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Movement
and Grace in the Garden
By Joan Christie
 Grasses
have a grace and elegance that few other plants
can match, and they are not all green. They
range in colour from blue, through the buffs
and yellow to brown, black, red, white, and
many with interesting variegation. There are
tiny miniatures suitable for the alpine trough
graduating through the sizes right up to huge
plants of shrub stature.
For
the most part grasses are easy to grow and are
not particular about soil type. There are those
however that like to be in wet ground and others
are content with a bone dry situation.
Grasses
look particularly well around a pond or stream
and I like them as specimen plants in scree.
They make a bold statement in containers and
if you have a difficult shady area under trees
they are excellent mass planted as ground cover.
A generous planting of Bowel's golden (Millium
effusurn aureum) sets a dark corner alight.
Grasses in a perennial border add texture and
movement and winter interest when other plants
have faded.
Most
people deem a lawn to be an essential part of
the garden and yet they moan about the effort
of constant mowing. Have you ever considered
creating a multicoloured lawn of different grasses
arranged in a bold design? This would be useless
as a play area for children but for some it
could be really beautiful and would only need
occasional trimming. Festuca caesia would provide
a stunning blue, Hakonechloa would give yellow,
carex morrowii would show yellow variegation
and the black ophiopogon would contrast dramatically.
Anyone going down this road would need to plan
a design in curves and bands and also take steps
to prevent the grasses growing into one another.
A plastic lawn edging strip could be used as
a demarcation.
I
have not seen many grass hedges in gardens and
yet Miscanthus sinensis Zebrina makes a very
striking hedge as do other members of the Miscanthus
group.  Grasses
are more usually used as edging plants. The
Festuca, Milium, Molinia and Carex species are
good for this. Deschampsia flexuosa makes a
lovely delicate edging but it is a great seeder,
so the spikelets would need to be removed before
seeding. Briza minor. the annual quaking grass
makes a lovely edging.
When
visiting the Botanical gardens in Montreal Pennisetum
setaceurn impressed me even more than the orchids!
It was so colourful and graceful. I guess that
the Canadian gardeners only put it out in containers
in the summer when the really hot temperatures
bring it to maturity. Most of the Pennisetums
are from Africa and are not hardy here. The
Australian form, however is hardy here and makes
a lovely specimen plant just like a fountain
as C name implies-Pennisetum alopecuroides (Australian
fountain grass) .
Annual
grasses can be grown easily from seed but perennial
ones are best bought as young plants as they
take several years to mature. All grasses can
be planted satisfactorily in  Spring
and established clumps divided in late Spring
when there is evidence of strong young growth
coming through. Water well after replanting
and mulch with organic material such as garden
compost or leaf mould. If the grasses are growing
in scree in a mulch of pebbles it would be wise
to add some nourishment- hoof 'and horn or dried
blood for example.
I
hope I have convinced you that grasses are a
valuable asset in any garden not only for their
versatility but most of all for their grace.
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