Joanna Radford
Home, Farm, & Garden
Ornamental grasses are becoming a popular choice for adding visual appeal to landscape beds. The variety of options bring colorful plumes and arching foliage to the landscape. Many provide seasonal interest all year long. Ornamental grasses can be used alone or as a backdrop to accentuate a centerpiece plant. Maybe the best thing about ornamental grasses is that they are relatively low maintenance plants.
Ornamental grasses are easy to get established and care for. Even the novice gardener can succeed with them. Many are also cold hardy, heat tolerant, and drought tolerant which provides an extra bonus to those of us who live in Surry County. Insect and disease pressure is low since many ornamental grasses are resistant. Little pruning and upkeep is required. Just knowing these facts may make you interested in placing one in your landscape.
Many varieties are perennial, warm season grasses. This means they grow quickly in the spring and summer. They bloom in late summer or early fall and go dormant through the winter. They grow in almost any full-sun location with well-drained soil. One of the most popular choices is muhly grass, one of the many species of Muhlenbergia. It blooms in the fall and shows off its delicate pink or white color. It is native to eastern and southeastern parts of the United States.
Another popular choice is a native grass, little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium). As the name implies, little bluestem has bluish stems and leaves in the summer. In the fall, the leaves and stems turn a copper or bronze color that lasts the entire winter. This grass prefers full sun and may reach two to four feet in height. It appears to be resistant to deer and rabbits. Little bluestem can be used in different landscape settings including rain gardens, perennial borders, and naturalized areas. If you are interested in what it looks like, visit the Surry County Historic Courthouse in Dobson. Little bluestem can be seen in the Pollinator Garden.
Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) does well in dry, infertile soils. It grows three to five feet tall in clumps of upright stems. In the late summer, indiangrass has flowering stems topped with feathery clusters of flowers. The flower clusters will persist through the winter and benefit the songbirds with natural forage.
These are just a few of the ornamental grasses that flourish in Surry county. All of them are easy to get established, but do require water during their first summer after being planted. Optimally, ornamental grasses need one inch of water per week. This can be from rainfall or irrigation. Limited water will result in reduced growth. Little fertilizer is required. If needed, a 10-10-10 fertilizer can be applied in later spring.
Many gardeners prefer to cut back ornamental grasses once a year. This can be done in the fall, or it can wait until springtime. Springtime maintenance may be preferred so you can enjoy the winter interest that these ornamental grasses provide. They are also a great food source for wildlife. If grasses are pruned in the spring, they should be pruned to within a few inches of the ground in early spring before new growth starts. Hand pruners, hedge shears, and lawn mowers can be used for this task.
Homeowners who have already discovered the beauty of ornamental grasses, should consider dividing them every three to five years. Over the years, they tend to become thin and die out in their centers. Dividing will help with this. You can divide these grasses by digging up the entire clump and dividing it into smaller chunks, usually two or three. A shovel or axe may help. The best time to divide warm season native grasses is in the spring just before new growth starts.
If you have questions about ornamental grasses, call your local NC Cooperative Extension. Happy landscaping!
