Sedges have edges and rushes are round, grasses are hollow and rush all around
- author unknown

Specific Topic Pages

• Grass Division
• Grass Renovation
• Spring Cleanup

The Lore of Ornamental Grasses

Ornamental grass adds so much to the beauty of gardens. Valuable traits are their form, color, texture, and motion in the garden. Grasses are not not a summer fancy. They add interest to all seasons. Seasonal interest is June (once the weather warms up) to February/March (when they are cut down to allow new growth). Familiarize yourself with the different ornamental grass genus.

FORM: Grass forms are quite varied. Low mounding, to densely spreading, to tall screens, to vase-shaped. Each grass species has it's own unique form which adds an artistic flair to it's surroundings. Ornamental grass may offer the only vertical relief & excitement in a garden.

COLOR: The foliage colors include various shades of green or variegated with the addition of ivory or yellow strips or bands. Additional colors include blues and reds. The lush colors of spring and summer foliage retreats in the fall to shades of red, beige, or brown. The late fall foliage color lasts all winter providing a winter garden accent. The flower (also known as inflorescence) colors include maroon, red, pink, silver, white, yellow, or beige.

TEXTURE: Foliage texture rages from fine (soft) to coarse (spiky). The texture of the inflorescence when it arrives at it's appointed time is like another act in a play.

MOTION: Movement may be seen as waving or shimmering, or heard as rustling, whispering, or sighing. Ornamental grass's animated movement will differ with the seasons for dry and living grasses appear and sound quite different.

Benefits

Regardless of the weather, ornamental grasses are your garden problem solvers.

• Basically free of pests and diseases.
• Hardy, tough, and durable. (Just make sure that the grass is rated for your zone)
• Provide FORM, COLOR, TEXTURE, and MOTION as described in the preceding section.
• Fill in the gap between weeds and a cultivated garden.
• Can be container grown.
• Birds will benefit form the grasses in your yard.
• They like to use the leaves for nesting materials, and they eat the seeds. Don't have to mow it!

Uses For Ornamental Grasses

Nature plants grasses where ever they can grab a strong hold. Gardeners might want to exercise a little more planning so that the selected grasses compliment the garden. Consider the following uses to spark interest in your garden:

• Border/edging planting
• Background planting
• Specimen planting
• Living screen planting
• Groundcover planting
• Mass plantings
• Containers and tubs

Site Selection

Grasses will grow where most plants will not survive. Most can take poor soil and clay soil.

Know know ornamental grass well!! Be well aware of it's sunlight requirements. Most like FULL sun. Even part shade is rough on most of them if they require full sun.

Plant Selection

The selection of grass cultivars is ever increasing. One will find a wide range of height, spread, color, and flowering times available. One of the two key things to consider when selecting a grass is it's height. Ornamental grasses can range in height from several inches to 15 feet!

• Tall (6' to 15'), upright growing types create visual interest, especially when used towards the back of a border. Their bold lines break up space over a long season, some remaining attractive well into the winter. These are the big guys! Plan well their placement because you won't be able to move these guys too quickly!
• Medium-sized (2' to 6') grasses may be effectively massed together, particularly in gardens with a low maintenance emphasis. Spring-flowering bulbs combine well with these for early season interest. These grasses also can be used a specimen plants throughout your garden without taking up too terribly much space.
• Low-growing (less than 2') grasses are ideal for edging around shrubs or combining with spreading evergreens. When mass-planted, they will form an attractive low-maintenance groundcover.

The second key thing to consider when selecting a grass is it's climate zone. The further south you live, the larger selection of grasses to choose from. As you live further north, some varieties will drop off of your list. But don't be down! There are many attractive grasses available which are even hardy to zone 2!

Grasses which are marginally hardy for your area may be successfully grown with appropriate overwintering techniques. See the section below which speaks directly on the subject of overwintering. Example, erianthus ravennae grass is hardy to zone 6. It may flourish for several years in a zone 5 garden, then a bad winter will kill it. Know your marginally hardy grasses and protect them to save your investment and the mature look that a large grass clump will add to your garden.

Site Preparation

Double dig the area and till in any time of good organic material. Many of varieties of ornamental grass have roots that go deep, especially those that can tolerate dry spells. Give them a nice area to spread out their feet.

Planting

Emphasis must again be given to take care in knowing the mature size of your grass. Don't try to skimp of space, for it you do, your garden will easily look overgrown and jungle like.

• After preparing soil, dig hole deep enough to hold the root ball.
• Remove pot, break up the root ball if it is root bound. Grasses don't mind if their feet are disturbed!
• Place root in hole, fill with water.
• Refill with soil. Root ball should be slightly below soil surface.

Fertilizing

Grasses, like your lawn, do quite well with regular fertilizing.

Watering

For the first year, I like to baby the grass giving them amble moisture so that they can develop a healthy root system. For established clumps, keep familiar with the moisture needs and water accordingly. Some like it dry, some like it moist, some like it plain old wet!

Weed Control

Weed control generally is not a problem. It is very difficult for weeds to invade the grass clump. If this happens, just put out what you can by hand. The grass itself will help to smother the grass allowing no sunlight for it to further develop. Mulch around the grass or keep it tilled to eliminate weed growth, just like any ornamental perennial bed.

Pest Control

Grasses are generally pest free. I have had no problems with any of my seemingly countless ornamental grasses.

Winter Preparation

I only much those grasses that are marginally hardy for zone 5a, or those that by experience have showed a tendency for winter kill in our area. I will develop a list of those grasses to winter mulch before fall of this year. Sign up for our newsletter to get a jump on the information! For a partial list, seen 'Good Grass Performers for Colder Climates' table above.

Spring Cleanup

A special page dedicated to spring cleanup of ornamental grasses can be found by clicking here.

Division and Renovation

It is generally best to divide grasses in the spring just as they are beginning to break dormancy. Dig the plant completely, and cut with a sharp knife. You will be surprised at how well some the grasses root themselves!

As grass clumps get older, they may have a tendency to go dead center. There is nothing wrong with the plant, it is just getting too woody, that is too much old growth has smothered the room for new growth. This is definitely time to renovate the plant. Dig the plant, remove the dead center, divide if desired, and replant. For additional information click here for renovation and division.