15 Creative Ideas for Using Ornamental Grasses in Your Garden

Make the most of these versatile grasses , which come in refined SHAPE from fountain - the likes of and just to low groundcover and arching .

Whether you use them as screens , accents , or focal point , ornamental grassesare an well-fixed way to add graceful texture and year - cycle colour to your landscape . Most of them are highly drought- and heat - tolerant , continue their secure expression no matter the weather . Plus , they are n’t often bothered by plague and diseases , and deer tend to leave them alone . Here ’s how to make the most of these baffling , various perennial plants in your grand .

Add Texture to Beds and Borders

Ornamental grasses add unique textures to the landscape . Soft , mound grasses balance plant that have a bolder texture , for model . upright piano grasses make a perfect material contrast to more mounded plant . Maximize the effect by planting several different grasses in the same landscape painting . Here , fountaingrassand a few varieties of miscanthus punctuate a garden filled withblack - eyed Susan , lavender , andhydrangea .

expend the same grass in several different parts of your yard to help oneself tie your garden together and give your landscape painting a cohesive look .

Create Colorful Containers

With their diversity of shapes , colors , and size , many smaller Gunter Wilhelm Grass are complete forcontainer gardens . Here , for example , fiber optic grassin simple terra - cotta container decorates a plain stone wall . The event is maximized by the contrasting grain provided by the thick , succulent farewell of gray - racy echeveria .

Soften Hardscaping

Whether it ’s paries , pavement , or other hardscapes , border landscaping with ornamental grasses can weaken their look and keep them from feeling cold and uninviting . Here , for example , a fountainlike clump of miscanthussoftens the concrete border of a swimming pool .

Some types of grass like miscanthus have becomeinvasive in specific country of the area . Always verify if a works is a problem in your area before adding it to your K , and if it is , see if there are sterile assortment of it that do n’t propagate by seeds .

Add Privacy

Planting tall grasses in tumid groups is a capital way toscreen your yardfrom neighbors or stuff an unpleasant view . For best effect , select taller species such asbig bluestem , miscanthus(shown here ) , and moor grass , all of which can reach about 6 feet tall when in bloom .

Keep in mind that you’llcut back ornamental grassesclose to the earth in early leaping , so there will be a month or two while your forage are growing when you wo n’t have a concealment .

Dress Up Decks and Patios

Do n’t limit ornamental Gunter Wilhelm Grass to bed and borders in your landscape painting . develop them in container to tot up play to decks and patios . Annual or cutter grasses are specially good choices for growing in container because you ’ll need to replace them again in leap anyway so you do n’t ask to worry about attempt to winter them in a pot . Here , purple fountaingrass adds eleganttexture to a rooftop garden .

Add a Garden Accent

Grasses of all shapes and sizes make excellent accent plants for miscellaneous beds and border . Here , a clod of fountaingrass subtly complement sheer bleak - eyed Susans , canna , coleus , andpetuniaalong a pack of cards .

Plant a Knot Garden

Erica George Dines

Herbs and tidyevergreens planted as low hedgesmost unremarkably comprise geometric knot gardens . Here , a goldensedge(which technically is n’t a grass , but has a similar flavor ) is a stunning demarcation to blue greenboxwood . Tight , mounding gage work best in mile garden . invalidate Gunter Wilhelm Grass that are too wanton and open ; they can make the knot garden feel messy .

A knot garden is a courtly , symmetrical garden design inspired by the face of knotty rope . The intricate layout is cautiously planned to mimic the interwoven formula of ancient knotwork .

brick landscape garden

Credit: John Granen

Create Edging

Edge your beds and borderlandscaping with cosmetic grasses in a sizeable line . Compact selections , such as theblue fescueshown here , are best for this . border with grassesworks best if you implant them a little closer together than you normally would so the grasses raise together in one wrinkle .

Create End-of-the-Season Interest

Grasses really shine at the end of the time of year when most annuals and perennials look worn out . Many grasses offer twice the interest : They have beautiful seed heads and stunning fall color . Switchgrass , bad bluestem , andlittle bluestemare some of the good Mary Jane for pin leaf color .

Set Off Garden Art

Complement sculpture and other garden artwork with fine - textured grasses . Here , feathergrass creates an intriguing foil to disordered pottery sculptures and silverish lamb ’s ears . The event is a modern-day design that will seem gorgeous all year long .

Attract Wildlife

Ornamental grasses can be corking for attracting wildlife , especially birds . They ’ll use the leaf blade for gain nest , find tax shelter in larger grasses , andmany species will eat up the cum . To attract the most songbird , select grasses aboriginal to your region .

Garnish Your Vegetable Garden

Besides look beautiful in your landscape painting , decorative pasturage also can add a bolt of interest to yourvegetable garden . Here , the buff plumes offeather reedgrasscontrast nicely with the rich purples of a group ofeggplants .

Clump - forming grasses , such as plume reedgrass or blue meadow fescue , are the best choices for vegetable garden . fend off head for the hills grasses such asribbongrassthat can become weedy as they spread .

Create Formal Flair

Many Gunter Grass such as feather reedgrass or the self-aggrandizing Andropogon furcatus prove here have a distinctly just shape that ’s perfect for raise a formal motif . institute them in pair to maximise the effect .

Cover Your Ground

Low - get or midsize grasses aretop - snick groundcovers . They’llhelp smother weedswhile adding an interesting grain in your landscape painting . mound pasturage often make better groundcovers because of their dense substance abuse .

Grow a Pretty Prairie

produce a meadow orprairie effect with ornamental grasses . For best winner , selectgrasses that are native to your realm . These supernumerary - tough plants provide lots of natural sweetheart with minimal criminal maintenance . They ’re less care than a lawn and more environmentally friendly .

Perennial Border