- Ornamental grasses have become very popular in recent years and it’s easy to see why, not only do they look great but are very low maintenance, provide colour and structure for most of the year and are usually disease resistant and quick to grow and with the range of grasses available there’s probably an ornamental grass for almost every garden. Some grasses will sit well in a contemporary planting scheme and many others are at home in a traditional garden design and lots of varieties look good in containers and pots.
- A few popular varieties that are well worth growing include Stipa tenuissima or Ponytails grasses and sometimes called Mexican feather grass is a grass that works well in a mixed border among herbaceous plants and other grasses, a neat, compact, perennial with soft, fine foliage and flowers and it moves nicely in the wind. Grows to about a foot and a half to 2 feet and can self seed easily enough. Looks great in beds and can help tie a design together but is also excellent in pots and containers. The seed heads on the stems are a useful winter food source for finches and other seed-eating birds
- Miscanthus grasses are are collection of evergreen and deciduous grasses sometimes called Maiden grass or Fairy grass and they produce large, feathery plumes in late summer, in pale pink or silver depending on variety and even though they are deciduous, their faded foliage and flower heads remain on the plant over the winter months, giving structure and interest at a time when the garden is bare. Miscanthus tolerate most soil types. The more compact varieties grow well in containers but it’s hard to beat the large types that can get to around 6 feet watching them swaying gently in the wind, they bring movement and structure to any planting scheme and combine brilliantly with perennials and larger varieties can be used as a screen or to divide parts of the garden
- Calamagrostis Karl Foerster and Overdam are much valued by garden designers, medium-sized to tall, clump-forming, deciduous grass with beautiful flowers and seed heads and great for seasonal interest throughout the year.
- Excellent for late Summer and Autumn Pennisetum grasses really come into their own and have fabulous soft bristly bottle brush flower spikes held upright or arching, like fountains, above slender, graceful rich coloured foliage. The flower heads can be soft cream to pink in colour and it’s almost irresistible to run your hand over them - a very tactile plant. Great in beds and containers and can act as a real focal point in a mixed container planting arrangement
- Festuca Glauca are a beautiful blue grass that stays small and are great in rockeries and containers. They are a good drought tolerant plant once established and can have a cool contemporary look and look good planted with some brightly coloured plants for contrast - Intense Blue is a great variety with strong blue colouring.
- Lots of other grasses to consider including the Pampas grass with tall and shorter varieties some with pink or cream coloured plumes, the variety “Tiny Pampa” is a miniature pampas - compact growth habit and stunning plumes of white flowers, carex grasses are excellent in pots and rockeries and Phormium grasses great for windy areas and come in a range of colours and very easy to grow - so if you haven’t any grasses growing in your garden yet there’s lots to choose from, easy to grow, wind tolerant, low maintenance and look great in beds and containers.
A few jobs for the week ahead;
- If pots and containers have got a bit tired or untidy with recent wind and rain you can re-do them with some simple bedding plants - still months of flowering to be had
- Hoe and hand weed any beds to keep on top of weeds and prevent them going to seed and spreading more weeds - they should wilt quickly in this warm weather
- Lawns can be given a straight feed of Osmo Pro 1 that’ll green them up without forcing growth and give you a nice healthy lawn
- Take summer cuttings of your favorite shrubs - Hydrangeas and fuchsia and lavender are a good choice for taking slips