Leymus triticoides ‘Lagunita’, Lagunita Wild Rye

A perennial, evergreen clone of our native creeping wild rye, John Greenlee discovered this beautiful grass on a client’s ranch north of Santa Cruz. Lagunitas Wild Rye consistently produces a compact form and uniform green color. Many inland forms of Leymus are 3 feet tall and floppy, but Lagunita will stay at 10-16 inches. It can be mowed as a lawn or left unmown as one of the hardiest of sod-forming grasses. It is great for erosion control and can also be used effectively as a base groundcover grass for meadow installations and orchard understory.

It can be an aggressive grower if pushed with water and fertilizer, but it’s better behaved in dryer settings and when it’s planted in combination with flowering grasses, accent bulbs, and perennials. A unique aspect of the colony-forming grass is that it rarely flowers and doesn’t set viable seed. The plant primarily reproduces by underground runners. This characteristic keeps it uniform and tidy with little care, except for occasional cutbacks. Sun or part shade; Drought & deer resistant.