Grasses bring delicate transparency to the creative front garden design. Instead of immersing the limited area up to the ruff in a sea of flowers, ornamental grasses enchant with delicate spikes and decoratively colored stalks. This collection of ideas shows you how to design a front garden with grasses as the protagonist.
How to design a front garden with grasses?
For a front garden with grasses, choose walkable ornamental grasses such as golden star moss 'Aurea' as a lawn replacement, majestic grasses such as dwarf pampas grass 'Evita' as a tree replacement, and flowering companion plants for all seasons such as knapweed and gold baskets. Plant in spring and cut back the grasses for easy care.
Grasses replace lawns and trees – tips on types and varieties
The classic front garden with lawn and house tree has had its day. In contemporary front garden design, grasses take over the floral scepter thanks to multi-faceted biodiversity and low-maintenance care. The following ornamental grasses relegate boring green spaces and oppressive trees to the design bench:
Grasses as a lawn replacement
- Gold star moss 'Aurea' (Sagina subulata), the only walkable ornamental grass as a lawn replacement
- Crested sedge 'Frosted Curls' (Carex comans) with silvery-green stalks and light green flower spikes; 20-30cm
- Dwarf Pennisetum grass 'Little Bunny' (Pennisetum alopecuroides) adorns the front garden with feathery spikes; 20-30cm
Grass as a majestic figurehead in the front garden
- Garden riding grass 'Karl Foerster' (Calamagrostis x acutiflora) suitable as a solitary plant and for privacy; 100-150cm
- Miscanthus 'Beth Chatto' (Miscanthus sinensis), the little brother of giant reeds for front garden design; 160cm
- Dwarf pampas grass 'Evita' (Cortaderia selloana) does not miss small trees in the front garden; 120-150cm
Please note that spring is the best time to plant grasses in the front garden. In this way, even more sensitive species have enough time to root vitally until winter.
Flowering companion plants throughout all seasons
Perennials are only intended as floral accompaniment in the imaginative front garden design with grasses. Even the high priest of perennial breeders, Karl Foerster, saw harps in delicate ornamental grasses and timpani in boastful perennials in the creative plant composition. If you would like to transfer this gardening philosophy to your front garden, combine grasses with these perennials:
- Bulb flowers as heralds of spring, such as snowdrops (Galanthus), crocuses (Crocus) and daffodils (Narcissus)
- Fragrant summer bloomers, such as sage (Salvia nemorosa), knapweed (Centaurea dealbata) and asters (Aster)
- Autumn bloomers, such as Greenland daisies (Arctanthemum arcticum), basket of gold (Chrysogonum virginianum)
Tip
Pruning plays a key role in grass care. The best time is at the end of winter, shortly before fresh shoots begin. Cut ornamental grasses back to a hand's width above the ground. You can simply comb out a particularly delicate head of grass with your hands.
