Why ornamental grasses

Gardeners who want to block a neighbor's yard or screen a patio without building a structure should consider planting perennial ornamental grasses. Unlike evergreen trees and shrubs, ornamental grasses grow very quickly, usually reaching their mature size in two seasons.

Their fast growth rate makes them ideal for privacy hedges because new plants can rapidly fill in any gaps. Moreover, ornamental grasses are an economical way to achieve privacy on your property. Here are eight ornamental grasses that will add privacy and beauty to your landscape.

When choosing an ornamental grass, first verify that the variety is hardy in your climate. Also, learn whether the grass grows in clumps or tends to spread to make sure it will fit in your planting area. Plants with variegated foliage —foliage with a multicolored pattern—are quite popular among gardeners. The foliage of zebra grass can add both visual interest and privacy to your landscape.

Under the right conditions, zebra grass can reach its lush 5- to 8-foot potential with a 4- to 6-foot spread. Its clumping habit makes it ideal to grow as a hedge.

Then, it likely will only need watering during an extended dry spell. Moreover, the plant can benefit from a layer of compost each year. Bamboo is a grass, albeit a very large grass.

Although bamboo has a reputation for being invasive in the garden, you can control this by planting the clumping type rather than those that spread by runners. Look for bamboo plants in the Fargesia genus, which are slow-growing and cold hardy. Fargesia robusta can grow up to 17 feet tall and offer great privacy. Water bamboo enough to keep it moderately moist. Keep in mind that all bamboo will spread and can be difficult to eradicate once established.

Feather grass Nassella spp. The flowers are so feathery, you want to put your head down in them. Feather grass is easy to grow and easy to sell in flower. Zones 7 6 to 9. Purple fountain grass Pennisetum spp. Zones 8 to There are half a dozen more ornamental grasses that fit on balconies, such as quaking grass Briza spp.

Allan Armitage was a professor in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Georgia for 30 years. John has seen many changes in the horticultural industry since he was in college. It was about finding methods for growing plants outside of their natural habitats, liking adding water or using fungicides.

But lately, ornamental horticulture and ecology have come together. Grasses are now being used in bioswales to filter stormwater runoff and recharge groundwater. Cookie-cutter lawns that once needed lawnmowers, leaf blowers and edgers — causing noise and hydrocarbon pollution — can be transformed to include native sedges that will thrive with little care.

John acknowledges that there will always be a need for turfgrasses — like for athletic fields — but says the vast majority of lawns are bad for the planet. However, there are alternatives that are ecologically sound. The best grass ecologies bring in birds, bees and butterflies.

The most basic design would be a sea of green with the occasional flowers from flowering grasses. Grasses are basically translucent, allowing a little light to pass between the blades.

In the early-morning light and late-afternoon light, grasses glow and react to light in a way that very few other plants do, John says. Grass seed heads provide even more interest as they capture the wind, adding movement and animating the garden in a way that very few plants do. He says that all of the gardens he creates now are designed for full moon viewing. Ornamental grass seed heads create visual interest, especially as they swing in the wind.

But what about grain? Wheat, oat and rye are all types of cereal grains, but they are also grasses. John calls Doug the keeper and guru of heirloom grains, like the rice grown in South Carolina plantations in the s and the barley that Sam Adam used to brew his beer.

John designed sweeps of edible grain for ornamental purposes. He asks, why have a turf lawn when you could have a little green garden to brew your own beer or make your own muffins? Grains can be grown for ornamental purposes and for food lawns. To John, all meadows are really an excuse to plant bulbs.

Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Choose Good Habits Ornamental grasses typically have either a spreading habit or a clumping habit.

Blue Fescue. Mexican Feather Grass. Japanese Forest Grass. Zebra Grass. Continue to 5 of 12 below. Purple Fountain Grass. New Zealand Flax. Japanese Blood Grass. Continue to 9 of 12 below. Blue Oat Grass. Pink Muhly Grass.

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