Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 17, 1995 TAG: 9508170017
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JOE HUNNINGS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
As one applies the principles of good design - repetition, variety, balance, emphasis, sequence, and scale - along with the design qualities of color, texture, line and form, one appreciates the many uses and functions of ornamental grasses.
The term "ornamental grass" is really a catchall term used to describe all grasslike plants. These include sedges, reeds, rushes, and a host of others.
Most ornamental grasses would be described as having graceful, arching foliage, several species being variegated. Seasonal interest is accomplished from spring "green-up" through the summer, with rich autumn colors in the fall and winter. The flower plumes on several species can be spectacular, giving interest for outdoor scale or dried and used indoors.
Ornamental grasses are highly resistant to insects and disease, tolerant to heat and drought, and require little or no pruning. Two important requirements are full sun and well-drained soil. Ornamental grass species grow to various sizes, some attaining 10 to 15 feet while others are considered dwarf plants used as ground covers.
Ornamental grasses have several uses as functional landscape plants. When combined with a few evergreen shrubs, pampas grass (cortaderia selloana), zebra grass (miscanthus sinensis zebrinus), or feather reed grass (calamagrostisa cutiflora stricta) can create an excellent screen for privacy. Most ornamental grasses can stand alone when used as an accent plant or focal point, especially when plumes of several species are abundant.
Here's a list of several grasses with a brief description of each:
Quaking grass (briza media): Grows two to three feet tall; spring bloomer; clump type, best grown in full sun.
Feather reed grass (calamagrostisa cutiflora stricta): Grows four to five feet tall; used in small gardens; blooms late June through September; grows in full sun.
Blue gray sedge (carex glauca): Excellent compact ground cover; grows to 10 inches without clipping.
Pampas grass (cortaderia selloana): A native of Argentina and southern Brazil, this showy reed-like perennial plant belongs to the grass family, graminaea. Pampas grass is hardy throughout Virginia except in the highest mountain elevations, but single-digit temperatures will damage it. Plants grow upright in clumps of dense tufts with numerous long, narrow strap-like leaves. Pampas grass often reaches 20 feet in height. When viewed from a distance, the plant has a fountain-like appearance. Large, showy two- to three-foot silvery white flower plumes are borne on long stems which tower above the mounded leaf mass. These appear in late summer and early autumn.
Plume grass (eriathus ravennae): Grows 8 to 12 feet tall and is hardy all across Virginia. (Often referred to as hardy pampas grass.) Plume grass has a silvery-beige color which becomes orange-brown in the fall.
Dwarf blue fescue or sheep's fescue (festuca ovina glauca): One of the favorite grasses for a ground cover. This tufted grass can be used all across Virginia and is especially useful in small-garden settings. Usually planted on 12-inch centers and allowed to eventually grow together; easily propagated by division.
Eulalia grass (miscanthus sinensis): One of the most popular ornamental grasses throughout the South; completely hardy all across Virginia. Many cultivars exist with specific growth habits and landscape characteristics; easily reaches heights of 10 feet. The highly ornamental fruit stalks are borne late in the summer.
Zebra grass (zebrinus): Leaves banded with yellow.
Variegated purple moor grass (molina eaerulea variegata): An excellent ornamental grass because of the narrow arching two-foot-long leaves which are slightly purple with stripes of cream; lasts well into the fall season; hardy all across Virginia.
Switch grass (panicum virgatum): The upright growth habit which becomes bright yellow in the fall is why this ornamental grass is so popular; grows to a height of four to six feet in a wide variety of soils and drainage conditions.
Red switch grass (panicum virgatum haense herms): Grows three to four feet tall; spectacular summer flowers, followed by brilliant orange fall color.
Fountain grass (pennisetum alopecuroides): An ornamental grass valued for its colorful fruit heads. Very graceful, arching eighth-inch-wide foliage is an excellent ornamental grass for any garden; grows to about four feet tall.
Ribbon grass (phalaris arundinacea picta): Valued for its striped green and white leaves; reaches a height of two to four feet and is hardy all across Virginia; resembles a short bamboo, and spreads rapidly by underground stolons; can become a problem if allowed to grow uncontrolled, but can be cut back to ground several times per year.
Giant feather grass (stipa gigantea): This native grass of Spain grows to six feet tall. The large flower heads first appear as purple on green, then changing to a bright yellow. Most ornamental grasses are being grown in containers by nurserymen. The larger growing plants are usually sold in three-gallon containers, while the groundcover-type smaller-growing grasses usually are sold in one-gallon containers; plants best in spring and summer.
Joe Hunnings is the Virginia Cooperative Extension agent for agriculture in the Montgomery County Extension Office in Christiansburg. If you have questions, call him at 382-5790.
by CNB