This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Wednesday, 1 February 2012

Winter Grasses

Grasses... are regularly used in gardening and landscaping programmes. I went through a grass phase and bought various plants... and stuck them randomly around the garden.
What are your views on grasses?
Two photos above: "Carex Oshimensis Evergold". Fully hardy. Height and spread 8 x 8 inches. 
"Ophiopogon Planiscapus Nigrescens" or Black Mondo Grass. This plant provides good ground cover and forms thick roots under the ground that spread. Like many grasses, it can be difficult to remove. Fully hardy. Photo taken Oct 2010. 
Black Mondo produces berries in Winter around December, and flowers in the Summer (photo below).
Years ago I bought Black Mondo at a garden fete for 50 pence (cira 75 cents) per small plant. They really multiply easily. A good tip if you like Black Mondo is to buy one plant (they cost about £8 in the garden centre) and then divide the one plant into 3 or 4 pieces to plant. 
"Carex Buchananii" Leatherleaf Sedge - this plant reaches 2 feet high, is fully hardy and likes moist soil - great for Ireland!
Leatherleaf Sedge looks lovely covered in snow. Photo taken Nov 2010. 
This one I'm not sure what its called. I like the way it always looks wind swept. I never cut my grasses but apparently most grasses like to be cut in Spring. 
The cat enjoys the garden grasses.

Every Spring I do various 'tidy up' projects around the garden. Last Spring I tidied a section containing various grasses - photos above 'Before' and 'After'. I ended up throwing out alot of Black Mondo!

Do you think (legal) Grasses are valuable plants?
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13 comments:

  1. Egretta Wells blog1 February 2012 at 13:48

    I love grasses, but they do require a bit of tidying and cutting some out sometimes. Your Spring tidying up was stunning...after you were finished, it looked so neat and pretty! Your cat seems to really enjoy the garden as much as you do.

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  2. ann1 February 2012 at 17:16

    As Egretta, I love grasses, too. There are so many varieties that is hard to decide which to choose. They help to naturalize an area add interest. You have done well in your choices. I like the black mondo, so I will have to look for it come spring.

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  3. Mark Willis1 February 2012 at 22:19

    I like grasses in small quantities. I don't think I would want that Black Mondo in my garden though. It looks too sombre. Have you tried Blood Grass and Zebra Grass? I don't know their official names, but they are visually very striking.

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  4. Malar1 February 2012 at 23:55

    I have carex in pot. I like grasses too which is short and easy to maintain...;)

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  5. Sue Garrett2 February 2012 at 03:14

    I don't really go in for grasses - we do have "Ophiopogon Planiscapus Nigrescens" but apparently this isn't really a grass but from the lily family - hence the flowers. We have it set against our white bird bath which gives a good contrast

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  6. Janet2 February 2012 at 03:41

    I like the grasses and they are an increasingly big feature in our garden. My favourite is stipa gigantea with its feathery airy appearance. It's beautiful when it catches the light. We grew some sedges in Orkney but the root balls just got too big to move. I don't like pampas unless it's part of a bigger planting.
    I was also told by someone who knows that Ophiopogon Planiscapus Nigrescens is not a grass at all but a member of the same family as lilies. I love it as ground cover.

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  7. Jo2 February 2012 at 04:45

    I don't have any grasses in my garden, but I can see how valuable they are as they really give the garden some structure, especially the big grasses, though I don't have a garden big enough for those.

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  8. Crystal2 February 2012 at 07:57

    I'm not a great fan of grasses, but I do love Ophiopogon. I bought one many years ago, but I think I planted it in the wrong place (as usual). This autumn I was forced to move it, and at long last it seems to be thriving.

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  9. elaine 2 February 2012 at 14:40

    Grasses aren't my thing I'm afraid - the only one I like is called something like Golden Oats or is it Quaking Oats, or maybe Porridge Oats!

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  10. HolleyGarden2 February 2012 at 16:44

    I like grasses in other people's garden. I've been too afraid to try them in mine as I've heard some are invasive, and since I know nothing about them, I worry about getting the wrong kind. I do love that black mondo grass! I may buy myself ONE of them! (Thanks for the tip!) Your clean-up job looks great!

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  11. Kelli3 February 2012 at 05:25

    Interesting the Black Mondo is part of the lily family. I always think of Carol Klein on the gardening TV shows and she regularly talks about plants and their plant families; its always quite interesting.

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  12. Karin / Southern Meadows3 February 2012 at 08:16

    I love your variety of grasses. I have been adding more and more to my landscape as I love the interest they add especially during the winter months. Btw, I have awarded you the Versatile Blogger award. Please see my post for the details.

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  13. Malay-Kadazan girl4 February 2012 at 01:50

    I think grass is important. Especially on slop areas it does play a role to prevent erosion. Nice collection of grass.

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