ORNAMENTAL GRASSES
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GRASSES ARE A HUGE GENUS, IN NUMEROUS COLOURS AND SIZES, WITH MANY USES AS FOOD, FLOWERS, GARDEN FEATURES, CONTAINERS AND MORE
We include sedges and restios in this section - only the botanists can tell the difference, anyway! While some are annuals and a few are short lived perennials, most live a long time. They are usually pretty robust once established, surviving just about anything nature can chuck at them - fire, drought, flood, grazing, cold, constant cutting and so on. Which also means they can be very difficult to get rid of.
  The right place for the right plant. Because of the huge variety in colour, use and form, some thought is required before choosing a grass. While some eucalypts make lawn trees which permit grass to the trunk, more often trees and grasses compete - and one will lose out. Usually, however, grasses will intermingle with each other and flowers happily. Often, the arching shape of a large grass can add structure to an area of tall flowers.

Be cautious of claims regarding "low maintenance" grass and gravel gardens. To work, they need mulch mat first and to stay looking really good they require fastidious manicure.

Japanese Blood grass, fading at the end of the season, contrasts with Lonicera baggesson's gold and cerastium tomemtosum. The Bowles golden grass is just recovering from summer sulks and will improve through winter and spring until the hot weather arrives again
  Look at it this way. Many grasses are evergreen, but some are dormant in winter, others in summer. That gives scope for a lot of change and variation over the seasons, with other seasonal plants filling the gaps. Some species, like carex "Sparkler" and "Frosted Curls" will tumble down banks or the sides of containers beautifully. Hakonchloe looks wonderful suspended from a pergola in a tall pot. Anemathele should be positioned to catch the evening light, especially in winter. There are grasses for deep shade or full sun, for bogs and semi-desert. The right choice is essential to success.

Miscanthus sinensis hybrid, throwing numerous flower heads which make excellent dried arrangement material - I'll try and get a picture on just the heads up soon. Although not evergreen, the clump will stand through winter, keeping its architectural shape.
  There are indoor uses, too. Our "earthcare" preference might be for container growing, but I'm not against growing grasses for cut flowers. Fresh or dried, they have a much better shelf life, and cutting them back promotes the growth of more stems. Most grasses will tolerate poor soils, unlike flower strains bred for the cut market. For indoor arrangements, many forms of grass heads exist which can provide the basic structure of a lovely display. The colours are subdued, and here there is scope for a harmony with cut or dried flowers.

Many small grasses will also provide excellent growing indoor displays in conjunction with small flowers.

Carex sparler,Carex oshimensis evergold, Molinia caerulea variegata, Chasmanthium latifolium, Festuca golden toupee, being grown for sale.


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