Planning and planting gravel and dry bed gardens withdrought tolerant bamboos and  ornamental  grasses, for dry  and arid areas.

Grasses in Gravel and Dry Bed Planting.

A dry gravel garden with broad curving path ways and using drought tolerant  grasses   Miscanthussinensis ' Morning Light' and Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hamelin ' inter-planted amongst Euphorbia, Hot pokers, Poppies, Thyme, Lavender and Verbascum .

Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hamelin '

MiscanthusMorning light. aka. Eulalia grass.

Stipatenuissima. aka. Oat grass.

Deschampsia.aka. Hair grass

Deschampsia.aka. Hair grass 'Northern lights'

Corynephoruscanescens.

' Gravel' or 'Dry Bed' gardening isanother style of gardening that has also gained enormous popularity in the lasttwo or three years, and ornamental grasses and bamboos not only look good in a gravel ordry bed garden but are ideally suited. Low maintenance, quick establishment, the self sufficiency of the plants, environmental and climate changeconsiderations are all benefits that are making this style of gardening soattractive.

Most species of bamboo and ornamental grasses look fantastic planted in gravel, howeversimilarly to a Japanese style of gardening less is more. You must leavesufficient empty space around discretely placed grasses and bamboo plants to showboth grass plants and gravel to their best advantage. Remember that most bamboos do in factprefer moist ground and although they will grow quite well in a gravel gardenyou must be prepared to water them, if not stick to the ornamental grasses. Recommended bamboos are Phyllostachys Bissettii    Phyllostachys Glauca Shibataea Kumasasa , Sasa Palmatum  Sasa vietchi  Fargesia Robusta

Gravel gardens are very effective in suppressing weeds, conserving moisture andshowing off your grass plants to their best advantage. If your garden is a hot one,has a dry micro-climate or is on the coast where steady winds dry both plantsand the soil out, a gravel mulch is ideal for conserving valuable moisture andalso has the advantage that it will stay put and won't blow away like bark mulch.

Easy to grow,low maintenance, drought tolerant ornamental grasses suited to gravel and dry bedgardening and their companion plants are among natures most interestingprospects. Characteristics include adaptations of the foliage, such as a thick,waxy cuticle, numerous leaf hairs or narrow, strap-like leaves. Tap roots whichcan draw up deep soil moisture are another prominent distinction, as arehummock-forming growth habits. Many bulbous plants survive the dry summerperiod by laying dormant during this time. Once established, they requirelittle attention.

Ornamental grasses areextremely tough and alongside their drought tolerant companions offer anamazing and diverse range of shape, colour and seed head to choose from. Recommendedgrass varieties for dry and gravel gardens are Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light, Miscanthus sinensis''Zebrinus', Molinia caerula 'Karl Foerster', Stipa gigantea and Stipa tenuissima, Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hamelin

Gravel and dry garden grasses and plantsneed little except for full sunlight and good drainage. Gravel grasses and plants adapt to mostconditions and can be grow in a diversity of soil, as long as they are freedraining, and are tolerant a wide range of soil fertility and acidity. Remember

• Match plants to your soiltype.
• Fit the size of the plants to thesize of your garden.
• Improve the drainage by incorporating sand and grit if it is to wet.
• Unless it is to be a focal pointkeep tall plants to the centre or back.

Under the gravel mulch it is important to provide another layer ofweed-suppressing materials in order to avoid your new gravel garden beinginvaded by weeds, and particularly to preserve the moisture and low maintenance qualities.You can use weed suppressing cloth available from your local garden centre,nursery, or on-line store, layers of newspaper, or cardboard, even better a thicklayer of clean straw or compost covered by newspaper and then weed suppressingcloth or membrane.

If you are using newspapers you must spread the papers, 6-8 pages or morethick over the area, leaving spaces for the plants. You can butt the paper upagainst the plants the space for weeds is then reduced and the plant will pushout making a bigger hole for itself as it grows.

Although the prospect of a lowmaintenance, trouble free prairie garden is attractive the biggest job ingravel gardening you will face, if you are growing from see, iscontrolling weeds during the first two or three years. Grasses in particularspend the first years of their life developing their complex and evolved rootssystem while common ground weeds put all their energy into producing into aboveground growth.  That's why we recommended you use good strong pot ornursery grown plants from the P&G as this is quicker  and less labour intensivesolution.

Gravel and dry bed gardens requireonly pruning, weeding and a mulch of 5-8 cm (2-3in) of gravel (or even bettercompost or straw covered with gravel) will retain a lot of valuable soilmoisture while plants are establishing. Gravel levels can be topped up as andwhen required. No spraying, no irrigating and little, if any, fertilizingsaving gravel gardeners loads of dosh and hours of hard work.

By the third year, there is littlefor the gavel gardener to do but open a cold one, sit in the middle and enjoyit!