What are your views on grasses?
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| Two photos above: "Carex Oshimensis Evergold". Fully hardy. Height and spread 8 x 8 inches. |
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| "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. |
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| Black Mondo produces berries in Winter around December, and flowers in the Summer (photo below). |
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| 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. |
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| "Carex Buchananii" Leatherleaf Sedge - this plant reaches 2 feet high, is fully hardy and likes moist soil - great for Ireland! |
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| Leatherleaf Sedge looks lovely covered in snow. Photo taken Nov 2010. |
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| 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. |
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| The cat enjoys the garden grasses. |
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| 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? |
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.
ReplyDeleteAs 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI have carex in pot. I like grasses too which is short and easy to maintain...;)
ReplyDeleteI 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
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
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.
ReplyDeleteI'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.
ReplyDeleteGrasses 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!
ReplyDeleteI 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!
ReplyDeleteInteresting 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI think grass is important. Especially on slop areas it does play a role to prevent erosion. Nice collection of grass.
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