Is it good for a home garden?

No, it is highly invasive and will quickly take over your garden beds.

How do I get rid of it?

Pull it before it sets seed or use a pre emergent herbicide in the fall.

Plant guide

Cheatgrass.

Bromus tectorum

Pronounced BROH-mus tek-TOR-um

Also known as Bronco Grass, Cheatgrass, Downy Brome, Downy Chess, Drooping Brome, June Grass, Wall Brome

Cheatgrass is a highly adaptable annual grass that spreads quickly across disturbed landscapes. It is known for its ability to outcompete native plants in dry, open areas. You will often see it turning a distinctive reddish color as it matures in the late spring.

At a glance

Care level: Easy
Plant type: Annual grass
Light: Full sun
Indoor light: Direct sun
Water: Every 7 to 14 days
Mature size: 2 feet
Growth rate: Fast
Hardiness: USDA 3 to 9
Bloom time: Late spring to early summer

Care

This grass thrives in poor, dry soil and requires almost no maintenance. Keep an eye out for its rapid spread, as it can quickly become an invasive nuisance in your garden. It prefers full sun and will naturally die back after setting seed.

Watering: It is extremely drought tolerant and rarely needs supplemental water once established.
Feeding: Fertilizer is not necessary as this plant prefers nutrient-poor soils.
Pruning: Remove the seed heads before they dry out if you want to prevent it from spreading.
Repotting: This is an annual plant that completes its life cycle in one season and does not require repotting.
Soil: Well-draining, sandy, or rocky soil
Soil pH: 6.0 to 8.0
Temperature: -30 to 40°C
Humidity: 10 to 50%

Safety

People: It is not considered toxic, but the sharp awns can cause physical irritation or injury to skin and eyes.
Pets: This plant is not known to be toxic to cats or dogs, though the sharp seeds can cause physical irritation.
Children: Keep children away from the seed heads as the sharp, barbed awns can easily penetrate skin or get stuck in clothing.
Contact allergens: The stiff, barbed awns can cause mechanical skin irritation.
Airborne allergens: The pollen may cause seasonal hay fever in sensitive individuals.
Edibility: The sharp, barbed seeds can cause serious injury to the mouth and throat of livestock and pets if ingested.

How to identify it

Drooping, feathery seed heads
Soft, hairy leaf blades
Turns reddish purple when mature
Annual growth habit

Height: 0.1 to 0.6m
Spread: 0.05 to 0.2m
Leaves: green, deciduous
Flowers: green, purple, 0.5 to 1.5cm
Fruit: tan, brown, Summer

Problems to watch for

Invasive spread · It aggressively outcompetes native vegetation for water and nutrients.

By symptom

Plant problems by symptom

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Growing it

Propagation: seed
When to plant: autumn, spring

Avoid planting this species entirely as it is a destructive invasive weed.

Similar species

Downy Brome · This is the same species, often referred to by this alternative common name.

Science

Family: Poaceae
Genus: Bromus
Order: Poales
Class: Liliopsida
Native range: Europe, southwestern Asia, and northern Africa.
Conservation: It is considered a noxious weed in many regions and is not protected.

It thrives in disturbed soils and rapidly colonizes areas after wildfires.

Value to wildlife: seed source for small birds
Pollinators: bees
Uses: erosion control, wildlife habitat

Through the year

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Flowering

Fruiting

Foliage

Ecological indicators

Salinity: 2/9
Soil reaction: 6/9
Light: 8/9
Temperature: 5/9
Moisture: 2/9
Nutrients: 3/9

Taxonomy resolved against GBIF.

Questions people ask

Is it good for a home garden?: No, it is highly invasive and will quickly take over your garden beds.
How do I get rid of it?: Pull it before it sets seed or use a pre emergent herbicide in the fall.

Where the name comes from

The name Bromus comes from the Greek word for oat, while tectorum means of roofs, referring to its tendency to grow on thatched roofs in its native range.

Good to know

It is commonly known as cheatgrass because it cheats winter wheat of water and nutrients.
The plant produces a massive amount of seeds that remain viable in the soil for several years.
It has transformed millions of acres of sagebrush steppe into fire prone grasslands.

Keep your cheatgrass growing

This page is a general guide. Save your plant in Pocket Botanist and you get care reminders timed for this plant, plus a care history that shows what worked.

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This guide was generated with AI on October 19, 2026 and checked against GBIF taxonomy. It is general information, not horticultural or veterinary advice. Read about how we build these guides.