Did you know that you can achieve a healthy, lush green lawn by mowing only one to four times per year? Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) is a semi-evergreen perennial groundcover in the verbena family. It has white flowers with purple, orange, and yellow accents, and it reaches a height of 4 to 6 inches. Frogfruit lawns are native, drought and flood tolerant, and require minimal maintenance. Keep reading to explore the many benefits of installing a frogfruit lawn.
More free time to spend in your garden
Healthy lawns are not high-maintenance. Lawns mown shorter than 2.5 inches need extra fertilizer, herbicide, and water just to stay alive, and typically require resodding every 3 to 5 years. With a frogfruit lawn, you have the option to mow as frequently or infrequently as you wish, avoiding noise and smelly emissions while saving you money and time.
Attract beneficial native pollinators
The abundant small, purplish-white flowers provide nectar and pollen for a variety of pollinators including native ants, bees, butterflies, and moths. Additionally, phaon crescent, white peacock, and common buckeye butterflies lay their eggs on frogfruit, making it a host plant for their caterpillars to munch on. You may also notice that small beneficial animals, such as dragonflies and anoles, take shelter under the small canopies of foliage that clusters of frogfruit provide.
Resist flash flood events
If you have been to our meetings at the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center, you’ve probably seen this chart, which shows the difference in root lengths of turfgrass (far left) and other prairie plants. Native lawns like frogfruit will produce deeper roots that seek out and hold flood water. These massive roots absorb water runoff during flash flood events, mitigating harmful effects to our streets, storm drains, and homes.
Enjoy the pretty flowers
With a blooming period spanning from April through October, frogfruit will bless your backyard with delicate white flowers all season long. The flowers can be used in miniature arrangements to decorate your home. Or you can just admire them in your yard and leave them for the pollinators. Children will also enjoy the abundant intricate blossoms.
Plays well with others
In the prairie, frogfruit serves in the role of a filler character, covering bare areas until a taller, sturdier forb appears, and then moving on to other areas in need of its services. Frogfruit is the understudy of plants-—not the lead in the play, but the diligent helper that is happy to fill in when needed. Support like this is essential in a pollinator garden and encourages all of the garden plants to grow deeper, taller, and stronger.
Protect and nourish the soil
Exposed dirt, while being a dirt dobber’s gold, is not the best scenario if you want to protect soil microbes and prevent erosion. Having a small area with exposed dirt is good, but if you are trying to cultivate a truly healthy, fluffy, nutrient-dense soil for your garden, you will want to protect the soil from the ultraviolet rays of the sun, wash-out from rain, and freezing winter temperatures. One method of protection is endearingly referred to as “green mulch”—in other words, plants! Frogfruit will be more than happy to do this job in the garden. Additionally, plant roots will attract the beneficial bacteria, fungi, and other microbes that help release nutrients into your soil, making it a suitable home for your more tender plants to thrive.
Find other frogfruit fans
Frogfruit doesn’t actually have any special connection to frogs. It’s just a mispronunciation of “fog fruit” that stuck. I’m glad it did, because frogs are great, and frogfruit is great. Saying anything with frogs in the name is fun, so come to the next Native Plant Society meeting and talk about frogfruit while making new friends.
Frogfruit is not for everyone
Maybe you are still on the fence about installing a frogfruit lawn in your problem area. Your landscaping is important to you, and it should provide you with the joy and comfort you deserve. So before you undertake this somewhat unconventional step, consider the following:
You simply prefer turfgrass
This is a judgment-free zone. You are allowed to like what you like! In fact, St. Augustine grass was native here before cultivation, and if managed properly can host a number of butterflies and moths. If you don’t overwater or overmow, it should be drought-tolerant, except in extreme cases, such as this past (2022) summer. If you are managing your yard for butterflies, there are better options; however, you will still be plenty successful if you want to keep your grass lawn (as long as it’s not bermudagrass, a nonnative invasive that will spread and smother your wanted plants). Buffalograss (Bouteloua dactyloides) is also a great alternative that is native to shortgrass prairies in Texas.
Inhospitable conditions
Although frogfruit can grow in most light and moisture conditions, there are a few environments that won’t support this type of lawn, including high-traffic areas or yards that are subjected to animal urine or toxic runoff. For these areas, consider a hardscape. Frogfruit will be ideally kept at a height of 4 to 6 inches and needs at least 3 hours of sunlight.
Small flowers
A lot of “weedy” plants got a bad reputation for having modest blooms relative to their cultivated counterparts. Most ornamental landscaping annuals are modified from plants that are probably growing in your neighbors’ lawns. Portulaca, for example, is just a glamorized version of the common weed purslane. Violets also have a native shade-tolerant variety. Small flowers are adapted to feed small insects, like native leaf cutter ants that ward off invasive fire ants. These delicate, dainty blossoms have many benefits and will play a much needed role in your garden, so I hope you will consider giving them a second chance.
Did I miss any fun frogfruit facts? Be sure to let us know in the comments your favorite reason to grow frogfruit. Thank you for reading and considering a native lawn alternative and for your commitment to native landscaping. Please check out the links below for further reading. Happy gardening!
more reading:
Great blog post: https://nativebackyards.com/frog-fruit/
St. Augustine Grass https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=STSE
Medicinal uses: https://www.foragingtexas.com/2012/07/frog-fruit.html
Blog post about medicinal uses: http://www.batladyherbals.com/2020/09/frog-fruit.html
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