The Pot and Grass Company growing advice for ornamental grasses .
Finding the Spot.The winds of change have blown through the gardening world during the last twenty years. With the modern trends now turning towards smaller and more minimalist gardens and the rise in popularity of planned low maintenance and theme gardens from oriental to modern contemporary styles and even prairie, there has been a renewed interest in ornamental grasses.
Many grasses are undeniably elegant and graceful addingstructure and form to a garden. In the breeze they bring movement and sound .Many have beautiful flowers and later seed heads that last right through thewinter season.
Grasses are probably the most highlydeveloped and most widely distributed of all plants. Grasses remain oneof the most important plant groups as they include all the cereal and ricecrops that sustain man and feed and fodder for our animals, They provideroofing thatch and building materials, alcohol, and over millennia most of ourfossil fuels.
Grasses are the most undemanding ofplants they require little care except a brush up and trim once in awhile. There are grasses to suit all garden sizes and soil types from thestately Cortadiera and Stipa gigantica down to the dainty "Acorusgramineus."
In order to understand how togrow grasses successfully in your garden its important to understand a littleabout their growth habits. Perhaps the most important thing to know if you are unfamiliar with grasses is that grasses reproduce bothvegetatively, that is by sending up new shoots from their roots or rhizomes andby seed distribution.
There are a several simple ways to group grasses for the novice. First by their growth habit, some formclumps and tussocks and usually reproduce through seed production, as a ruleare quite well behave. The others are spreaders or runners who produce newshoots through spreading roots and rhizomes and can tend to march. Mostdomestic lawns are made up of a mixtures of these running grasses.
The other important grouping is todistinguish between what are known as warm weather grasses and cold weathergrasses. The impact on the plant can be quite dramatic if you are dividingplants for propagation and you choose the wrong time of year to do it. Thedifference between warm weather and cold weather grasses should not cause youany problems if you are just transplanting from a small pot to a larger one ordirect to the garden.
Sedges are not true grasses thoughthey are often lumped together with the grass section at retail outlets.Although very similar to grasses the are in fact a very much older species.Sedges tend to prefer wet or boggy situations and are dealt in a separatesection to avoid confusion.
Most grasses enjoy sunlight ,as much as possible,however there are a number of varieties that will tolerate shade for partof the day. Most grasses are totally unfussy about the type of soil they are inas long as its not water logged. Grasses have an incredibly sophisticatedand efficient root system making them extremely exposure and drought tolerant.Most grasses prefer a very free draining soil that is almost impoverished ifthey are to perform well. There is very rarely any need to feed as tomuch nutrient makes the grass over lush and it tends to collapse.If your soil is very heavy or clay try digging in plenty of sharp sand. Oneother benefits of grass is you can mulch with grave. Gravel not only highlights the grasses features but the gravel will eventually work its way downinto the soil to the appreciation of the plant.
Grasses on the whole do not suffer much frompests and diseases. Most problems that are likely to be encountered willbe from trying to grow a plant in the wrong place especially if theground is waterlogged. Wet ground combined with environmental extremes such asfreezing conditions are probably the only sure way to kill most grasses. Don'tforget to water container grown grasses occasionally and grasses that areexposed to warm or cold drying winds. If your grasses are showing any signs ofstress the best thing is to up with them and shift them somewhere else,it wont harm them, they are survivors and want to survive and do well just asyou do.
Finally once again consider the sizeof the plant you are buying do your research. A giant Cortadiera in itsinfancy in a 1 litre pot looks insignificant when stood alongside a Miscanthussinensis in a 2 litre pot in the garden centre. Ten years down the line howeverthe Miscanthus will have probably made 80cm x 70 cm but wow! the Cortadieraselloana will be in the region of 3 meters by 3 meters. If you have a smallgarden there wont be much left and don't forget to consider the shade thatthese big guys throw out.
Choose carefully and enjoy yourgrasses they are truly worth the time an thought.