Ornamental grasses are perennial favorites for garden designers. They're low-maintenance beauties that provide all-season garden interest through their varied colors, textures and forms.
What's the best way to use ornamental grasses in a design? It depends on a gardener's objectives, but here are a few tips.
Tips for Using Ornamental Grasses
- Use select grasses with a variety of perennials, bulbs and shrubs.
- Make sure that these companion plants are culturally and aesthetically compatible.
- Achieve contrast and enhance sensory appeal by varying heights, colors, textures, and forms.
- Site a mass ornamental grass planting on a slope for erosion control
- Layer the ornamental grasses in beds and borders, with tallest in back, shortest in front. In a long border, gardeners can also vary the height and plant type linearly.
- Plant in drifts, or mass for a soft-textured "cloud" effect. Delicate grasses sway and rustle with the slightest breeze, creating sound and motion interest.
- Use as specimen plants or focal points against a background of evergreens, or against a wall.
- Remember that ornamental grasses (especially deciduous varieties) are constantly changing with the seasons, from delicate new green foliage in spring to the crisp tan, gold or scarlet leaves of winter. Seed heads and flowers will also contribute to varying looks throughout the year.
- Plant grasses in odd-numbered groups of 3 to 5 or more.
- For a naturalistic look, inter-plant grasses with their natural companion perennials
- Use ornamental grasses to influence mood. Repeating one variety can create a calming rhythm; loose drifts impart an informal feel
- Grasses grow fast, but mature forms, especially in larger plants, will change drastically form winter to spring as the plants are cut back in anticipation of the new growing season.
Ornamental Grass Maintenance Considerations
When planting ornamental grasses, there are a few things gardeners should keep in mind.
- Grasses are either warm season or cool season. Use the appropriate species for the situation.
- Some grasses grow in clumps, others are spreaders. Spreading types are sometimes invasive. Either limit these varieties to containers, or use barriers such as metal edging to keep them from migrating.
- Adding a one foot wide mulched strip in a planting bed (between the grass planting and the lawn) makes it easy to keep volunteer shoots under control and keep plants from merging.
- Don't cut back deciduous varieties too early in the cold season. That destroys winter interest
The above tips can guide gardeners in the correct ways to use ornamental grasses in garden design. Properly used, these elegant plants can add grace and beauty to a gardener's landscape for many years to come.
Richard Freeland - Hi! Glad to meet you. I'm a registered landscape architect in Georgia, specializing in sustainable land planning, garden design, and ...
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