Darin Engh, from Engh Gardens highlights his Top 5 picks for Ornamental Grasses.
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Ornamental grasses and grass-like plants add color, texture, form, and especially, motion to the garden. Grasses can be mounded, upright, tufted, or arching. Fine foliage, architectural outlines, delicate flowers, summer colour and winter interest – ornamental grasses provide all this and more. Rustling and swaying in the wind, ornamental grasses enrich the landscape almost year-round. One of the most endearing characteristics of grasses is their ease of culture. They are uncomplicated plants, undemanding in their requirements and virtually always rewarding. They will often thrive in difficult soils. Many gardeners have seen the effects of global warming as distinct change in climate, with many areas experiencing extremes of wet as well as hot, dry periods. Some gardeners rise to the challenge by experimenting with new plants and styles, particularly trying out plantings that thrive in dry conditions. There are those that like the damp conditions and those that thrive in a dry environment. The most spectacular results are usually achieved when they are used in plantings with other contrasting plants. Many grasses are at their peak in autumn, when their stems are burnished copper and almond topped with colorful seed heads. Emphasize their beauty by combining grasses with such late-flowering plants as asters and goldenrod. Grasses are particularly effective when planted in natural-looking drifts. Colorful clumps of ornamental grasses thrive along rocky slopes and marshy inlets.
Top 5 Ornamental Grasses
‘Overdam’ Calamagrostis acutiflora
Impressive mounds of green and white stripy leaves setting off the pinkish feathery plumes.
‘Karl Foerster’ Calamagrostis acutiflora
Makes tight tussocks of thin mid-green leaves topped with wiry flowering stems of feathery soft orange flower-heads with a touch of purple. The flowers remain into winter and it does not self-seed.
‘Leather Leaf Sedge’ Carex buchananii
Extremely narrow reddish-brown foliage with an erect habit and curlicue top. Prefers moist, fast-draining soil. The finely textured copper foliage contrasts vividly with dark green, blue, and silver plants.
Variegated Japanese Sedge Carex morrowii
Attractive, mounding ornamental grass with stiff lustrous green and creamy white striped blades. Great low border or ground cover, or use in pots or rock gardens.
Porcupine Grass Miscanthus sinensis ‘Strictus’
Improved habit to this more upright form; not as relaxed vase-shaped as ‘Zebrinus’. Green foliage highlighted by dramatic horizontal golden bands. Reddish-bronze plumes above the foliage in summer. Suitable specimen or in groups.
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For more information, you can contact Darin at Engh Gardens in Sandy. Their website has all the contact information.
www.enghgardens.com
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