Grasses are not only beautiful to look at in the gravel garden all year round, they can also be easily combined with other plants and are also very easy to care for. Once established, you no longer need to water them. It is also sufficient if you cut the grass just above the ground at the end of winter.
Which grasses are suitable for the gravel garden?
Grasses such as blue marram grass, prairie beard grass, Atlas fescue, blue switchgrass, eyelash pearl grass, oriental pennisetum grass, giant feather grass, silver ear grass, Magellan blue grass, blue fescue, mosquito grass and Monte are ideal for the gravel garden -Baldo sedge. These grasses are easy to care for and tolerate drought well.
Grasses with particularly beautiful leaves
Grasses recommended for the gravel garden usually have very narrow leaves. This is because these species come from the dry regions of our world or thrive on very permeable soil that hardly stores any water. In order not to evaporate water unnecessarily, the well-adapted plants only have small leaf surfaces. For the same reason, many species have a bluish coating or a thin wax coating. These species are particularly graceful leaf beauties:
- Blue beach grass (Ammophila breviligulata): clump-like growth with leaves up to 110 centimeters high
- Prairie beardgrass (Schizachyrium scoparium): clump-like growth with leaves up to 90 centimeters high
- Atlas fescue (Festuca mairei): shapely, lush clumps with leaves up to 100 centimeters high
- Blue switchgrass (Panicum virgatum): very colorful, metallic blue shimmering prairie grass, up to 150 centimeters high
You should surround very tall growing grasses with low perennials so that these beauties are shown in the right light and not drowned out.
Grasses with showy flowers and fruit heads
The following grasses have particularly beautiful and eye-catching flowers and/or fruit heads:
- Eyelash pearl grass (Melica ciliata): native grass up to 50 centimeters high with cylindrical spikes
- Oriental Pennisetum grass (Pennisetum orientale): up to 45 centimeters high, fluffy inflorescences and cylindrical spikes
- Australian Pennisetum grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides): also shows beautiful autumn colors
- Giant feather grass (Stipa gigantea): up to 200 centimeters high, impressive, similar to oats with a beautiful, golden yellow color
- Fluffy feather grass (Stipa pennata): up to 60 centimeters high, hair-fine leaves, husks have long, silvery-white awns
- Silver spike grass (Stipa calamagrostis): up to 90 centimeters high, stately clumps with large panicles. Also called 'camel hair grass'.
Low-growing grasses
If you are looking for low-growing grasses, these species are well advised:
- Magellan blue grass (Elymus magellanicus): striking, metallic blue shimmering color, up to 50 centimeters high
- Blue fescue (Festuca glauca): hemispherical clumps with striking steel-blue leaves, up to 40 centimeters high
- Mosquito grass (Bouteloua gracilis): graceful grass up to 30 centimeters high with striking flowers
- Monte Baldo sedge (Carex baldensis): striking, snow-white flowers, up to 20 centimeters high
Tip
Grasses are not pollinated by insects, but by the wind. It often transports pollen over long distances from one plant to another. For this reason, grasses do not have strikingly colored flowers; after all, they do not have to attract insects.