False Wheatgrass: What Every Gardener Should Know About This Non-Native Annual
If you’ve spotted a scraggly, thin grass popping up in disturbed areas of your garden or landscape, you might be looking at false wheatgrass (Eremopyrum). This unassuming annual grass has quietly made itself at home across much of North America, despite being far from its original Mediterranean homeland.
What Exactly is False Wheatgrass?
False wheatgrass belongs to the grass family and lives up to its false name – while it might remind you of wheat at first glance, it’s actually quite different. This annual grass completes its entire life cycle in just one growing season, sprouting, flowering, setting seed, and dying all within a year.
As a non-native species, Eremopyrum originally hails from the Mediterranean region and western Asia. However, it has successfully established itself across North America, reproducing on its own without any help from gardeners.
Where You’ll Find It
False wheatgrass has spread across a impressive range of territories, thriving in both Canadian provinces and U.S. states. You can find it growing in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Should You Plant False Wheatgrass?
Here’s the short answer: you probably don’t need to. False wheatgrass isn’t typically grown as an ornamental plant, and for good reason. It’s not particularly showy, and since it readily establishes itself in disturbed soils, it’s likely to show up in your garden whether you invite it or not.
This grass tends to appear in areas where the soil has been disturbed – think along roadsides, in vacant lots, or in parts of your garden where you’ve been digging or construction has occurred.
Better Native Alternatives
If you’re looking for native grasses to add to your landscape, consider these beautiful alternatives that will better support local wildlife:
- Buffalo grass for drought-tolerant lawns
- Blue grama for ornamental landscaping
- Little bluestem for prairie-style gardens
- Native sedges for moisture-loving areas
Managing False Wheatgrass in Your Garden
Since false wheatgrass is an annual, the good news is that preventing it from setting seed will eliminate next year’s crop. If you spot it early in the growing season, you can simply pull it up by hand or mow it before it flowers and sets seed.
The plant tends to favor full sun and adapts well to dry, disturbed soils – exactly the conditions you might find in construction zones or newly planted areas of your garden.
Identifying False Wheatgrass
False wheatgrass produces slender stems with narrow, elongated seed heads. As an annual grass, it will look fresh and green in spring and early summer, then dry out and turn brown as it completes its life cycle later in the season.
Since it’s wind-pollinated like most grasses, don’t expect it to attract many pollinators to your garden – another reason why native alternatives might serve your landscape better.
The Bottom Line
While false wheatgrass isn’t necessarily harmful to your garden, it’s not adding much value either. This non-native annual grass is more of a volunteer plant than an intentional garden addition. Focus your energy on native grasses that will provide better habitat for local wildlife while creating the aesthetic appeal you’re looking for in your landscape.
Remember, the best gardens work with nature rather than against it – and that usually means choosing plants that have evolved alongside local ecosystems over thousands of years.
