competition and keep flowering plants smaller may seem….counterintuitive to most gardeners, it’s actually a bit genius. You keep your potentially taller plants shorter, which reduces their chances of flopping without needing to do the Chelsea Chop!

Native American Uses

Several tribes made use of Side Oats Grama. The dried grass was bundled and used to make a broom or brush. The Apache would grind the seed, mix with water, and make a oatmeal/porridge. And finally the grass was used as a decoration for braves who killed other warriors in battle^[6].

Final Thoughts

Side Oats Grama is a native grass that is tough, rugged, drought tolerant, ecologically valuable….and the seed is dirt cheap! But this plant can be used for many things from erosion control to helping fill in space in native plant gardens. It is a valuable grass that really doesn’t get enough love, and I hope to change that with this article.

Find more native plants here

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