Ornamental Grasses

Ornamental Grasses can add a unique look to your yard and garden. They are easy to grow, simple to care for, and come in a huge variety of sizes and colors. They can be used in container gardens, as accent plants, as garden borders, fillers or for privacy screening when a fence isn’t really the answer.

Ornamental grasses are becoming extremely popular and should be considered when you are designing, or remodeling, your home landscape and garden areas. They fit perfectly into any style or type of garden and can be used when forming a natural area, a rock garden, or to add drama to a flower bed. Ornamental grasses look lovely when standing alone or when included into the most formal garden setting.

Ornamental grasses come in a rainbow of seasonal changing colors that include all shades of green, blue, red, pink, beige and variegated whites and yellows. Their sizes can range from low compact mounds to huge, more than six feet tall, beauties.

Their spiking flower stalks also come in a wide variety of colors and make lovely dried floral arrangements that can be used inside your home.

Some of the more popular types of ornamental grasses are called Pampas Grass, Fountain Grass and Ribbon Grass but there are also many varieties of Switch Grass, Indian Grass and Fescue that shouldn’t be overlooked when garden planning.

Planting ornamental grass in the springtime (in most areas) gives them ample time for their root systems to become established before the winter freeze but they can be planted in early fall as well.

When choosing a location for your ornamental grass, be sure to leave enough space between plants to allow for full foliage growth. Most ornamental grasses won’t reach their full size until they’ve been left in the same spot for about three years.

How to Plant Ornamental Grasses

Prepare the location by deeply cultivating (loosening) the soil where your ornamental grass will be planted. Depending on your soil type and condition, add organic compost as needed.

Dig a hole at least twice the size of your ornamental grass’s root ball.

Place your ornamental grass into the hole no deeper than it was growing in its original container.

Fill the hole containing your plant with water. After it drains down, refill the hole with soil, tamp down and then water your ornamental grass again thoroughly.

You will need to continue watering your ornamental grass consistently after planting, until its roots have become established, making sure it gets at least an inch of water per week for the first year.

For continued support, fertilize your ornamental grass every spring using a slow release type fertilizer and surround the plant with mulch in the fall to protect its tender roots over winter.

How to Prune Ornamental Grasses

Ornamental Grasses need to be pruned in early spring, before new growth appears. The way you prune ornamental grass depends on which type you have growing in your yard. Some ornamental grasses die off completely from year to year. These varieties will need to be cut back to within inches of the ground in order for new growth to be able to thrive. Evergreen ornamental grasses, (varieties that stay green year-long) will only need a quick clean-up to remove any dead blades, or blades that have developed disease or fungus.

After several years of growth, you may notice that new growth only forms at the outside edges of your plant. When this happens you will need to dig up, divide in two, and then replant the two sections into the ground to promote renewed health and proper growth of your ornamental grasses.

Why not add some of these easy to care for, long-lasting beauties to your own home garden today?

~Robin Svedi Staff Editor