Their presence allows them to be used like shrubs
A few years ago , I was designing a garden for clients who , like me , are freehanded fans of ornamental grasses . We had set sens in abundance on their former property . Now they were planning a garden compose of informal beds within a stately design . obstruct , I decided to visit the old garden . Like an old supporter I had n’t date in a while , it looked unlike to me . I realise that I had used grasses as hedges , along pathways , and as focal point and edgings . Rather than being seduce only by grasses ’ colour , textures , and plumes , I began to see their architectural forms . Grasses can behave visually like shrubs . Some are arching , others stiff and formal . They have different weights as well . It sink in on me that grasses could be used to define outer space in a garden .
With this new brainwave , I stopped worrying as much about which plants to use and focused on the forms I necessitate . Suddenly my ideas start to flow more easy . I used dense , arching forms as hedges and delimitation to define and envelop areas of the garden . I combined the many vertical shrubs and structure with potent , unsloped sens . I choose looser , more open dope to cushion the stringency of the vertical elements . This resulted in a garden with forms that complement each other , while the unlike varieties of grasses added subtle color and movement .
Short grasses can define an edge
I ’m always on the lookout for attractive edging works that wo n’t fizzle by the ending of summertime . Edgings are crucial because they define the material body of a garden bed . Shorter tell on that complement and contrast with flora in a bottom make excellent border . They are orderly , stout , and fuss - free . Their clear lines spill gracefully onto a paseo without taking over . They can be used formally , but the flora itself is informal and loose — a active contradiction of form .
Decide whether you want a soft boundary or a hard one . Some grasses are compact and goodly and will bring a formal , tight look to your bound . sedge ( Carexspp . and cvs . , USDA Hardiness Zones 3–9 ) , which are not technically grasses but act like them , fall into this class . mild edge are achieved by using grasses with wisplike habits such as blue oat grass ( Helictotrichon sempervirensand cvs . , Zones 4–9 ) and small fountain Grass ( Pennisetumspp . and cvs . , Zones 6–11 ) . Some of these locoweed can reckon a fleck unkempt and require more maintenance , so choose carefully .
Ornamental grasses make dynamic hedges
A hedgerow encloses an area , blocks a view , or creates privacy . Shrubs such as privets , yews , arborvitae , and boxwoods give a dense , heavy , evergreen assertion to a garden . But what about using grasses ? They do n’t need pruning and are mostly audacious . And if one die , it ’s easier — and less pricy — to dig out and replace than an evergreen shrub .
hedgerow made of grass change through the seasons . You ’ll have to accept that you ’ll have no hedge in former leap , but the foliation and plumage that follow afterwards in the season are worth hold back for . Because you will have only foliage until late summertime , it ’s important to intend about what kind of texture and color you desire and pick your plant consequently . Most grasses start blossom in former August , and their subtly coloured plumage are transformed as they senesce . I leave them in place all winter . The Bronx cheer and I savour their strawlike colors and textural germ heads . I ignore the hedge as secretive to the base as potential in early spring , saving clip by using a gas - power hedgerow clipper .
Deciding which gage to select calculate on what I want the hedging to do . If it is for privacy , I prefer marvellous , impenetrable varieties such as several of the miscanthus varieties ( Miscanthus sinensisand cvs . , Zones 6–9 ) . To wrap an area without giving it a punishing flavour , I might choose switchgrasses ( Panicum virgatumand cvs . , Zones 5–9 ) or reed instrument grasses ( Calamagrostis×acutifloraand cvs . , Zones 5–9 ) . I also deliberate whether the planting is to be formal or informal . Switchgrasses and reed grasses have stiff , erect forms and are suit to formality . Miscanthus and fountain grasses are arc and thick , and work well for informal planting .
Masses of grasses create powerful visual statements
establish a sea of grasses is an effective , small - maintenance way of dealing with large areas . Which grasses I select for a mass planting count on the location of the garden and the vantage point of the looker . For beds check at a length , an expanse of marvelous , thick grasses — such as miscanthus or fountain forage , or a heavy switchgrass likePanicum virgatum‘Shenandoah’—is effective for stop the eye . Or I might want to walk through the planting and be able to see through it . Using light - textured supergrass such as a reed grass , tufted pilus weed ( Deschampsia cespitosaand cvs . , Zones 5–9 ) , or wispy switchgrass likePanicum virgatum‘Dallas Blues ’ would avail create a transparent look . If I ’m facing a bed oral sex - on from a first - trading floor window , I might want to calibrate the heights of the Mary Jane , result in a gradient of dissimilar textures and colour .
Grasses also mix well with each other . I wish to contrast thin and thick foliage , produce subtle palettes of color . A few of my favourite grain and color counterpoint areMiscanthus sinensis‘Gracillimus ’ , with its graceful , narrow , fleeceable - and - blank blades , andMiscanthus sinensis‘Variegata ’ , which has sheer , all-inclusive , green - and - white brand . Panicum virgatum‘Shenandoah ’ , which has reddish blueish leaf , jump out in a bottom of other bluePanicumcultivars such as‘Heavy Metal ’ , an vertical , metal blue eatage that turns yellow in spill . Miscanthus sinensis‘Zebrinus ’ , with its sheer , Au , horizontal bands , paired with the delicate , gold foliage ofMiscanthus sinensis‘Pünktchen ’ is an energetic field of study in colour and grain .
I also suggest using contrast feather . I wish usingPennisetum alopecuroides‘Moudry ’ , which has purply black inflorescences , along withPennisetum orientale‘Karley Rose ’ , which has pale pink inflorescence . Experimenting with contrast has led to some of my best colour and grain combination .
Being aware of the forms of grasses has exchange how I apply these plants in my design . In fact , even as I rely on gage to set new boundaries in the garden , I ’ve liberate myself from some old excogitation constraint .
Christine Froehlich is a garden house decorator in Sodus Point , New York .
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Mix and match grasses.Annuals and perennials combine with several different grasses to make an ever-changing and colorful tableau.
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Edge a walkway with grasses.Sedges (Carex tumulicola) along a stairway (right) are neat and contained but offer movement and texture to passersby. Fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides) spills onto a pool apron (left) to make a graceful transition.Photos: Michelle Gervais (left); Saxon Holt (right)
A large bed of mixed grasses screens a nearby yard and acts as a tidy edge to a pool deck.
Line up grasses to reinforce a linear design.A long, low row of fountain grasses (Pennisetum alopecuroides‘Hameln’) along a pathway leads the eye toward an entrance.
Use grasses as dynamic screens.‘Karl Foerster’ reed grass creates a living screen that changes in form and color throughout the year.
A large, dense planting ofMiscanthus sinensis‘Morning Light’, with a few perennials peeking through, makes a strong, attractive display on a hillside.Photo: Saxon Holt
A large-scale, mixed planting serves a similar purpose.
