Grasses are an essential part of a lawn and without grasses, a lawn is incomplete and will look ugly. And we grow grass on the lawn mostly with the help of seeds but where do those seeds come from seeds grow inside the flower of a plant and we don’t see any flowers on the grass in our lawn.
So does grass have flowers?
Yes, grasses have flowers that grow and produce seeds to reproduce and grow more grasses. We usually don’t see these flowers on our lawn because we cut out the grass before it can grow bigger and make way for the flower to grow. If you want to see the flowers in the grass, you need to let them grow tall for 3-4 weeks in the growing season from May to June.
So let’s discuss grass and flowers and how you can find grass flowers.
What is grass?
Grass, which comes from the ubiquitous family of Poaceae or Gramineae. The family includes all the grasses like cereal grasses, bamboos, and all the other grasses. There are around 780 genera and around 12000 species of grasses. The grass family is so big that it is the fifth-largest plant family.
Grasses, which are mostly green in color, are very useful for us. It is a green plant that grows low to the ground and new leaves grow from the crown which is the lowest part of the plant.
The Poaceae or grass is the most affordable and easy to grow plant family for the consumption of domestic as well as for wild animals such as cows and goats. The grass is also very useful for other things like building and constructing. Bamboos, thatch, and straw are very useful for building shelters and other stuff.
How does grass grow?
I always thought the grass grew from the tip of the blade but I was wrong about that as grass doesn’t grow from the tip of the blade but the crown of the grass. The grass grows from the bottom of the plant and pushes the plant upwards.
The growth cell of the grass, the meristematic cell, is located on the crown of the plant which helps the grass to grow so that when you mow the lawn you cut the old grass and not the growing one and that makes the grass grow more. If the grass was growing from the tip it won’t grow after you mow it.
In the growing season, the grass also produces flowers which then produces seeds for the new grass to grow, but we usually don’t see these flowers in our lawn but why is that, we will discuss it further
Why Does the grass have flowers?
Every plant needs to reproduce to grow and spread and to reproduce it needs a source. In plants, this source of reproduction is from seed. And to produce this seed, the plant needs to grow flowers as seeds are always grown on flowers. So this also applies to grass as grass also needs seeds to reproduce and to produce seed it grows flowers. The warm-season grasses usually produce flowers in May and June and produce a lot of seeds.
Why don’t we see flowers on the grass on the lawn?
The reason behind why we don’t see flowers growing on the grass in our lawn is because of the mowing as we don’t let the grass grow fully before they can produce the flower and develop seed. The grass first needs to grow and then put the energy to produce the flower but after mowing the grass puts all its energy to grow new leaves and that is the reason we don’t see flowers on the grass in our lawn.
What to do to stop the grass from flowering on the lawn?
- Mowing – the best and first way stop the grass from flowering is to mow the grass regularly and don’t let it grow very long. After the grass is long enough and has sufficient leaves to produce energy by absorbing sunlight, it starts to redirect this energy to produce flowers and seeds for reproduction. But if you mow the lawn regularly and keep the grass short then the grass won’t be able to produce flowers. Keep in mind to not mow the grass all at once as it can stress the grass and can ruin the lawn. Try to mow only 1/3rd of the grass or less at one time and then mow after a week to keep the grass healthy.
- Fertilization – the other way to stop the grass from flowering is with fertilization. Fertilizing the lawn with nitrogen-rich fertilizer also makes the grass produce more leaves and grow taller and don’t flower. Use a 3-0-1 or 3-1-1 fertilizer on the lawn as it contains a good amount of nitrogen but you can use any fertilizer on the lawn, as usual, every fertilizer is nitrogen-rich. Just don’t over-fertilize the lawn or it can burn the grass and ruin your whole lawn. Properly read the label of the fertilizer and apply the normal amount. Give a good watering after the fertilization so that the soil can absorb the fertilizer very well.
- Maintenance – maintaining the lawn with proper mowing and keeping the grass short every time and fertilizing the lawn at times and giving proper nitrogen to the grass is another way to keep the grass from flowering and also make the lawn healthy and beautiful.
What to do if you see grass flowering?
If you are seeing the grass flowering in the lawn and you don’t want the grass to flowers or remove these flowers. There are two things you need to keep in mind.
- Don’t mow – Yes, don’t mow the lawn as it will stress the grass and can ruin the lawn. If you want, you can pluck the flowers from the grass or slowly just mow the top of the grass. And then after 3-4 days slowly start to mow the lawn and decrease the height of the blade.
- Fertilizing – fertilizing the lawn is also a good way to stop the grass from flowering as nitrogen promotes the grass to produce leaves. Use a nitrogen-rich fertilizer like 3-0-1 on the lawn to keep the grass from flowering.
There are some other ways to stop the grass from flowering but flowering grass is not a very big problem for the lawn so mowing the lawn and keeping grass short and promoting the grass growth with fertilizer is sufficient for you to tackle this.
How are grass flowers pollinate?
The small flowers on the grass also known as florets grow together in small groups called spikelets. These spikelets are collectively called inflorescences. The flowers produce spores which are then pollinated to other flowers which then produce seeds which then hopefully land on the soil and grow new healthy grass. Usually, birds and bees, and other flies don’t sit on the grass so the pollination of the grass happens when big animals like dogs or cats or humans brush the flowers of the grass and makes the spores travel in the air from one flower to another.
