Decorating with Grass

Grasses have a shifting beauty that's unmatched by other plants. With outlines and shapes that change not just from season to season, but from day to day and moment to moment, they are the favorites of contemporary and new wave garden designers who love to foreground change and drama in the garden. The Dutch designer Piet Oudolf is probably the best known; he recently designed the 9/11 memorial garden in New York City. His gardens mix perennials and grasses for year-round drama and structure, to produce landscapes that intensify and draw out the irregular harmony of a natural flowering meadow.

Grasses usually supply much of the structure, and also the drama, of these gardens, beginning in the spring when brightly colored new shoots emerge. By summer, they have become lush foliage, sometimes of a completely different color altogether. Flowers soon follow. Feathery or spiky, flat or round, they will turn into seed heads that continue to perform through the winter by dramatizing every change in the weather. Gardeners lucky enough to live in an area with frosts will be rewarded with living ice sculptures.

The aptly named Golden Dew (Descampsia cespitosa 'Goldtau') is just one of many grasses that puts on a spectacular show all year, making it ideal for the latest planting styles. In the summer, short evergreen foliage produces fountain-shaped sprays of delicate flowers, up to 29 inches (73 cm) tall, which turn golden every evening against the setting sun. At the end of the summer, seed-heads appear, which darken through the fall. The result is a haze of color that changes from hour to hour and season to season. Add perennials to the mix and their outlines will be softened too. Those with strong shapes work best. For example, Yarrow (Achillea) comes in many colors including red, yellow, gold and cream, and has striking plate-like flowers.

Grasses are versatile. They seem to be made for the latest planting styles, but they can be used in more traditional ways, too. To soften the edges of pathways and borders, for example, try low-growing grasses with arching stems that will hide hard edges. They come in many colors, including gold, silver, brown, orange, red and blue and just about every shade of green, so there should be no problem coordinating them with surrounding plants.

As a focal point in the garden, a large grass can be planted alone to draw the eye. For example, Stipa Gigantea, is an eye-catching grass that grows to 8 feet (250 cm). From arching dark green foliage, long thin sprays of gold oat-like flowers appear in summer. In winter, they are even more spectacular when covered with frost. This grass grows best in moist well-drained soil and full sun. For pots, try compact, colorful grasses with an arching manner that will hide the pot edges and create interest all year round. Try Hakonechloa macra. Grasses can be used for minimalist gardens, too. Large blocks of a single variety will create slabs of color and texture. Some grasses are great for flower arranging. For example, greater quaking grass (Briza maxima), has exquisite lamp-shaped flowers, which look wonderful in the garden or in a vase in the home.

Grasses may look fragile with their wispy stems and airy flowers, but they're among the toughest plants around. They'll grow in most soils and tolerate most conditions. Many are fully hardy. Be careful not to overfeed them, though, as they'll produce too much lush foliage and too few flowers. A single dressing in the spring is enough. To increase their number, divide them in the spring. Many grasses will seed themselves, but the resulting plants may not match the originals. Watch and wait, and then remove unattractive seedlings.

Grasses can be left to fend for themselves for most of the year, but they may need tidying up in the spring. Evergreen grasses won't recover if they're cut back; dead and untidy growth should be removed carefully by hand. Other grasses should not be cut back too soon as old growth protects the new. Watch out for rabbits, hares and other animals as new shoots emerge.

Take care where you plant large grasses such as Pampas Grass. They need a lot of space, and a small front yard or garden isn't enough. Be aware that in parts of California and other areas, this invasive plant has started to colonize areas where native flora used to grow, and gardeners have been urged not to grow it or spread the seed.

Grasses are living proof that there's more to gardening than flowers that just sit there from first bloom to fall, and perhaps that's why they've become so popular. They are also easy to grow and difficult to kill, which has got to be good for any garden plant.

Read More..

Create a Stylish, Sustainable Garden with Ornamental Grasses

By Gail Kavanagh

If you need to conserve water, or you just want a garden that virtually takes care of itself, ornamental grasses will give you a beautiful garden without the hassle. There is such a huge variety of grasses available that you can create a whole garden with varied texture, colors and height using grasses alone.

You can even have a bit of a show, as some grass species produce feathery seed heads, known as plumes, and even flower in season.

A garden of ornamental grasses is the perfect choice for a modern, stylish home or a ranch style home where you don't want to spend a lot of time looking after the plants. You can also create an exotic look, with grasses from all over the world at your disposal.

The true grasses are members of the Gramineae family, and come in an abundance of different heights and colors. True ornamental grasses come mainly from the lily family, such as mondo and dianella. These are known as "strappy" grasses because of their thin, strap-like leaves.

Grasses like full sun and well drained soil, although you can find a wide variety of grasses suitable for any soil and weather conditions - they grow all over the world, after all. But if you want your grasses to look their best in your garden, prepare your soil as carefully as you would for flowers.

Grass should be pruned to allow for fresh growth in the spring, but if you prefer to have your grasses standing during the winter, you don't have to do this until early spring.

However, in the late fall, you can remove the plumes and dry them for crafts or home décor. Just cut them with long stalks, tie together in bunches and hang upside down in a cool place. Your dried plumes will look marvelous arranged in tall slender vases and will complement most decorating styles.

When shopping for grasses, look for natives, exotics and new varieties, and be sure to discuss with your nursery expert the best types to grow in your area. You are looking for plants that won't require a lot of attention or special conditions.

Among exotic varieties, Japanese silver grass is very popular for ornamental grass gardens, as it offers an outstanding display in the fall. This grass flowers with white, pink and light red blooms.

For an early green showing in spring, and a brilliant display of plumes later, choose a feather reed grass such as Karl Foerster; for brilliant color in the fall, look at the many varieties of switchback.

Don't overlook the traditional oats and barley, which look wonderful in clumps. A field of barley is such a spectacular sight that Sting even wrote a song about it!

The taller, more traditional grasses make magnificent backgrounds, but with some of the new varieties you can add splashes of color accent as well.

For a magnificent red display, try the new Japanese blood grass Red Baron, with its tall scarlet spikes; for a softer look reminiscent of a cottage garden, there is delicious Elijah-Blue, a new variety of blue fescue with foot long tufts springing out of a brilliant blue base like a firework display.

For sheer cuteness, Rabbit's Tail grass, with its puffy little white plumes, can't be beaten and it is easy to grow from seed.

Since grasses are hardy, you won't need to fuss with them or fertilize as you would with a flower garden. Just a quick scattering of some slow release fertilizer in spring will last all summer.

Mulching around the plants will keep weeds down and will prevent your grasses from reaching out and popping up in unexpected places. Like all plants, grasses should be well watered when they are first put in, but the beauty of a grass garden is that it can take a bit of healthy neglect, and will still look wonderful.

Read More..

Choosing the Right Grass for the Lawn

By B. E. Conrad

To those unfamiliar with the concept of landscaping and creating a beautiful outdoor environment, all grass looks the same. To those who know better, however, the right grass is an essential part of planning a beautiful lawn and exterior landscape. It is important to know which types of grasses to use to create just the right look and feel.

The color of the grass is an important consideration when it comes to creating the perfect landscape. Many homeowners crave the lush, dark green grass often found in the pages of home design magazines, but it is important to keep in mind that the look of a dark green lawn can be marred by the appearance of brighter shades of green interspersing.

If you crave that dark green lawn, but currently have a lighter shade of green, be sure to choose a well mixed home turf mix, and exercise some patience. The newly planted grass should soon take over and provide the look you are seeking.

Of course the variety of grass is an important consideration as well, but this is one decision that may be largely dictated by where you live. Consider the environment in which the lawn will be planted, including things like moisture, annual rainfall, average summer and winter temperature, and the like. It is important to choose a variety of grass that is suited to your environment. Fortunately, there are drought resistant grasses, moisture loving grasses and many varieties in between, making it easier than ever before to choose the perfect grass for a beautiful lawn.

The nature of the yard itself is an important consideration, especially if large parts of the landscape are in shadow much of the day. There are specific types of grasses designed to grow well in shadow, while others are able to withstand almost constant sunlight. Look at your current lawn and plant accordingly.

Of course planting the new lawn is only half the battle, and it is important to properly care for that newly planted grass. The lawn will be most at risk right after planting, so be sure to follow the maintenance schedule provided by the grass seed supplier when it comes to watering, fertilization and other care of the newly planted lawn. How you care for the lawn right after planting can have a profound impact on how well or how poorly the lawn grows.

Read More..