Restoring Native Perennial Grasses to Rural Roadsides in the Sacramento Valley of California: Establishment and Evaluation

Along rural roadsides of the Sacramento Valley of California, we seeded native and non‐native perennial grasses to gauge their potential value in roadside vegetation management programs. In trial I (polycultures), three seeded complexes and a control (resident vegetation only) were tested. Each seeded plant complex included a different mix of perennial grasses seeded into each of several roadside topographic zones. The seeded levels of plant complex were: native perennial grasses 1 (8 species); native perennial grasses 2 (13 species); and non‐native perennial grasses (3 species). In trial II, plots were seeded to monocultural plots of 15 accessions of native Californian and three cultivars of non‐native perennial grasses. Plots in both trials were seeded during January 1992 and evaluated for three successive years.