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SOS! The lawn has invaded the peonies! Send for the exterminators! No, wait.
Some grasses do belong in the flower border where they add color and texture.
You just have to be sure what you’re planting before you take that cute
little tuft of foliage out of its 4” pot. Some ornamental grasses are
great choices for a smaller property and others are recipes for disaster. For
example, consider the Pampas Grass, Cortaderia selloana, a commonly
available and very showy landscape plant that grows well in our climate. Its
flowers are spectacular. However, you must realize that the 4 inch plant will
quickly be 6 feet in every direction (except the flowers, which will shoot up
past 10 feet). In addition, Pampas Grass seeds prolifically and the State of
California considers it to be a noxious weed. The Sunset Western Garden book
does not recommend it for suburban gardens and asks that you rogue out all volunteer
seedlings.
Happily, most ornamental grasses won’t become thugs as the Pampas grass
can. I grow several in my yard. Grasses can grow in wet or dry locations and
in sun or shade, depending on the type. For the sunny border, I have clumps
of Carex buchananii (the bronze form) and Festuca glauca,
or Common Blue Fescue. The Carex makes a nice clump of bronzy-red narrow leaves
that top out at 18” or so. They contrast well with Bergenia. The Blue
Fescue is a neat little tuft of blue-grey grassy leaves that goes with just
about everything, including Fibrous Begonia at the front of the flower bed.
These both do well with some supplemental water on hot August days, but are
generally very easy to grow. Another grass, Carex morrowii expallida
(also called “variegata”) has green and yellow striped variegated
leaves much wider than those of the bronze Carex. In fact, it resembles the
houseplant called “Spider Plant” except that it is cold hardy. This
also sits nicely at the front of a flower border.
In part shade, I have some Hakonechloa macra, which is sometimes called Japanese Forest Grass. This is a lovely, smaller grass with variegated leaves that grows well at the edge of my woodland garden. It’s color lights up the shade quite well. I must give it some extra water on hot days, but it is otherwise easy to grow. You can divide it like Hostas to make more, although the divisions grow slowly. On the edge of a patio with less than half sun in summer I have planted a row of Ophiopogon planiscarpus. This is the dramatic Black Mondo Grass which is grown so well in the courtyard of the Center For Urban Horticulture in Seattle. It is also small and choice, a wonderful edge to a walkway or a clump below a rock. I love it with the small, early bulbs in Spring. Later, it makes a foil for a Hosta.
The other really colorful grass I want to grow is Japanese Blood Grass (Imperata cylindrica aka Miscanthus floridulus). I love the ruby tips of its leaves. It is a fast-growing erect clumping grass that is about 2 feet tall. I tried it once, and lost it. I think I didn’t water it enough – my sandy soil drains so fast and I think this one wants a moister growing medium than I gave it. I will try it again in a pot where I can control the water situation more easily. I think a whiskey barrel with this grass at the back, some cherry red petunias, purple basil and something really, really lime green to trail in the front would be a show-stopper on the terrace.
So, check out your local nurseries or ask your local Washington State University Master Gardeners for their advice and add some invited grasses to your flower beds. The lawn, however, must stay out!
Hortsense: Managing plant problems with Integrated Pest Management
