Ornamental Grass Garden Designs for the home garden, Landscaping designs
Ornamental Grasses may be used with some flowering perennials to provide a constantly changing garden. With a background of Grasses, a screen or barrier can be developed. As a screen, these Grasses will be effective most of the year except between the time they are cut back in early spring until new growth becomes tall enough again in late spring or early summer. This garden includes some flowering perennials that can endure the competition from Grasses. However, these are sun-loving flowers that will not survive if the tall Grasses are used to the south of them. In that case, shade-tolerant perennials should be substituted. For longer borders, the design may be easily extended by increasing the number of plants of each kind or repeating the design. Ornamental Grasses add exceptional interest to the fall and winter garden with their unique fall flower forms and seed structure movements that entertain all winter long.
Helpful hints
Grasses are heavy feeders and require fertile and well-drained soil. Each year add several inches of compost and mulch to improve drainage and build humus in the soil.
Do not cut back Grasses until late winter or early spring, depending on the last frost in your zone.
Mix in free-form shrubs such as Arctic Blue Willow, Forsythia, Buddleia, and Kerria japonica.
Ornamental Grasses are spectacular in flower bouquets for adding foliage texture, height, and contrast to your composition.
a. Achillea ‘moonshine’ b. Alcea ‘singles mix’ c. Artemisia ‘silver mound’ d. Calamagrotis arund. Var. branch. e. Calamagrostis ‘overdam’ f. Chasmanthium latifolium g. Coreopsis ‘sunray h. Deschampsia ‘bronze veli’ i. Deschampsia ‘taurtrager’ j. Dianthus ‘little boy blue’ k. Festuca ‘elijah blue’ l. Festuca ‘select’ m. Koeleria glauca n. Miscanthus ‘gracollimus’ o. Miscanthus ‘sarabande’ p. Panicum ‘trailblazer’ q. Pennisetum alop. Var. virdescenes r. Pennisetum ‘hameln’ s. Pennisetum ‘little bunny’ t. Phalaris ‘feesey’ u. Phlox ‘blue boy’ v. Saccharum ravennae
