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May 1 to Sept. 30
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9:00 - 6:00
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| Fact Sheets |
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Ornamental Grasses Primer
Introduction
In nature grasses are an integral part of every scene - fields, roadsides, streamsides, sand dunes and even in the shadowy depths of woodlands. Grasses may be annuals or perennials; short or tall; spring or fall flowering; prolific self-seeders or sterile; invasive spreaders or well-behaved clump-formers.
In the garden, ornamental grasses not only fit in with most designs but also can accentuate the visual impact of a garden. Use short clump-forming varieties as edging plants. Tall varieties are effective background plants or are striking when used alone in islands set in lawns. Their slender leaf spikes and showy flower plumes accent adjacent broad-leaved plants. Fall-flowering grasses especially can add a richness of colour and texture to gardens winding down for the season. Some tall, strong-stemmed grasses even withstand winter snows and can be left standing for winter visual interest or for birds to enjoy their seed.
Grass-like plants such as sedges, rushes and bamboo are offered as ornamental grasses in many nurseries.
Gardening with Ornamental Grasses
Gardening with ornamental grasses is as easy as gardening with the more familiar perennials. Ornamental grasses often take 2 to 3 years to fill out to provide the desired showy statement. If a grass variety is a vigorous root spreader, simply confine its root system in a bottomless container (12"-24" deep) just as you would other poorly behaved plants like mint-family members or Goutweed. Many ornamental grasses do not produce viable seed in our short-season so don't behalve like pesky annual grasses. Few have serious pest or disease problems. Ordinary gardening practices are all that are required to grow them successfully.
Ornamental grasses are rated for hardiness like other perennials. Grasses suggested for USDA Zone 4 (Cdn Zones 5) are generally hardy without winter protection. We are test-growing others rated for Canadian Zone 6 because there is little experience on grass hardiness in Canadian snowy environments. Many tender perennial grasses, like members of the pennisetum family, can be successfully grown in this area if grown as annuals and in containers.
Spring is the best time to plant ornamental grasses to allow the root systems to become well established during the growing season. Container-grown grasses can be successfully planted during the summer and early fall as long as moisture or shading is provided to allow the plants to get established. Most grasses don’t require rich soils. Too much nitrogen results in weak leaves. Once grasses are established, grow them lean. Grasses requiring good drainage benefit from sand supplements to heavier soils.
Cool-season growing grasses (e.g. calamagrostis, sedge, fescue, panicums and others) are especially suited to early fall division and planting. Top growth will be minimal but root system development continues until freeze-up.
The most important maintenance rule for growing attractive grasses is, after the second year of growth, cut back the foliage at least once a year. It is best to cut back the foliage in the spring just before or as the new season’s growth begins to appear. Most grasses should be cut back to within a few inches of soil level. A few grasses, especially wild ryes (Elymus spp.) can be sheared several times in the same season to force new growth.
Grasses are best divided during periods of active growth. Grass division can renew clumps which have become unsightly through centre die-off or that have become too large. Create moderate size division pieces, with soil attached to their roots, to obtain quick regeneration of the new grass clumps. Cut back the foliage to 1/3 the original length to prevent excessive moisture loss through transpiration. Keep newly planted divisions moist while they become re-established.
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Cool season growers
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Warm season growers
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- grow best at temperature below 70 F (28 C)
- begin new growth in fall and may be some of first ‘flowers’ in the spring.
- sulk in summer, some just stop growing, others go into summer dormancy including dying to ground level
- are often the more moisture-loving grasses
- leaves are often evergreen
- these varieties give golden or brown foliage during the summer months. - Shearing of this foliage often stimulates the growth of new leaves to rejuvenate the green colouration.
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- sulk in cool weather, grow best at temperatures of 80 - 90 F.(above 28C)
- leaves turn different colours in fall & go dormant.
- most bloom towards summer’s end and then die back to ground level when hit by frost.
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a) Running Grasses
- many running grasses can be invasive, spreading by either above-ground or below-ground stems (stolon/rhizomes).
- at each node of the stem, roots are produced and leaves arise giving a spreading turf-like planting.
- running grasses are useful for ground stabilization projects, for mass plantings in larger gardens or as specimens in lawn areas. Be
wary of planting them in beds and borders without some sort of root confinement.
b) Clumping Grasses
- grow in tufts and are much easier to manage.
- there are many varieties and sizes of tufted grasses suited to borders and beds.
Learn more about gardening with ornamental grasses from: (listed in order of my favourites)
• The Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses, (etc), 1999. Rick Darke. Timber Press. Portland. Oregon
• The Plantfinder’s Guide to Ornamental Grasses. 1998. Roger Grounds. Timber Press. Portland, Oregon.
• The Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses: How to Grow and Use Over 250 Beautiful and Versatile Plants. 1992. John Greenlee. Michael Freedman Publishing Group. New York, N.Y.
• Step-by Step Ornamental Grasses. 1999. Peter Loewer. Better Homes and Gardens Books. Des Moines, Ohio.
• Manual of Grasses. 1994. Rick Darke Timber Press, Inc. Portland, Oregon.
• Perennial Gardening Guide. John Valleau. Valleybrook Gardens Ltd. (Third Edition 1998) Abbottsford, B.C.
• Ornamental Grasses for Cold Climates. North Central Regional Extension Publication 573. Minnesota Extension Service, U. of Minnesota. St. Paul. Mn.
• Grasses of Ontario. 1980. William G. Dore and J. McNeil. Monograph No. 26. Agriculture Canada.
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You can also visit www.gramineae.com for much more information on ornamental grasses. This is a U.S. wholesale nursery that has placed many photos and cultivation information on their site. It is a worthwhile visit. They have a page on hardiness which we, in Ottawa, can deviate from. Their nursery and general experience is in locations where snow cover is not as great as here (except for our unusual 1999- 2000 winter ). Many of the plants listed for Zone 5 (USDA) in their list survived well in our gardens even after the unusual 1999- 2000 winter.
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Ornamental Grasses Growing at Reilly’s Country Gardens
We currently grow over 75 varieties of perennial ornamental grasses in our Zone 5(a) (USDA Zone 4) gardens.
The following is a listing of ornamental grasses by their desirable traits.
For a listing of ornamental grasses available at our nursery click here. (This link is inactive until May 1.)
Briza media (Perennial Quaking Grass) (ground cover possibility)
Bouteloua gracilus (Mosquito grass)
Bouteloua curtipendula (Side Oats Grass)
Calamagrostis acutiflora (Feather Reed Grasses): ‘Stricta’, ‘Overdam’, & ‘Foerster’s’ (ground cover possibility)
Deschampsia caespitosa (Tufted Hairgrass) (ground cover)
Festuca glauca varieties (Blue Fescue) e.g. ‘Blaufink’, ‘Elijah Blue’, ‘Meerblau’, ‘Solling’, ‘Skinner’s blue’ (ground cover possibility)
Festuca tenuifolia (ground cover possibility)
Glyceria maxima (Manna Grass) - needs moist soil if grown in full sun.
Helictotrichon sempervirens (Blue Oat grass) (ground cover possibility)
Koeleria glauca (Large Blue Hairgrass)
Leymus arenarius (Blue Lyme Grass) - invasive in sandy soil.
Miscanthus sinensis (Maiden Grasses): ‘Silberfeder’, ‘Graciella’, 'Grosse Fontaene', 'Gracillimus', 'Autumn Light',‘Morning Light’, ‘Malepartus’, 'Sarabande', ‘Yaku Yima’, ‘Variegata’, 'Zebrinus'.
Misacanthus floridulus (giganteus)
Miscanthus purpurascens
Miscanthus saccariflorus (Silver Banner Grass)
Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea ‘Skyracer (‘Skyracer’ Tall Moor Grass)
Molinia caerulea ‘Variegata’ (Variegated Moor Grass)
Panicum virgatumspp., ‘Strictum’, ‘Heavy Metal’, 'Rehbraun', 'Rotstrahlbusch', 'Squaw', ‘Warrior’,
Pennisetum alopecuroides(Fountain Grass) spp., 'Hameln'- recommended as an annual but we get some overwintering (ground cover)
Pennesetum setaceum - grown as an annual
Pennisetum setaceum rubrum (Purple-Leaved Fountain Grass) - grown as an annual
Tall grasses for specimen clumps or massed as backdrops
Calamagrostis (Reed Grass) varieties:- C. acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, C. arundinacea ‘Overdam’, & C. canadensis (Canada Blue Joint)
Miscanthus(Silver Grass) varieties (best planted in spring): M. purpurascens (Flame Grass), M. sacchariflorus ‘Robustus’, M. sinensis ‘Gracillimus’, & M. sinensis ‘Malepartus’
Panicum (Switch Grass) varieties (best planted in spring): P. virgatum spp., ‘Heavy Metal’ & ‘Warrior’
Short clump-forming varieties for edging purposes
Festuca (Fescue) varieties: F. glauca (Blue Fescue) (often labelled as F. amethystina), F. ‘Elija Blue’, Skinners Blue, Blaufink, and F. tenuifolia (Fine-leaved Fescue)
Helictotrichon sempervirens (Blue Oat grass)
Koeleria glauca (Large Blue Hair Grass)
Grasses for Light to Medium Shadel
Arrhenatherum elatius spp. bulbosum ‘variegatum’
Briza media
Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’
Calamagrostis brachytricha
Carex species
Chasmanthium latifolium (Northern Sea Oats)
Deschampsia cespitosa and all cultivars
Festuca tenuifolia
Hakonechloa macra and cultivars
Luzula nivea (Snowy Wood Rush)
Luzula sylvatica (Greater Wood Rush)
Miscanthus sinensis ‘purpurascens’
Molinia caerulea subsp. caerulea and all cultivars
Phalaris arundinacea and all cultivars
Spodiopogon sibericus
Grasses as Ground Cover in Part or Full Shade (with moisture)
Carex morrowii ‘Variegata’
Carex plantaginea
Luzula nivea & cultivars
Luzula sylvatica & cultivars
Phalaris arundinacea variegata
Drought tolerant varieties
Arrhenatherum elatius ssp. bulbosum ‘variegatum’
Bouteloua curtependula
Bouteloua gracilis
Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’
Leymus racemosus
Festuca amethystina ‘Superba’
Festuca cinerea
Festuca glauca
Helictotrichon sempervirens
Koeleria glauca (Large Blue Hair Grass)
Miscanthus sinensis 'Gracillimus'
Miscanthus sinensis 'Graziella'
Miscanthus sinensis 'Malepartus'
Panicum virgatum & cultivars
Phalaris arundinacea 'Feesey' & 'Picta'
Spodiopogon sibericus
Moisture tolerant varieties
Alopecurus pratensis ‘variegata’
Calamagrostis canadensis (Canada Blue Joint)
Calamagrostis acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'
Carex species - most
Chasmanthium latifoliium
Deschampsia cespitosa and all cultivars
Glyceria maxima ‘variegata’
Luzula species - all
Miscanthus floridulus
Miscanthus sacchariflorus
Miscanthus sinensis - most cultivars
Molinia caerulea spp. arundinacea and all cultivars
Panicum virgatum - most cultivars
Phalaris arundinacea and all cultivars
Typha latifoli
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