Grasses in the landscape, beyond the blades...

Grasses are pretty much maintenance free plants. They add some animation to the landscape when winds blows and offer a selection of unmatched colors.

Starting from the shortest, I like blue fescue which only reaches aboput a foot tall. They offer a powder to gun metal blue color and is great for the landscape. Another color plant is liriope, offering a deep green or variegated yellow green color when you just need a little interest, these are a great addition. In the fall they offer a purple or blue flower spike to add even more interest.

Looking for short red? Red Baron Japanese blood grass offers a showy option. Varieties like little bunny fountain grass are great for a green mound with miniature plumes. Planted in a cluster these plants really make an impact.

A new variety us this year is Blue Grama or mosquito grass. These short narrow blade garsses grow to 16” tall and offer a unique seed pod which forms in August and goes through fall. The seed heads actually resemble mosquitos, hence the name. You and your friends will definitely be tempted to cut a few of these for the vase in your home. They really are unique.

Also for the first time this year, I have found a hardy pink Muhly grass. What’s pink Muhly you ask? Its a short 18” tall narrow blade grass which features airy plumes of pink flowers with rose overtones rising above the foliage from late summer to mid fall. The tan seed heads are carried on showy plumes displayed in abundance in late fall. Its grassy leaves remain dark green in color throughout the season. This grass will live 10-12 years and peak out at 3’ tall. I am excited to see the pink plumes flower this fall. It is a real stunner!!

Moving taller, reds like Rey’s red switch grass or shenandoah offer 3-4 tall green grass with red 1/3 or so blades red in color. As fall arrives plumes hover over the tops of these grasses. Heavy Metal switch grass offers green blades which change to a steely blue color and then a pleasing yellow fall color.

Try blue lyme grass for that commanding blue color in a 3-4’ range. Looking for shades of greens, dwarf fountain grass grows in a nice mound and is about a 2-3’ height. Slightly larger is the regular fountain grass which can reach 3-4’

Little Bunny fountain grass grows only 1’ tall and offers the same plumes as fountain grasses but in a miniature form.

Moving up the ladder, a ton of miscanthus sinensis varieties in fine blades of green, Maiden grass, offer 5-6 tall clumps of green bladed grass. One of my favorites is the Zebra or porcupine grass which is green with yellow dashes almost painted blades of yellow every 4-6” or so. Variegated varieties like Japanese silver grass really command attention. Purple maiden or flame grass offers a reddish-tinged flowers which appear on tassel like plumes in fall atop a nice green bladed clump. This variety changes to a burgundy tinge foliage in the fall once a hard killing frost occurs with plumes changing to white. All these varieties grow 5-7’ tall.

A new to the market, native, big blue stem blackhawk offers dark green leaves which emerge in spring changing to an almost black foliage during the summer. It offers a really cool contrast to the landscape and is non invasive reaching 6’ tall. I like to weave it through perennial gardens or plant in mixed containers. As an added bonus, deer do not like to eat it!!

Now, if you need taller grasses, try ravenna or hardy pampass grass. Topping out at 12-16’ tall once established these grasses definitely command attention. The silvery white plume towers over the foliage almost like a firework bursting in the fall of the season.

If you have shady areas in your landscape, stick with the all green varieties which will tolerate shade. One exception is the all gold forest grass (hakonechloa), this yellow beauty actually needs the shade to thrive.

Grasses like moist well draining soils. Do not plant in soggy, extremely wet areas. I am often asked when they should be cut back. I like to wait till early spring and trim or prune down to 4-6” tall before new growth happens. This way you get to enjoy some winter interest in the landscape. A shot of fertilizer such as planttone in the spring will help these grasses thrive. Many other varieties of grasses are available each having their own benefit. I have touched on only a small fraction of what is available. Now is a great time to see the beauty of each grass , so head out this next week and pick out a few for your landscape. You will be awfully glad you did!!