GARDENING SEPT 2024.qxp_Layout 1 27/08/2024 15:18 Page 1
Go for grasses
The fresh zing of summer is making way for more sultry colours in the garden, writes Elly West, who says that it’s now and into autumn that ornamental grasses really come into their own
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he versatility of ornamental grasses means they suit formal and informal garden styles, with a huge range of sizes, textures and colours to choose from. There really is a grass for every situation. Dotted through a flowering border, they act as a great foil for other plants, opening up a colourful planting scheme to prevent it from becoming too ‘busy’, adding movement, texture, and repetition. Many are evergreen, or are at least semi-evergreen, providing longlasting interest into winter with their seed heads and frost-covered stems. I like to use grasses to define edges and mark out lines in the garden without that same sense of rigidity or permanence that a hedge would have. They are great for softening hard landscaping and blending with other airy plants such as Verbena bonariensis. Smaller varieties are also good for container displays, adding structure and architectural form to fellow flowering perennials and annuals.
A sense of the wild Grasses boomed in popularity around 20 years ago, mainly due to the development of prairie-style planting, pioneered by Dutch designer Piet Oudolf. His approach uses grasses and perennials planted in bold drifts, to create naturalistic borders with a sense of wildness and spontaneity. Plants are selected for their seasonal appeal, including how they age and their winter structure. Grasses are often used as the structural backbone in his schemes, with varieties such as molinia, miscanthus and calamagrostis providing height and vertical interest to create a framework around which other plants are arranged. His innovative style has remained popular and shaped gardens and landscapes around the world, from the High Line of New York, an elevated park built on a disused railway line in Manhattan, to much closer to home in the Oudolf Field at Hauser & Wirth in Somerset. Oudolf ’s gardens and ethos fit well with our drive towards more ecological planting, embracing sustainability and biodiversity over formal, 88 THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2024 | No 238
controlled designs. Grasses help us to appreciate the beauty of plants in all stages of their life cycle, from the fresh growth in spring, to the golden rich colours of autumn and the stark winter seed heads. Most grasses are low maintenance, and once established just need occasional trimming and tidying. They are pest free, tend to be resistant to rabbits and deer, and can cope with periods of drought. Their fibrous roots help prevent soil erosion, and they are good for wildlife, offering food and shelter to various insects, birds and small mammals, all contributing to a healthier garden ecosystem.
Getting to grips with grasses There are many varieties to choose from, so it’s about choosing the right grass for the right spot. Although many like an open and sunny site, some will tolerate shade. Evergreen sedges, carex, luzula and the Japanese forest grass Hakonecholoa macra will be happy in shadier, damper spots, while pennisetum, stipa, fescue and miscanthus fare better in full sun. Size is also going to be an important factor when choosing what grasses to use. Smaller grasses can be tucked along the base of taller plants, or in containers, rock gardens or used as edging. Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’, or black mondo grass (though strictly speaking not actually a grass, but a type of lily) is one of my favourites for groundcover in dry shade or partial shade. It makes a good edging at the front of a border or along a path, with its striking black strappy leaves and summer flowers followed by dark berries. Liriope muscari is another grass-like plant that is good in shade and for a low-growing edging or under trees and shrubs, and has spikes of purple flowers in late-summer and autumn. Blue fescue and Carex ‘Evergold’ are also useful low-growing grasses that look good as an understorey beneath taller shrubs and trees. Medium-sized grasses are great for punctuating a border, adding rhythm, some order and focal points among the flowers, and extending the season after the flowers have faded. Stipa tenuissima and Anemanthele lessoniana are my go-to varieties.