Grasses add Flair to your Garden

Ornamental grasses bring a subtle nuance of beauty to the landscape – we’ve come to appreciate their texture, their form, the airy seed heads, and even the way they dance in the wind.  Some grasses boast strong, bold upright blades, while others weep into a demure, fine textured mound. 

Ornamental grasses are generally easy to maintain.  Most need dividing every three years.  If the task is put off, you may end up with a job that requires more than just a strong back and determination.

Many grasses turn golden and remain upright through the winter.  These can be cut back in spring before new growth begins.  If the grass begins to look weary, or breaks under a heavy snow load, cut it for appearance sake, if you wish.  The grass itself will be just fine if you never cut it back.   The only reason we cut dormant growth is so we can relish in spring’s flush of green ‘unmarred’ by last winter’s chaff.

Grasses fill many design roles:  Taller grasses can be used as screening, or as a backdrop for perennials and shrubs. Smaller grasses are useful as edging or filler.  A single clump of grass can be an excellent focal point. Grasses are great in containers and in cut flower arrangements.

The grasses I’m listing below are native to the Mid-Atlantic states.  Be careful when choosing a non-native grass species – some can become invasive.  Native grasses provide important food and habitat for birds, butterflies and insects, so why not choose a native grass?

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Elymus hystrix, or Bottle Brush Grass, is a wonderful in part shade.  It will place itself in niches here and there, sending up its delicate seed head to mix elegantly with the other flowers in your garden.  The seed heads are wonderful additions to cut flower arrangements.

Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolis heterolepis) is a low growing, fine textured, clumping grass.  Great for edging in a formal garden, it is drought tolerant, takes full sun, and turns a wonderful orange color in fall.

Switch Grass (Panicum virgatum) can take drought and periodic standing water.  There are a number of cultivars of switch grass:  'Heavy Metal' has a well-developed blue green color; ‘Cloud Nine’ and ‘Northwind’ are tall (six foot or more) and remain reliably upright through most winters;  ‘Shenandoah’  turns a deep maroon as the season progresses and is one of the shorter switch grasses, topping out at about 4 feet.

Little Blue Stem (Schizachyrium scoparium) is wonderful planted in drifts.  Its soft blue color and gentle seed heads take on a slight reddish glow in the fall.  Great for your garden, containers, or cut flower arrangements.

Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium)  is perfect for containers, or a large area.  It will spread.  The wonderful nodding oat-like clusters of seeds, with their golden fall glow, are almost enough to make you forgive its aggressive nature.  But don’t say I didn’t warn you.