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Gardening

Use grasses to add more color, texture

It does no good to talk about the weather. We know the humidity, heat and possibility of storms are here throughout the summer. I still can't help but complain at times. I get my mental list of activities I'd like to accomplish in the yard, but usually halfway through the list I'm worn out.

By MARY COLLISTER
Published July 29, 2005

If you have the same reaction to the summer weather, this is a great time to do some research on plants you might want to add to your landscape this fall. Currently, I find the ornamental grasses to be very interesting. I've seen more and more of them in landscape designs and they do add a bit of a different color and texture than some of our more traditional plant materials.

Grasses add variety to many types of gardens, including water, Japanese, rock, wildlife, craft, xeriscape, container or whatever garden you happen to have. Ornamental grasses add two elements to the garden experience that are not readily obtained from many other plants - movement and sound. Grasses look great against a dark background and placed to catch morning or evening light. The taller grasses can add a significant vertical presence, too.

Grasses generally grow best with three to five hours of direct sun each day. And grasses benefit from mulching and many from cutting back, usually just before new growth begins in the spring. The old, dried blades are often as interesting as the new, green growth. Use hedge shears and wear gloves to prevent cuts from the razor-sharp edges of some species.

A major benefit of grasses is the few pest problems they seem to have. If aphids or mites appear, spray with a strong stream of water to control the problem.

If you are interested in trying ornamental grasses in your landscape, you might want to try the commonly grown red fountain grass, which comes in a standard height or a dwarf variety. This is a deciduous perennial grass. The dwarf variety forms tufts that reach 3 feet tall and 18 inches wide. The standard can get almost twice that big. It has rough stems with long, narrow, bronze leaf blades. From mid summer to early autumn this grass bears pink to purplish pink spikelets that are plumed and bristled seed heads that nod. They look like a small fox's tail. Red fountain grass is great for use in mixed perennial beds, mass plantings, as well as in mixed containers.

Marsh grass is another hardy grass for this area. The leaves are finely textured with olive-green stems forming dense clumps. The flowers are delicate, silky violet plumes appearing in late summer on stalks that rise well above the foliage, creating an iridescent, pinkish-gray haze that lasts for six to eight weeks.

The ripe seeds replace flowers, giving an attractive tan color to the stalks. Once a clump becomes too dense you can propagate by division, as with most grasses. It can be planted in mass or used single as a specimen. It, along with many of its grass cousins, will do well in a container also.

Fakahatchee grass, also called gamma grass, is a southeast United States native. It has rich green foliage and grows in fountainlike clumps up to 5 feet in height and 4 feet wide. The leaves are erect and about 1 inch wide. Distinctive flowers appear in late spring. It tends to be an evergreen in our area. If we get a frost, the leaves can assume shades of red and bronze. Severe cold cuts the plant to the ground. It prefers fertile soils but is tolerant of many types as long as it is moist and located in full sun to partial shade.

Big bluestem is a perennial bunch grass that forms large clumps, which expand slowly on short, scaly rhizomes. It normally grows 5 to 7 feet tall but if happy in its location can get up to 10 feet tall. This grass is more upright than many other ornamentals.

Stems and leaves are a bit unusual in color. They are blue-green in early summer, developing reddish tinges as they mature. The plants turn a rich copper or orange-brown in autumn and develop an overall reddish or burgundy cast if we have a frost. In late summer, bronze to purplish seed heads stand above the foliage. The flower is not as showy as some grasses. The foliage stays attractive through winter, but the seed heads disintegrate.

Big bluestem is adaptable to a wide range of soils. It thrives in light, porous soils as well as heavier, less well-drained soils, even clays. It tolerates acidic or alkaline soils. It does well in dry or humid climates and tolerates cool as well as hot summers. Sounds like a perfect match with our climate. Cut it to the ground in early spring before new growth begins.

Big bluestem thrives in the full sun and has a huge root system but does prefer regular watering. Plant it as a specimen or a mass planting.

These are but a few of the hundreds of varieties of ornamental grasses that will thrive here. Do an Internet search, or talk to a favorite nurseryman to get more ideas. Even if you just have room to add one or two plants, I think you will find their shape and texture earns them a rightful spot in your garden.

[Last modified July 28, 2005, 08:19:13]