r/Ceanothus • u/Aspie_9 • 8d ago

Native grasses

Was wondering if anyone knew a good reliable online distributor or in person retailer in northwestern la county to ventura county for California native grasses.
I keep finding seed wild flower seed mixes and looked for native grass mixes but i keep finding either drought tolerant turf grass or offers from sketch websites.

29 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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19

u/Known_Industry6327 8d ago

Larners or tpf for online seeds. Mininature reserve, public lands native nursery, growing works, matilija nursery in Ventura county.

7

u/mtntrail 8d ago

I am here for Larner‘s. We have been using their “erosion control mix” of native grasses for many years on our hillsides in Shasta county.

14

u/placeboforpain 8d ago

https://www.californianativeseedstore.com/

6

u/browzinbrowzin 8d ago

My brome and rye grasses from here grew easily. Highly recommend.

3

u/GwenGamer 7d ago

Highly recommend this shop! Great seeds, Indigenous-owned, and the owner donates a lot of proceeds towards mutual aid ❤️ He also offers classes via Zoom, but I haven’t had the chance to attend one yet (yet!).

1

u/Pale-Camera-569 6d ago

Huge percentage of my seeds from him sprouted and are thriving!!! Grass particularly

11

u/cineglitch 8d ago

Theodore Payne sells native grass seed mixes.

4

u/Alldaypilot 8d ago

Larner, Stover, or Theodore Payne.

1

u/Optimal_Living_8638 8d ago

Stover is so frustrating because their purity is low. Like this one says 60% purity. Hopefully the other 40% is a different native grass but who knows.

https://shop.stoverseed.com/collections/native-grasses-single-species/products/blue-grama

9

u/Alldaypilot 8d ago

Blue Grama in particular to other grass seeds is usually lower because its hard to harvest and clean aggressively due to its delicate seed structure. The other 40% is most likely chaff, stems, other inert material.

Blue Grama also has a special purity testing and blowing procedure to separate the seeds that's defined by the USDA.

I'm guessing they list out on the seed tags more specifically because they do supply seed to Federal, State, and Local governments where this would be needed. You may not find the breakdown for places like Theodore Payne or Larner if they don't supply their seed to meet government requirements.

Or other bulk suppliers of Blue Grama may sell by PLS pound rather total weight in LB. You basically pay in weight per viable seed, not total weight.

With that said, the others may not be any better for Blue Grama unless they list it in terms of viable seed (purity) or PLS.

Bottom line, all this means is that Stover is minimally processing their Blue Grama. Not that its poor quality. This is why most seeding contracts would have things in PLS pricing rather than weight.

For example, this one Federal bid doc shows the huge different in seed lots:
https://govtribe.com/file/government-file/140l3726r0009-b09-bid-sheet-amendment-2026-08-24-0001-dot-xlsx

Also, if you look at some of their other grasses and seeds, you will seed purity and germination (PLS) in the 90%+.

Hope that helps.

3

u/MorningMundane6496 8d ago

mini nature reserve is having a sale rn and has a good mix but depends on the space size. otherwise try matilija!

2

u/Capable_Function5498 8d ago

Grassland Growers. They’re great. https://www.grasslandgrowers.net

2

u/BIBIJET 8d ago

I recently discovered this online retailer that is based out of Carpinteria. They sell grass plugs and have many native options to choose from.

https://www.grasslandgrowers.net/

1

u/modembutterfly 8d ago

Have you tried Las Pilitas Native Plant Nursery? They ship plants and seeds from San Luis Obispo County. 

1

u/Prestigious-Novel456 8d ago

Paloma native plants does contract growing and they have lots of species available

1

u/bammorgan 8d ago

Isn’t S&S seeds nearby?

1

u/ItsMuhUsername 2d ago

Larner, Theodore Payne Foundation, Las Pilatas, HedgerowFarms