Warrego Summer Grass (Paspalidium Distans)
Warrego Summer Grass (Paspalidium Distans)
This species of Paspalidium grow on a varying range of soils and over a wide geographical area being found from Victoria, South Australia, NSW, North Queensland & The Northern Territory. It is also found in WA where it is an endangered species.
Warrego is a small (clover size), awnless seed which can be sown with a regular small seedbox (pasture seedbox). It can be sown on its own or as a mix with other pasture species.
High-quality grazing
C4 summer active perennial
Growing height 60cm
Sowing rate 2kg/ha
Sowing methods
Most warm-season perennial grass species(C4) are sown as the weather and soil warms in October to November when the soil temperature reaches 17-18 degrees Celcius. I would recommend sowing with a zero-till seed drill at a depth of 5-10 mm, into moist soil that is free from summer weeds.
Red grass and cotton panic can be spread during this time.
It is not usually recommended to sow warm-season grass during the autumn-winter months, but I have seen good results with native species sown at that time.
Warm-season (C4) perennials will not germinate during the cold months but will wait until the soil temperature and moisture is suitable for germination (usually October to December)
The advantage of sowing C4 grass species this way is that winter pasture species (C3) can be sown with the C4 seed, at the same time.
Note: Most native seed contains a proportion of hard seed that will not germinate at the time of sowing and will wait until the conditions are suitable before germination. This ensures the survival of the plant species. If the germination is low in the first year, it should not be regarded as a failure; usually, the remaining seed will germinate and grow during the following season.
