Grass on a budget

Casey Chafin

Casey Chafin

New member
On a really tight budget this year... I'm needing to add some filler grass to my SouthBay and wanted to know what you guys use. Maybe there are some options I don't know about. Thanks!
 
I use a non-invasive grass I cut for free. I find it growing in the road ditches out on country gravel roads. A little bit of my time and a some truck gas are my only costs.
 
Keep an eye out for ornamental grasses being cut and put out to the curb to be composted. I have a bunch of it in the yard but see neighbors getting rid of it the time of year.
 
Not sure if it grows in your area, but I cut Prairie Cord Grass from the ditch. It doesn't grow everywhere, but I have a few locations that I get from. It wears like iron, but needs to be stained or painted as it dries very yellow.
 
I bought raffia for years. It is far from on a budget though.

This year I started using natural grasses. I am not sure where you are located but salt hay is great. I did my whole boat with salt hay and some spartina. Spartina doesn't hold up as well. Good for covering longer horizontal surfaces though.

The old go to for South Bays was indeed salt hay.
 
Cattails work well. However, they will cut you if you grab them with your bare hand. If you have or can get a copy of Zac Taylor's Successful Waterfowling he describes how to make mats for camo with natural materials.
 
One thing I've noticed about spartina, cattails, and other more "stalk-type" grasses is they break down rather quick. It's unfortunate salt hay doesn't grow near you because its super tough stuff.

So Raffia is VERY tough. My three complaints about Raffia:

1) It's expensive
2) It does not stand up straight on it's own. Its very flimsy and just sort of slumps. Salt hay is nice because it stands up and gives a more natural look.
3) Raffia is super messy. I use Raffia on my cockpit cover. It get's caught in my call lanyard, gun, and zippers on my coat and hand warmer.

Even though it's expensive, it's the cheapest of the commercial grasses out there. You can do two whole boats for about $120 (if I recall correctly) and it does last in the weather.
 
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