Ornamental Grass For Your Winter Garden
The first thing you think of when a winter garden comes to mind is usually not grass. Instead of grass, much less ornamental grass, those first few thoughts are often biased by big white clumps of snow. Yet, there is hope. If moving down to Arizona and opting out of the whole ‘grass thing’ and sticking with rocks isn’t for you, then this article is. There aren’t a whole lot of ornamental grasses that look great in winter, but there are a few, and more importantly, there are grasses that can survive winter, no matter how frightful the weather gets. So first, lets dive in and learn about ornamental grass.
Ornamental grasses have become very popular in the last 10 years because they are inexpensive,
attractive, care-free, and easy to grow. They can grow well as additional highlights for plants like flowering perennials and shrubs. Adding them to perennial beds, borders, foundation plantings, waterside gardens and meadow type plantings brighten the scene and give more character to your particular look. They come in many different types and textures; slender, broad, fluffy or brushy, choose what’s best for your garden.
Grasses even have their own sounds depending on the size and texture you’ve chosen. The slightest breeze will give you a soft soothing sound, or a deep rustling noise. Most grasses will turn colors like tan, bronze, or russet after frost. These soft brown colors provide just the touch a garden needs to contrast with the dark evergreen shades, berries, and white of the snow.
Ornamental Grasses And Winter Gardening
Not all grasses will last through the winter, some breaking and cracking turning brittle under the snow. Others, though, will stay surprisingly resilient throughout the cold winter months. For those of you who enjoy bird watching, you’ll be excited to watch as smaller birds like the goldfinch, juncos, and sparrows flock to clumps of grasses, eating the seeds, finding shelter among the foliage.
Now lets dive in a bit deeper and learn more about a few of these ornamental grasses. The following grasses grow quickly, making impressive lumps in only two or three years after they are planted. Keeping them neat isn’t difficult; just cut off the old growth in March, leaving a dense clump of stubs just a few inches tall. With big clumps of grasses, you can split them up, making more clumps scattered around your yard. Do this in early spring; right after the old growth is cut away, chopping the root ball into three or more sections. Note that grass roots are very tough, so use a small axe or sharp spade to do the division.
Types of Ornamental Grasses
Feather Reed Grass – Calamagrostis x Acutiflora
This grass has a ‘reedy’ texture more than feathery, it forms a knee-high clump of slender dark green leaves with hundreds of stiff, skinny flower stalks 5 to 6 feet in height. Its foliage grows in cooler weather, early spring or late fall, while the flowers and seed heads bloom in summer, ripening quickly, color from the shade of green to gold to beige.Feather Reed Grass has strong thick stalks that will last all winter long, through strong winds and heavy snow. The grass is not picky about soil conditions and will take full or part sun.
Aureo-variegata/Variegated Japanese Sage – Carex Marrowii
Preferring moist, fertile soil and part sun, this grass-like perennial will form low, swirly tufts of slender, glossy evergreen leaves, striped lengthwise with yellow and green colors. Japanese Sage is a very beautiful and unique grass.
Northern Sea Oats – Chasmanthium Latifolium
This grass is adaptable and forms in clumps 3 to 4 feet tall. Leaves are short and wide and only grow at the base of the plant. Clusters of flat seed heads dangle above near the tops of the grass stalks. The seeds and leaves are green in color but will turn brown in the fall and gradually to beige by winter. They do well in the winter and are one of the best grasses for a shady area. The plant will do well in average soil with sun part sun or shade. When springtime rolls around, look for the seedlings and pull them out, or transplant them.
Tufted Hair Grass - Deschampsia Caesitosa
Tufted Hair Grass is attractive all year ‘round, forming a mound of foliage about 2 feet tall and wide that will stay green into winter even in colder climates and strong winds. Grass prefers well drained but evenly moist soil with part shade. For pruning, trip off the flower stalks late in the summer, they break down and won’t last into the winter.
Ravenna Grass – Erianthus Ravennae
Ravenna is a giant grass plant, that needs plenty of space, full sun and average or dry soil. Beautiful broad arching leaves form a mound up to 6 feet in height with fluffy seed heads on stiff stalks that reach 10 to 12 feet tall. Rich green in color during the summer, Ravenna grass turns completely tan in the winter and stands up well to wind and heavy snow, making a great covering for any winter garden.
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