Garden Fragrance

SPECIAL   ARTICLE — From Steve Paine

"It's not just grass -- It's ornamental!"
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As a designer, I like to create low maintenance landscapes that offer year-round interest, a variety of different colors, textures, shapes and sizes, and ones that will attract wildlife (and deter deer!) Frequently I find myself incorporating ornamental grasses into designs because they enhance the landscape almost every month of the year.

When choosing which ornamental grasses to use in a particular landscape, I often think about which will provide the greatest impact throughout the year.  Some of the taller grasses provide movement in windy conditions and have a vibrant fall color. They tend to look particularly nice when the sun hits their plumes and blades at just the right angle or in the chilly mornings just after a frost. Some of the smaller grasses have variegated foliage that provides interesting contrast with solid-green neighboring shrubs and perennials. They can also help soften a walkway when planted in mass along the edge.

Plant-A-Plant has found several ornamental grasses very useful in providing interest throughout the year. I have chosen a few of my favorites and provided a list of some of their strongest characteristics:

CALAMAGROSTIS X ACUTIFLORA   FEATHER REED GRASS ‘KARL FOERSTER’
  • Very upright in growth habit, growing +/- 4’-5’ tall and +/- 18” wide
  • Feathery looking plumes start out light pink turning to a golden/yellow in the fall
LIRIOPE MUSCARI LILYTURF
  • Grows +/-6’-12” tall and 12”-36” wide (depending on variety)
  • Grows well in full shade and full sun
  • Lavender or white flowers followed by blue/black berries in the fall
  • Some varieties have variegated foliage
MISCANTHUS SINENSIS MAIDEN GRASS ‘STRICTUS’
  • Upright growth habit, growing +/- 5’-8’ tall and +/-4’ wide
  • Variegated green/yellow foliage striped horizontally
  • Reddish blooms in summer and fall
PANICUM VIRGATUM SWITCH GRASS ‘SHENANDOAH’
  • Grows +/- 3’-7’ tall and 2’ wide
  • Upright mid-green colored leaves turning red/yellow in the fall
  • Very finely textured plumes in early autumn
PENNISETUM ALOPECUROIDES FOUNTAIN GRASS ‘HAMELIN’
  • Grows +/- 2’-3’ tall and wide
  • Rounded in form
  • Plumes are brown and pink in the summer
  • Use a pre-emergent such as Preen in areas around this grass

Most of the grasses listed above will be utilized for food and shelter by birds during the winter months. It is usually recommended to cut ornamental grasses back to +/-6” tall in the early spring as they tend look their worst at that time. Try incorporating ornamental grasses in your next landscaping phase installed by Plant-A-Plant; it will add a whole new dimension of interest to your garden.      

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