I have so so many conversations with people about lawns and particularly alternatives to conventional exotic turf grasses. It can be tricky, as lawns are used for so many things, including walking, playing, sports or even just as part of a view. 

There are no simple one-for-one replacements, as native grass species haven't been bred for decades or more to grow as a monoculture. On the bright side, though, many local native grasses are excellent elements in a mixed native lawn or grassland.

A diversity of species supports resilience to a range of climatic conditions as we cycle between El Niño and La Niña. One of my favourites is the low-growing Basket Grass (Oplismenus aemulus), which is probably familiar to many readers as a grass that pops up in a wide range of urban situations. 

A few fine and orderly lawns around the region are reputed to be made up largely of Basket Grass, but I've only managed to sight a couple of quite informal ones. As I'm not a huge fan of formality myself, I've probably missed many an opportunity to see the neater options!

Below is an example of a mixed native meadow maintained with minimal inputs (hand weeding of priority weeds) where the cover is a mix of Basket Grass, Weeping Grass (Microlaena stipoides), Pygmy Panic (Panicum pygmaeum) and perhaps a dozen other species of local grass, sedge, forb, fern and vine. 

You can see Basket Grass in almost any natural area in the region, although it doesn't like direct coastal exposure or the deep shade of rainforest.

When in flower it can be distinguished by the quite showy (for a grass!) seed heads, which also attract a range of interesting insect visitors.