Decorative grass for flower beds: varieties and secrets of growing

Contents

What are ornamental grasses
Tall beauties
Video “All about lawn grass”
Low cereals for background
Conditions for growing ornamental grass
Video “How to make a garden of cereals”

There is a large group of ornamental grasses that differ in size, color, texture. They are used by mixing with other plants to create variety in terms of shape and structure in the design of flower beds, lawns, various parts of the garden, etc. As a rule, tall ornamental cereals or herbs are located either in the center or in the back plan, and undersized – in the front, bright flowers are planted between them. From early spring to late autumn, ornamental grass pleases the eye, complementing and completing a bright flower arrangement, betraying its refinement and precision of form. It is impossible to imagine an exquisite flower bed without it. To make the right choice of suitable herbs for planting in a flower garden, you need to know what they are, their growing conditions and decorative features.

What are ornamental grasses

Despite the fact that different herbs have something in common (they have an underground root system and an above-ground part with a stem, leaves and color), they differ in many ways. For example, they can be: annual, biennial, perennial; tall (from 60 cm to 3 m) and undersized (up to 40 cm), etc. Quite often, cereals are used to decorate a flower garden in combination with spicy plants – this is both beautiful and creates a unique aroma.

Tall beauties

Tall grass (more than 1 m) looks good as the main structural element of the flower garden. This primarily applies to cereals with a beautiful bush shape:

different varieties of Chinese miscanthus with panicle inflorescences (it grows up to two meters, its leaves are lanceolate hard);
reed grass acuminate (up to 1,5 m, blooms from July – pinkish panicles, requires moderate watering);
the most beautiful feather grass (up to 1 m, has long picturesque awns);
reed dvukistnik (up to 1,2 m, a beautiful plant with decorative variegated leaves);
oriental pinnatifer (up to 65 cm, it must be covered for the winter period);
hasmantium broadleaf, or wild oats (up to 1 m, blooms in autumn, requires moist soil);
soddy meadow (up to 1 m, has dense leaves, requires moist soil);
cortaderia sello (up to 3 m, gray-green leaves form picturesque bushes, blooms in early autumn with large panicles).

From spicy plants in the center of the flower garden you can plant:

cumin (up to 1,5 m, perennial of the Umbrella family, small white or pink flowers);
fennel (up to 2,5 m, perennial of the Umbrella family, looks like dill, yellow small flowers in the form of an umbrella up to 15 cm wide, blooms in early summer);

tarragon (up to 1,5 m, a relative of wormwood, its stem is erect with small lanceolate leaves, small yellow flowers appear at the end of July);
motherboard, its other names: oregano, oregano, amulet, etc. (perennial, grows up to 90 cm, has small purple flowers collected in inflorescences, blooms in the middle and end of summer);
borage, or borago (an annual, up to 70 cm, a beautiful plant with large bright blue flowers and a branched stem);
red quinoa (annual, up to 80 cm, drought-resistant, has bright reddish leaves).

Video “All about lawn grass”

Informative video with helpful tips about lawn grass.

Low cereals for background

Low-growing cereals create a beautiful backdrop. Carpet flower beds will look especially interesting if they are combined with bright colors. And in the center you can place something from herbs. Among the most popular low cereals are:

gray fescue (grows up to 20 cm, drought-resistant, beautiful plant with needle-shaped leaves of a bluish tint, flowers – soft reddish panicles; light-loving, winters well without shelter);
lagurus, or haretail (an annual, up to 20 cm, has inflorescences in the form of fluffy tips-tails, photophilous; serves as a beautiful frame for a flower bed, looks especially interesting in front of roses);
sedge kiliomarginata (up to 15 cm, has wide foliage);
foxtail (perennial, grows up to 30 cm, blooms from mid-summer with silky spikelets, does not suppress other plants);
drop seed (perennial, grows in a “bump” up to 40 cm, becomes orange-copper in autumn);
bulbous ryegrass (perennial, up to 30 cm, has narrow white-green striped foliage, photophilous);
keleria gray (perennial, grows in a “bump” up to 10 cm, has bluish-green hard leaves, winters well, requires good drainage).

Conditions for growing ornamental grass

Some of the herbs are unpretentious and grow well on poor soils, while they do not require top dressing and regular watering. Usually only spring pruning is needed.

But most cereals, especially perennials, are best planted in loose soil so that stagnant water does not lead to root rot. Therefore, a place for a flower bed should be chosen so that neither melt nor storm water lingers there, preferably sunny or half shaded. It should be borne in mind that these varieties of grasses have the peculiarity of “spreading” (for example, miscanthus needs about 50 cm per bush, and fescue – only a meter per 6 bushes).

Cereals in combination with spicy plants can be planted from spring to autumn. Many of the herbs are photophilous, and some cereals can grow in the shade. So that there is no contradiction in the conditions of plant maintenance, this point must also be taken into account. In addition, when planting herbs, you should pay attention to the following points:

shallow planting in dug up soil;
water the hole well beforehand, as soon as the water is absorbed, plant the plant and sprinkle it with moist soil;

in addition, you can still water, and then sprinkle with a small layer of dry earth;
tall ones are planted in the center of the flower bed, short ones are grouped around them;
for convenience, some of the herbs can be planted in plastic containers without a bottom, in which case they will not “spread” over time.

About caring for ornamental grasses, you should know that:

after planting, make sure that the soil does not dry out;
after waterlogging of the soil due to heavy rains, the ground under the grasses should be loosened to avoid the formation of an earthen crust;
Pull out weeds regularly so that they do not clog the growth of grasses.

Please note that planted plants do not require top dressing in the year of planting. In autumn, the leaves do not need to be cut, this is done only in the spring. Cereal beds for organizing flower beds should be selected taking into account the characteristics of partner neighbors. It is correct when the period of maximum decorativeness of the grass coincides with the flowering period of the “partners”. This is especially important when using it to decorate a seasonal flower bed.

Interesting compositions are created when cereals and flowers are matched in harmonious colors. For example, the sharp-flowered reedweed looks wonderful next to the orange flowers of gelenium and yellow rudbeckia, the oriental featherweed – next to the purple flowers of the mainland. In addition, exclusively from different types of cereals, you can create a picturesque flower bed that can compete with any flower bed. From spicy in the center, you can place borage and red quinoa: blue borage flowers and reddish quinoa leaves will combine very beautifully. And plant graceful undersized cereals along the border – for example, lagurus.