Ornamental grasses
Need some advice...i would like to incorporate more ornamental grasses in my small garden. I am on London Clay - but started working my ground with some grit and compost.
Would like to plant them in half shade & shade as well. Any ideas? An earlier experiment didnt work out and they didnt survive the winter.
Looking forward to suggestions:)
Many thanks,
Lie
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Most ornamental grasses like full sun and well drained soil but the RHS recommends this grass for gardens such as yours.
Deschampsia cespitosa 'Goldtau’ (syn. 'Golden Dew'): Compact and graceful, this grass has spikes of airy, reddish-brown flowers. Tolerant of shade and damp conditions, it is can be grown in gardens unsuited to many other ornamental grasses. Height: 75cm (30in)
Steer clear of stipas and pennisetums but maybe try Miscanthus Zebrinus which did well for me in a pond side situation with moisture at the roots.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Acorus and Hachonchloa will both cope with damp and shade. I find that Stipa arundicea [ has a new name now ] does well in those conditions.
for the fag ends of the aristocracy.
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Interesting. I love hakonechloa but it really struggled this year in a damp, shady bed with full sun only at the height of summer and I have never had a stipa survive a winter but then my old garden is much more exposed to deep cold than most of the UK.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Isn't it strange Obelixx, how we all have slightly different experiences with the same plants, shows how it can be very hard to give advice, without knowing everything about local conditions.
I can't grow Lilly of the valley, even though I grow it in supposedly perfect conditions. For others it grows like a weed in the most hostile of situations.
for the fag ends of the aristocracy.
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
To be fair, my hakonechloa was rather swamped by some very exuberant hostas revelling in the long, cool, wet spring that lasted till late July.
The same bed had lily of the valley in the shadier end that only got sun after 3pm between the equinoxes. It was well-behaved and not a thug but only once flowered in time for May day which sees people in Belgium giving sprigs to loved ones.
I do think it's important when giving advice or experiences to cite your conditions as what works in balmy southern Cornwall clearly will be different in exposed Northumbria or even sheltered Scotland or Wales.
Last edited: 12 November 2016 13:49:47
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
It took me years here in the Midlands to get Lily of the Valley going, had bits from friends who swore it ran like blazes, bought from good and less good websites - then suddenly, it went for it. I now have it is several areas, in only one of which I had planted it, the others have, I assume, been planted by mice or someone else eating seeds. Be patient, and don't blame anyone if it becomes an overrun!! I'd not be without it, but it did take time.
I totally agree obelixx - I'm very aware that my conditions are very different from someone in the south. The amount of rainfall is also something to take into consideration. An even bigger factor is height above sea level and exposure, which you mention. I used to live round the corner from where I am just now - that garden was far more sheltered.
Hakenochloa is normally pretty good in most locations - especially if it's damper. I grow Spartina which is not seen in many gardens. AT had it in one of his gardens I think - Barleywood possibly. It makes a big arching clump eventually and is happy in wet or dry conditions as it's an estuary grass and copes with tidal variations. Green with gold variegation and nice golden colour in autumn. Mine grows in a raised bedbut with clay soil too.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I like the look of your spartina FG and it's listed by the one decent local nursery but I think the soil in this garden might just be too dry for it.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Give it a go obelixx. It apparently copes well with drought because of it's usual habit. Perhaps a good dose of manure in the ground on planting and keep it well watered till established? I've got it in ordianry soil, but in the garden round the corner it was in a very dry bit of ground as we had several mature trees nearby. Despite our high rainfall, the ground was very poor quality and dry through summer. I never bothered doing anything to it either.
It looks great just now as it's fading into old gold colours
Last edited: 13 November 2016 09:34:37
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...