Anyone who thinks grass is boring hasn't met ornamental grasses yet. They come in a wide variety of colors, with bushy flowers throughout the winter and giants with growth heights of up to 5 m! But it is not always easy to keep track of the numerous varieties and choose the right one.
Which types of ornamental grass are the most popular and have a variety of uses?
Popular types of ornamental grass include pampas grass, miscanthus, pennisetum and sedges. Depending on your needs, there are evergreen varieties, winter-hardy varieties for keeping in containers, shade-tolerant species, ground-covering grasses and those that are suitable as privacy screens.
Wintergreen to evergreen ornamental grasses
Do you want an ornamental grass that looks beautiful even in winter and decorates the garden? How about the evergreen Japanese sedge, the weeping sedge, the blue fescue grass, the bear's fescue or the silver ear grass? They reach a medium height of 70 to 150 cm on average.
Ornamental grasses for keeping in containers
If you don't have your own garden, you can still plant ornamental grasses, for example on the balcony, terrace or at the entrance to the house as a welcome greeting for guests. The following hardy ornamental grasses are suitable for keeping in containers:
- Blue Fescue
- Fox Red Sedge
- Japan sedge
- Bearskin Fescue
- Garden Pipe Grass
- Pennisetum grass
Ground cover ornamental grasses
The ground-covering ornamental grasses are particularly suitable for beds, background areas, slopes and embankments as well as larger areas, for example in the rock garden. They include, for example:
- Riding grass
- Angle sedge
- Millet
- Japan sedge
- Palm frond grass
- Red Ray Bush
Shade-tolerant ornamental grasses
Most ornamental grasses prefer sunny to partially shaded locations. Very few people can cope in the shade. The shade-tolerant species include:
- Bronze-Schmiele
- Mountain sedge
- Rasenschmiele
- Giant sedge
- Japan sedge
- Yellow-green garden sedge
Ornamental grasses that are suitable as privacy screens
Many ornamental grasses become true giants. This means that they should not be underestimated as privacy protection. Bamboo is probably the best known. It is best to only plant it with a root barrier as it has a strong tendency to spread.
But miscanthus also reaches considerable heights of up to 2 m. Elephant grass, pampas grass and giant reeds are also among the giants among ornamental grasses. Whether as a solitary plant, for example in the front garden on the lawn, next to the garden pond or in the middle or in the background of the perennial bed - they catch the eye.
Tip
The most popular types of ornamental grass include pampas grass, miscanthus, pennisetum and sedges. With these types you can't go wrong when choosing.
