Aboveground growth and production of native perennial grasses are determined by vegetative reproduction from belowground bud banks. Despite their importance, the phenology and dynamics of these belowground bud banks are poorly researched, even for dominant grass species. This information becomes even more essential for managers considering the potential use of high-energy fires to reduce encroaching woody shrubs because it might impact herbaceous bud bank dynamics and resultant grass productivity and relative abundance. The objectives of this study were to assess long-term bud bank dynamics of two dominant perennial grasses with different growth forms and physiologies, Nassella leucotricha and Hilaria belangeri, in a Texas semiarid savanna and determine the impact of fire energy on the recovery of their bud bank dynamics. Our experimental treatments were applied in the summer and consisted of replicated and randomized no burn (control), low-energy burn, and high-energy burn plots. For both species, the total bud number peaked in the spring and was lowest in the winter, although N. leucotricha had fewer buds in winter than H. belangeri and greater variability in total buds. For both species, dormant buds increased during the winter and active buds decreased. However, N. leucotricha maintained a smaller dormant bud bank through the winter, with larger fluctuations in total buds. In high-energy burned treatments, N. leucotricha had some bud loss but recovered; 8 months postfire, bud counts were comparable to the low-energy and control treatments. However, H. belangeri did not return to pretreatment bud totals in high-energy burned treatments during the study period. This suggests that grass productivity should not be reduced over the long term following restoration of woody-encroached grasslands with high-energy fire but that managers should consider potential shifts in species dominance from differential responses of grass species within the community.