Ornamental grasses

Question: Are ornamental grasses difficult to grow and what are some good ones to try in our area?

Answer: Ornamental grasses are a very popular addition to many landscapes. They can be used as accents, borders or in mass to fill in areas.

These plants are generally low maintenance and offer more than just attractive foliage and flowers. Enjoy the movement and sound that grasses bring to your landscape. Even in the winter when the foliage is dead and brown they offer character and movement.

Spring or fall are good times to establish ornamental grasses, and now is a good time to prune back old growth. Raised beds provide the ideal site because well-drained soils are preferred by most of the ornamental grass species. Placement should be in full sun, although light shade is tolerated by some species, such as Upland Sea Oats, Blue Sheep Fescue, Blue Lyme Grass, Miscanthus and Pennisetum. Planting when soil temperatures are warm will result in a greater success rate. Space plants to give each an area as wide as the expected height.

The main cultural requirements involve cutting back to near ground level when unsightly or at winter’s end, lightly fertilizing in spring and late summer, and dividing every three to four years. Annual varieties will benefit from monthly grooming to promote maximum flowering. You can prune anytime in the winter but why not enjoy them as long as possible and time your pruning just prior to new growth emerging. Be careful to not prune too close to the ground. Leave about six inches of dormant grass exposed. They can be pruned easily with electric shears or even a small chainsaw .

Here is a list of a few you might consider:

• Feather reed grass (Calamagrostis arundinacea) forms distinctly upright 3-foot clumps, which bloom with upright flower spikes in early summer. The mature straw color lasts into winter.

• Upland sea oats or northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) grows to 3 feet with very attractive panicles resembling true sea oats of the beach dunes. They tolerate both wet feet and dry soils, making them very versatile. In mulched beds, they tend to self-sow;

• Dwarf pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) grows to 6 feet with many silver, female plumes and added cold tolerance which extends its range throughout Alabama. Being seed sterile, plants are uniform and dependable in performance;

• Blue lyme grass (Elymus glaucus) grows to 3 feet with medium textured blue foliage. Plumes are somewhat inconspicuous as they emerge green in early summer and quickly dry to straw color. Rhizomes can be slightly invasive in sandy or amended soils.

• Ravenna grass (Erianthus ravennae) is a vigorous clump grass similar in size to standard pampas, but lacks the quality of plume but is very cold hardy. I have had regular pampas for 10 years without severe winter kill but it has been mild for all that time;

• Maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis) is perhaps the most popular of the Japanese silver grass group. The upright, arching 5 to 6 foot plants display dark green, fine textured foliage and rosy plumes in late summer. Flowers mature to silver and persist through winter. The morning light variety is slightly smaller in stature with narrow banded white variegation along leaf edges;

• Porcupine grass (Miscanthus sinensis) is an erect form of Zebra grass. Dramatic garden accent is provided by golden horizontal bands on upward oriented leaves of the 5 to 6 foot plant. Erect, deep straw colored flowers are prominent from September through winter;

• Dwarf fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides) forms dense 2 to 3 foot clumps and is often confused with annual fountain grass. Plumes appear in midsummer and fade from rose-brown to deep straw color. Small cultivars usually require a little extra water and fertilizer for good plant performance.

There are many varieties of each of these and many other species to choose from. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2Gsx68l.

— For information on topics related to the home and garden, contact any office of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. The Limestone County Office is located at 1109 W. Market St. in Athens. Office hours are 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For more information, call 256-232-5510 or visit www.aces.edu.