Ornamental grasses are extremely popular with gardeners in the UK. With their height, movement, and colour they easily earn their place in any garden. Last week could well have been called ‘National Grass week’; social media was awash with stunning pictures of grasses swaying in the light autumn breeze. Given a bright low sun they really come into their own with their golden irridescence and halo of silver.
While working in the garden cutting back some of the nearby dahlias we couldn’t help but be impressed by our clump of miscanthus in the southernmost border of the garden. We enjoy their structure all winter and don’t cut them back until the spring; good practice for the grass but also for our resident hedgehog that last year made its nest in a roll of leaves and grass stems at their base.
We’ve used another grass, Hakonechloa macra before now to edge some paths. It’s a wonderful grass that cascades softly onto paths and is available in a variegated form too. With their long season we have our eye on a number of other grasses that we think may find their way into our borders next year.