Ornamental Grasses

By Mary Jo Baur

There are many kinds of ornamental grasses available to today's gardener.  Most are easy to grow and are drought, deer and disease resistant.  Most ornamental grasses do best in full sun and have a variety of uses in your landscape.  Tall grasses can be used at the back of a border, against a fence, or to provide privacy.  You can mix the mid-size types into your perennial bed and enjoy their colors and textures.  You could edge your garden with low-growing sedges and mondograss.  A variety called Hakonechloa is graceful and colorful.

If you want your grasses to return in following years, chose the perennial kind.  I made the mistake of planting annual decorative grass and wondered why it didn't come back until I looked at the label and realized I had bought an annual variety.  Perennial grasses can provide interest even in the winter garden, so don't cut them back until the very early spring just before new growth begins.  You can divide large clumps every two to three years if they are spreading too much and being crowded in their original spots.

Some of the names to look for are flamegrass (Miscanthus sinensis Purpurascens) which has feathery plumes, Northern sea oatgrass (Chasmanthium lalifolium) with its wonderful seedheads, and fountaingrass (Pennisetum alopecuroides), which has bottlebrush plumes.  These are only a few.  There are many more out there which can add interest to your garden and also to flower arrangements with their different foliage and seedheads.