Part of the
You Can Learn Landscaping and Gardening series.
By Ken Brown
Editor, YouCanLearnSeries.com
Updated: January 24, 2005
Are you looking for winter variety? Ornamental grasses provide visual interest
in your landscape design for the harsh winters. Your garden may be under snow
during the winter, what can you do to add winter interest in your landscape
design?
Try adding grasses to your backyard garden. Here are a few photos of grasses
after this area received 4 to 8 inches of snow. We have already received a few
days of below zero temperatures. These grasses have survived winter's toughest
components. Imagine the joy you will find when you have native grasses in your
backyard.
Whether you choose fountain grasses, feather reed grass, moor grass, or plume
grass, you can find something to interest you. I have a Korean grass in my
mailbox design. It is soft and fluffy, but seems to bounce back easily from the
damages of winter, road salt, and snow.
You can use these grasses as the featured winter plant or for the tall plant in
a landscape setting. For winter interest, you can place in front of an
evergreen tree. The dark green acts as a backdrop to enhance the beauty of the
grasses.
Some grasses are taller than 6 feet. While others are smaller than 6 inches.
You choose what will work best in your garden. You can divide the clumps of
grasses after a few seasons and replant.
The Moor grass is resistant to disease and insect infestation. The Fountain
Grass is sometimes planted with Sedum, Coneflowers, and Russian Sage.
Ornamental grasses require little maintenance though some require watering and
some can handle dry periods and little care and attention.
Click on any of the images for a larger view.
Available Landscape and Garden Ornamental Grasses
| Blue Fescue |
| Dwarf Pampas Grass |
| Feather Reed Grass |
| Fountain Grass |
| Moor Grass |
| Plume Grass |
| Tufted Hair Grass |
Decide to use ornamental grasses in your landscape design. You can choose one
grass for your garden or pick two or three and make a little planting. Put the
tall grasses in back and the smaller grasses in front. Be sure and plant more
than one clump of grass. Plant 5 to 10 of each kind of grass to make the
biggest impact.
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