Whether you’re planning your very own prairie paradise or require some structure in an already burgeoning bed, grasses can give a garden just the right mixture of flourish and casual sophistication.
Creating a naturalistic look by growing swathes of grasses not only adds movement to otherwise static beds but gives height and a repeated framework year-round. Our Garden Designer and Head Gardener got their heads together and handpicked a few favourites:
The Deschampsia cespitosa is a charismatic tufted grass that revels in the sunshine but is not totally adverse to a bit of time in the shade. With ethereal purple tops, it grows to approximately 5 foot and is the perfect choice to create a clear focal point in your beds right through to winter.
If you are looking for something tall and alluring then the Stipa gigantea, as its name suggests, really is a giant! Reaching approximately 8ft, this grass is the perfect choice for introducing movement in a bed and is well-suited to being underplanted. This majestic golden grass floats over the garden with an air of importance, as if surveying its territory.
If you are looking for something a little smaller you may be more interested in the beautiful mounds of Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’. These little beauties look perfect in the late-season when the rest of your garden is getting put to bed for the winter. Their slender blades bend at the tips to make a fountain like display, and when frost catches them they create a sparkle in the winter; a sight to behold. These mounding grasses also include another Oxfordshire Gardener favourite, Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’, which we use very purposefully to frame flowers and provide consistently beautiful and healthy leaves all year round.
Majestic grasses bring more than movement and form to your garden, the seed heads are also beneficial for the wildlife and create a perfect habitat.
Grasses are a true sensory delight, whether you’re inspired to bring a prairie-style to your Oxfordshire garden or weave them through a cottage garden, but each species of grass requires its own tender loving care, from mulching in the autumn to cutting back in the spring and removing unwanted seedlings.
But whether you prefer to leave your grasses tall and willowy to catch the frost and bring a bit of fairytale magic to those crisp winter mornings or keep them short and wait for the regrowth next spring, our team of experienced professionals are on-hand to help keep your green spaces looking their best year round.
Should you require any assistance, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
