“Why We Love Ornamental Grass!”

Ornamental Grass is one of our all time favorite garden accessories. Growing from early spring to late summer, there is a perfect grass for every garden!

Ornamental grasses are an absolute favorite of so many in landscape and garden design. They bring texture, form, height, and beauty to any design you choose to add to. One of our favorite reasons to love ornamental grasses is that they are also low maintenance!

Let’s dig into ornamental grasses and learn how you can use them in your garden, how to choose from warm or cool grasses and when to plant and divide them.

Warm or Cool Grass?

Knowing if you are planting cool or warm grass is important in how you place them. Cool grasses begin growing as early as late March or early April. Many of them are evergreen and will stay green all year. They reach their peak of growth generally by June when they will put out their plumes (flowers). Cool season grasses grow mainly 8 – 10” with the tallest, the Feather Reed Grass, growing 4 – 5’ tall. Cut and divide cool grasses in early spring.

Warm grasses will begin growing when soil and temperatures increase, usually mid to late June. These plants tend to go completely brown over winter and so are best cut back in late winter when they go dormant. To divide warm grasses plan to do them from late spring to midsummer during the growing season.

Placement

Placing warm and cool grass is easy to do. As cool grasses are shorter, place them closer to the front of gardens. Mix them with spring bulbs, and deciduous shrubs, such as butterfly bush, aronia, Japanese maples, weigela, and spirea.

Place your warm grasses in areas where they will be able to take up space and be a focal point. Remember, warm grasses usually grow from 6 – 15’ tall! Pair them with low growing plants such as, moss phlox, coneflowers, bee balms, big root geranium, hostas, Russian sage, and lavender.

Care of Ornamental Grasses

There are many different types of ornamental grasses but thankfully they all require similar care and maintenance, which as we said earlier is luckily low maintenance! There are a few considerations for ornamental grasses which we need to consider when planting through. Ornamental grasses need up to 6 plus hours of sunlight, so think about where they are going and put them into a sunny space. Double check if your grass is a perennial or annual as this will also be important to where you place them.

Pruning

You should prune your grass once per year, cut them back to 2 – 3 inches above the ground. For your cool grasses pruning in late spring as they will begin their growing season as soon as winter is over. For warm grasses prune in late winter after fall as these plants love to grow late in the year when it is warm.

Fertilizing

Another one of the reasons to love ornamental grasses is the minimal fertilizing requirements! When planting new plants amend the hole you are planting into. For established plants you can top dress with your favorite soil amenders.