Growing Ornamental Grass
[caption id="attachment_593" align="alignright" width="201" caption="Ornamental grass adds a nice aesthetic touch to any lawn. This Pampas grass is low maintenance relatively easy to grow."]
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There are lots of reasons to grow ornamental grasses: they are low maintenance, resistant to pests and diseases and they are available in a huge variety of sizes, textures and colors. Ornamental grasses add pizzazz to any lawn or garden area, and they are easy to grow.
Ornamental Grass Seed
Most home gardeners will want to buy ornamental grass plants, rather than seeds. These plants are treated more like annuals and perennials than as grass plants. There are some varieties of ornamental grass that are easy to grow from seed. They are:- Bouteloua spp.
- Briza
- Eragrostis spp.
- Hordeum
- Koeleria
- Panicum spp.
- Pennisetum spp.
- Sorghastrum nutans
- Stipa spp.
Care and Maintenance
All grasses flower, and for some, the flower is the main attraction. Panicum species and cultivars usually have beautiful flowers and seed-heads. Sea oats grass is another that has interesting seeds. Muhly grass is growing almost entirely for its fluffy, pink, cloud-like flower. The main attraction of the grass does relate to its care. For grasses that are somewhat invasive, you will want to cut off the flowers before they go to seed and spread. Grasses with sturdy stems can be left to dry out in areas that do not see large snowfalls. This is one of the main attractions of growing ornamental grasses in southern and temperate zones. Ornamental grasses require little care. If you plant the grass in its preferred conditions (sandy soil, clay soil, full sun, part shade, etc.), and help it establish, it will survive with nothing more than a trim each spring before it begins to grow.Plants to Avoid
There are some ornamental grasses that are extremely invasive and should not be planted in the garden. Here are the plants to avoid:- Pampas grass: Cortaderia selloana and C. jubata
- Japanese Silver Grass: Miscanthus sinensis
- Reed Canary Grass Phalaris arundinacea
Native Ornamental Grasses
There are a lot of beautiful, native ornamental grass varieties that you can plant instead of invasive, exotic varieties. Here are some beauties that won't wreck the environment:- Indian grass Sorghastrum nutans
- Big bluestem Andropogon gerardii
- Purple top Triodia flava
- Switch grass Panicum virgatum
- Little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium
- Bottlebrush Hystrix patula
- Wild oats Uniola latifolia
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